Timeline · Life Design · HourLife Premium
The events that would appear in your biography, on one line of years.
Record the events that would appear in your biography, group them into chapters, and add what each one means to you over time.
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Dated as well as you rememberAn event takes an exact date, a month and year, a year alone, or a “Circa” note such as “late 1990s”. The card shows only what you gave it, so “Jan 2017” never pretends to a day.
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A life in chaptersName a period the way a memoir would, from a year to a year or ongoing, and give it a colour. It becomes a band on the ribbon above the line, and tapping the band scrolls to it.
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What it meant, then and nowThe line you write under “WHAT DID IT MEAN?” becomes the event’s first reflection. Add more from its page over the years, each one dated, and Insights counts which events still need the why.
Your first event
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Tap “+”, then “Add Event”
Pick one of the twelve kinds under “WHAT KIND OF EVENT?”. The question under “WHAT HAPPENED?” changes with it, from “What did you accomplish?” to “What did you choose?”.
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Say when, as well as you know
Under “WHEN”, choose “Date”, “Month & year”, “Year only” or “Circa”. A year you are sure of is better than a day you are not.
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Write why it belongs
Add a line under “WHAT DID IT MEAN?” and tap “Save”. The event takes its place on the line, under its year.
Every step, in detail
- 1 Tap “+” and choose “Add Event”.
- 2 Under “WHAT KIND OF EVENT?”, pick a kind such as Achievement, Relationship, Place, or Beginning, then fill in “WHAT HAPPENED?”.
- 3 Under “WHEN”, choose “Date”, “Month & year”, “Year only”, or “Circa” to match how well you remember it.
- 4 Add a line under “WHAT DID IT MEAN?” if you know why it belongs in your story, then tap “Save”.
- 5 Tap “+” and choose “Add Chapter” to name a period of your life, such as the app's example “The Vancouver Years”.
A life on one line of years
The Life Timeline is your story, newest first: each event as a card on a spine, a year marker each time the year changes, and each chapter as a band where it began. Above the line, the ribbon lays your years end to end, with every chapter a band in its colour, every event a tick and today a line in sun.
Sample · fifteen events and four chapters, from 1995 to Tuesday, Oct 20, 2026 · pick a window, tap a band, or change the display
- 2026
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AchievementSep 14, 2026
Sailed solo across the bay
- 2025
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RelationshipMay 18, 2025
Moved in with Sam
- 2024
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AchievementAug 2024
First thousand customers
Proof that strangers wanted it, not just friends.
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Building something of my own2022 — present
- 2022
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BeginningFeb 1, 2022
Started building my own app
- 2021
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EndingDec 17, 2021
Last day at the studio
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DecisionNov 2021
Decided to leave the studio
- 2020
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RelationshipOct 2020
Met Sam on a ferry
We both missed the 5:20 and caught the next one.
- 2019
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Health2019
Back injury, six months off running
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The Vancouver Years2017 — 2021
- 2017
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CareerMar 6, 2017
First job, at a small studio
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PlaceJan 2017
Moved to Vancouver
Two suitcases and a room above a bakery.
- 2016
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EducationJun 30, 2016
Graduated in computer science
- 2015
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Realization2015
Realised I liked building more than studying
The side project got my evenings; the degree got what was left.
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University2013 — 2016
- 2013
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EducationSep 21, 2013
First day at university
- 2010
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LossMar 2010
Lost Grandad
He taught me to fix things instead of replacing them.
- 2003
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Place2003
First trip abroad, to Brittany
The first time I heard myself think in another language.
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Early years1995 — 2012
Timeline Settings
Display changes only how the line reads, on this device. The ribbon keeps every chapter whichever you choose.
DISPLAY- A window keeps the events from its first year on, and the chapters still running in it. The ribbon is redrawn from what is left, so “Last 5 years” starts in 2022, where the only chapter left begins.
- Newest first, a chapter’s row goes in just above the first event from its start year or earlier. Oldest first, just above the first from its start year or later.
- A chapter with no event to sit above goes at the end of the line.
- A band on the ribbon runs to the end of its last year, or to today while it is ongoing, and stops where the next chapter starts.
- A band too narrow for its name keeps it for VoiceOver and its tooltip. Tap one to scroll the line to its row.
The ⋯ menu holds Insights, Reverse Sort (the same switch as “Oldest first”, so a flip stays), Archived and Settings, and “+” holds Add Event and Add Chapter. Settings also has “Future intentions”, which would show events marked as plans below a FUTURE divider, but nothing in the app marks an event that way yet, so the divider never appears. On Today, the Timeline card shows the most recent event, here “Sailed solo across the bay” · Sep 14, 2026.
