Filed under: Software, First Look, Snow Leopard
First Look: Minimalist time tracking on Mac using Minco
Mauritius is a minimalist island nation in the Indian Ocean, and from that tiny set of spots on the map comes a new Mac time-tracking application for anyone who needs to keep track of how much time they spend on tasks. Minco, now in public beta from Celmaro, is a minuscule Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard app that works with any application that supports iCal.When Minco is launched, all you'll see is a tiny clock icon in the menu bar. Clicking the icon opens a glossy transparent black display that shows either the time you've spent on a project or the revenue you've gained from doing billable work on that project. Clicking on the time or revenue counter starts the counter, which then disappears from view. When you stop the timer, a new calendar item is placed into iCal so that you can keep track of how your day was spent.
The iCal integration works the other way as well. Creating a To-Do item in iCal adds it to your Minco timer so that you can start tracking time. When you start up the timer, the iCal item shows up in your calendar with the phrase "...working" attached. Publishing that calendar could be used to show co-workers or clients what you're currently working on.
If you want to keep a log of what you do during your work days, Minco also writes your time log to a standard .csv file that you can import into Numbers or Excel for analysis. The company is considering writing other export adapters, although the existing adapter is amazingly flexible.
Celmaro provides a 14-day free trial download, and the software is available for US$9.95. I found it very unusual for a company to be charging for beta software, but then again, Minco is much more stable and usable than a lot of beta software I've used.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Drifter71 said 4:29PM on 9-21-2009
I like the Logmein app running :)
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heyvince said 4:49PM on 9-21-2009
Would this still work if I use Things to track To-Dos, instead of iCal?
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George said 5:15PM on 9-21-2009
Looks interesting, but the lack of an integrated invoicing feature is a non-starter for me. Sticking with On The Job.
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robogobo said 6:36PM on 9-21-2009
sounds great. but what's a minimalist country?
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kylejnolan said 7:58PM on 9-21-2009
This is great. I just downloaded the trial and it automatically synced with my Anxiety to do list. I'm guessing that's because Anxiety works with iCal, but this is great regardless.
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raleedy said 8:22PM on 9-21-2009
I don't get it. The menu pop-up says "No Task. Click to add task in iCal." iCal doesn't know from "tasks". Worthless.
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TUAWFan said 1:07AM on 9-23-2009
@raleedy - Are you serious? You call the software "Worthless" yet it seems it's too simple for you to comprehend.
Try this... Add an event to the calendar named "My Day". End of story.
How can you hate on an app that seamlessly handles being middleman with any application that can talk to iCal? I added "The Hit List" calendar of mine to Minco. Boom! Instant communication between the two applications. This is an incredible app.
I'm tired of users like you that are quick to be negative about an app you are so wrong about.
You sir, are "worthless".
raleedy said 11:18AM on 9-22-2009
Totally true, I don't understand it. I did as you suggested -- added an "event" in iCal for today called "My Day". No change: Minco doesn't see or recognize it. You might note, too, that an "event" is not a "task", and that iCal doesn't use the word "task" anywhere in its menus or its help file. Minco doesn't explain or reveal its relationship to iCal, and neither do you. I don't have the patience for that kind of nonsense.
TUAWFan said 1:20PM on 10-10-2009
How can you possibly make this harder than than selecting the "My Day" calendar and hit Cmd-K or "File > New To Do".
Dear god... how are you even managing using iCal at all, or any other Mac app for that matter?
I have this working with Things and The Hit List. Incredible in what it provides with no effort.
Quit being a jackass.
Allan L. said 10:26AM on 9-23-2009
I take it from your hyperbole and over-reaction that you have some affiliation with the software in question. What a fine marketing strategy -- you think you understand how the program works, but you're unable to make a cogent statement about it, so you call the potential customers names instead. I think, on the jackass front, you're projecting a bit.
Tobias said 3:25AM on 9-22-2009
ohh, cool! Heres also a cool time tracking app: http://colorhat.com/
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jb510 said 1:25PM on 11-19-2009
I love the interface of Coolhat, except it web based... who wants to have to keep web page open all the time to keep track of their time? Not to mention I don't always work where there is internet access...
Matt said 4:05AM on 9-22-2009
I'm in the market for a lightweight time-tracking app so giving this a go. As I bill by the day or by project, the invoicing aspect of other apps like Billings actually gets in the way - I just want to track time for internal purposes.
I'm also trying out TimeLog at the moment - one feature that gives it a big advantage over Minco for me is the application tracking. I do like Minco's menubar interface more, though.
I assume that you can get this to sync with Things by using Things' sync with iCal option. Has anyone tried this yet?
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tabaks said 9:47AM on 9-22-2009
You guys should also try out this one:
http://www.myhours.com/
It is free and has a "company" feature. Nifty!
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jb510 said 1:26PM on 11-19-2009
Again.. it's web based... fail...
Ive said 11:45AM on 9-22-2009
this program is a waste of time. i couldn't get it to work with iCal Events. I guess it only does tasks. Not sure why.
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inmysmallroom said 4:47AM on 10-06-2009
iCal + Things + Minco can sync togeter.
I do this, first, create to-do list in Things then sync with iCal,
you can customize your Things-iCal sync by tag, priority etc.
After sync complete, you can see all of to-do list that sync from Things in iCal.
When I start to working on my to-do list, just click Minco, you will see all to-do list (I set limit to 6 tasks). Just click on task you want and now click at the 00:00:00.
Because my rate is not on hours, I just use this to track how I spent for each task, record my day to iCal. Finally, it's help me to complete my Freelance working day.
Thanks iCal, Things and very easy to use time tracking, Minco.
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