An event, as well as you remember it
An event takes one of twelve kinds, a line on what happened, and a date as exact as your memory: the day, the month, the year, or Circa and a few words. The kind sets the card’s colour and the question the title field asks. Change any of it and watch where the event lands.
Sample · the timeline above, plus one event being added · nothing is saved
- 2020
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RelationshipOct 2020
Met Sam on a ferry
- 2019
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Health2019
Back injury, six months off running
- 2018
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AchievementApr 2018
Finished my first marathon
The first time I trusted training over talent.
- 2017
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CareerMar 6, 2017
First job, at a small studio
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PlaceJan 2017
Moved to Vancouver
It lands under 2018, between “Back injury, six months off running” (2019) and “First job, at a small studio” (Mar 6, 2017), during “The Vancouver Years”.
Its meaning is also kept as its first reflection, marked Initial · Oct 20, 2026.
- A month is stored as its first day and a year as January 1, so on the line a month event sits below anything later that month.
- Circa keeps your words and the first year written in them, which sets its year marker, its tick and the windows. The line sorts by the date stored, which for Circa is the day you add it, so it rises to the top.
- Save stays off until “What happened?” has words, and for Circa until the circa line does too.
- The years run from 1900 to thirty years ahead.
“Default date precision” in Timeline Settings picks which of the four WHEN options a new event starts on. The goal and person you link are kept with the event, though its page does not show them yet. Completing a project with “Add to Life Timeline” on adds one for you, as a Place for a trip and an Achievement otherwise, dated the day you finish.
Chapters, and how the ribbon makes room
A chapter is a name, the years it covers, and a colour. On the ribbon it becomes a band; on the line, a header above the events of the year it starts. Bands never overlap, so a chapter that starts inside another cuts that one short. Move the years and watch the bands give way.
Sample · the four chapters above, plus one being added · nothing is saved
Name it as you would in a memoir.
TIMEFRAMEChapters on the timeline use color bands.
- 2020
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RelationshipOct 2020
Met Sam on a ferry
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A year in Lisbon2019
- 2019
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Health2019
Back injury, six months off running
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The Vancouver Years2017 — 2021
- 2017
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CareerMar 6, 2017
First job, at a small studio
“A year in Lisbon” runs from the start of 2019 to the end of 2019, and cuts “The Vancouver Years” short at 2019. No band covers 2020 — 2021.
On the line, its header goes above “Back injury, six months off running”, the newest event of 2019 or before.
- A band runs to the end of its last year, or to today while it is ongoing.
- It stops where the next chapter starts, and it is never less than a quarter of a year wide.
- Two chapters that start in the same year don’t cut each other: the one added later is drawn over the other.
- Neighbouring bands alternate between a darker and a lighter wash, so two chapters in one colour still read as two.
FROM and TO also take a date or a month, but a chapter keeps only their years. TO is not checked against FROM, so a chapter that ends before it starts draws as a quarter-year sliver and reads “2019 — 2017”. A chapter can’t be edited or deleted after it is saved yet, and no screen puts an event into a chapter, so a chapter header counts no events.
What it meant then, and what it means now
Tap an event and its page holds the photos, the meaning you gave it, and Reflections: what the event means to you each time you come back to it. Insights counts how many events you have reflected on. Add one to the sailing trip, the eighth of fifteen, and the headline changes.
Sample · two events from the timeline above · nothing is saved
Sailed solo across the bay
Achievement · Sep 14, 2026
No reflections yet. Add one to capture what this means to you now.
8 timeline events are waiting for reflection.
15 past events, 0 future intentions.
9 events need the why, not just the when.
Meaning, reflections, and images turn a date into usable memory.
- meaning
- 40%
- reflected
- 47%
- images
- 5
- A meaning written when the event is added becomes its first reflection, marked Initial. Later ones are marked Manual.
- An event counts as reflected once it has any reflection, so a second one on the same event moves nothing.
- Under half reflected, the Insights headline counts the events waiting. Past half, it gives the span of your timeline instead.
The page prints the stored date rather than the card’s label, so a month event such as “Moved to Vancouver” (Jan 2017) shows as Jan 1, 2017. The ⋯ menu edits, archives or deletes the event, and sets a cover photo; the goal or person it links to is kept but not shown here yet.
How the story is taking shape
Insights reads the same timeline back as shape and gaps: which years are thick and which are silent, which themes recur, how many events carry a why, and how the dates were remembered. Every card below is counted from the sample above.
Sample · the fifteen events and four chapters above
8 timeline events are waiting for reflection.
15 past events, 0 future intentions.
2017 is your densest recorded year with 2 events.
Past events by year for the current eight-year window.
- events
- 15
- chapters
- 4
- added 90d
- 4
2003 to 2026 is represented in your timeline.
4 added in 90d / 1 ongoing chapter / 6y longest quiet gap
- events
- 15
- chapters
- 4
- future
- 0
9 events need the why, not just the when.
Meaning, reflections, and images turn a date into usable memory.
- meaning
- 40%
- reflected
- 47%
- images
- 5
Achievement is the strongest theme in your timeline.
1 reflected achievement event.
- Achievement1 reflected2
- Education1 reflected2
- Place2 reflected2
- Relationship1 reflected2
- Beginning1
- Career1
Your chapters are outlined, but not yet filled in.
15 unchaptered / 4 empty chapters
- Building something of my own2022 — present0
- Early years1995 — 20120
- The Vancouver Years2017 — 20210
- University2013 — 20160
0% of events are placed inside a chapter.
3 linked to a goal, person, decision, life area, or object.
- Exact7
- Month5
- Year3
- Circa0
The newest pieces added to your story.
4 additions in the last 90 days.
- Sailed solo across the baySep 14, 20262026
- Moved in with SamMay 18, 20252025
- First thousand customersAug 20242024
- Started building my own appFeb 1, 20222022
- Last day at the studioDec 17, 20212021
The densest-year headline counts every year, so it can name one the eight bars don’t show: here 2017, which ties with 2021 and wins as the earlier. Chapters and Structure count events by the chapter they are placed in, and since no screen places one yet, a timeline you build yourself reads 0% there. A Future intentions card would sit after Reflection depth, but nothing you can add is a future intention.
Tips
- A “Circa” event shows under the year in its text, but sorts as the day you added it. If you want it in order, use “Year only” and keep the detail in the title or meaning.
- In “Timeline Settings”, set “Default date precision” to the option you use most, so new events start there.
- Turn off “Year markers” or “Chapter bands” in Settings if you want a plainer list.
Questions
About Timeline day to day.
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What if I only remember roughly when something happened?
Choose “Year only”, or “Circa” and write what you remember, such as “late 1990s”. A circa event takes its year from the first four-digit year in that text, for its year marker and the filters, and shows “circa late 1990s” on its card.
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Where does a “Circa” event sit in the list?
The list orders events by their stored date, and a circa event stores the day you added it. So it sorts with what you added recently, under its own year’s marker. To keep it in order, use “Year only” and put the detail in the title or meaning.
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Can I add to what an event means later?
Yes. On the event’s page, tap “+” beside “Reflections”. Each reflection is kept with the day you wrote it, and the meaning you gave when you added the event is kept as the first, marked “Initial”.
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Are my events placed inside a chapter?
A chapter is drawn as a band where its start year falls among your events, and on the ribbon across its years. Events are not assigned to a chapter from the event form.
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Can I hide an event without deleting it?
Yes. “Archive” in the event’s ⋯ menu takes it off the line, the ribbon and Insights. “Archived” in the index menu lists archived events, with “Restore” for each.
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Does it sync between my devices?
Events and chapters sync through iCloud with the rest of HourLife. The display settings, such as “Oldest first”, are kept per device.
Works with
Where Timeline hands off to the rest of HourLife.
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Projects
When you complete a project, “Add to Life Timeline” adds it as an event, as a place for trips and an achievement otherwise.
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Highlights
Recent timeline events can appear as highlight candidates, and a highlight can be linked to a timeline event.
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Today
The Timeline card on Today shows your most recent event and its date.
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Goals
An event can be linked to a goal from its form.
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People
An event can be linked to a person from its form.
Read and try
Books from the library that Timeline puts into practice, and something to try on paper or in the browser.
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The Power of Moments Chip Heath The Heaths on why a few defining moments shape how we tell our lives. A timeline keeps them.
The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact
Chip Heath
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The Defining Decade Meg Jay Jay on why the twenties set so much of what follows, a chapter worth writing down.
Already have HourLife?
Timeline is under Life Design in the module list, as “Life Timeline”, and it is part of HourLife Premium. The “+” holds “Add Event” and “Add Chapter”; the ⋯ menu holds “Insights”, “Reverse Sort”, “Archived” and “Settings”.
Timeline is in the Library, under Life Design. If it isn’t there, turn it on in Settings → Look & Feel → Modules. It needs HourLife Premium.
What would you like to know?
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Try Timeline in HourLife.
HourLife is free to download. Timeline comes with HourLife Premium.
