Help & Support

Welcome to Little Routine Timer

Thank you for downloading Little Routine Timer. This guide covers everything you need to set up your family's routines and get started. Everything is stored locally on your device — no account, no internet connection required.

When you first open the app, you'll see the Welcome screen. Tap Get Started to create your first child profile and begin.

Adding children

How to add a child

1. Open Children or follow the first-time setup prompt.
2. Tap Add Child.
3. Enter the child's name.
4. Choose a profile colour.
5. Tap Add Child or Save Changes.

Each child has their own separate profile. You can add as many children as you like. To edit a child's name or profile colour, tap their card in the Children screen.

Creating and editing routines

How to create a routine

1. Go to the Routines screen.
2. Tap New Routine.
3. Choose to start from a template (morning or bedtime) or start from scratch.
4. Give the routine a name and assign it to a child.
5. Add tasks and set a duration for each task.
6. Tap Save.

Using templates

The app includes editable morning and bedtime templates to give you a sensible starting point. Select a template when creating a new routine, then add, remove or reorder tasks to match your family's needs. Templates are a starting point only — the tasks are suggestions.

Editing a routine

To edit an existing routine, find it in the Routines screen and tap it. You can change the name, tasks, task durations, and assigned child. Tap Save to apply your changes.

Editing or deleting a task

Within the routine editor, tap any task to open the task editor. You can change the task name and duration, or delete the task. Tap Save to apply changes, or Delete to remove the task.

Running a routine

How to start a routine

1. From the Home screen, find the routine you want to start.
2. Tap Start.
3. The active routine screen opens with the first task and its countdown timer.

Returning Home while a routine continues

You can return to the Home screen at any time without stopping the active routine. Tap the Home button during a running routine. The timer continues in the background. You can return to the active routine from the Home screen.

Pausing a routine

Tap the Pause button to pause the current task timer. Tap it again to resume.

Adding two minutes

If a child needs a little more time on a task, tap + 2 min to add two minutes to the current countdown.

Skipping a task

Tap Skip to move on to the next task without marking the current one as done.

Completing a task

Tap Done (or the task's completion button) to mark the current task complete and move to the next one.

Stopping a routine

1. Tap the exit or stop button while a routine is active.
2. A confirmation prompt will appear.
3. Confirm to stop the routine. The routine is not deleted — it can be started again at any time.

Running Late mode

Running Late mode is available when starting a routine. It adjusts the routine to help children move through the essential steps more quickly when time is short.

Calm Bedtime mode

Calm Bedtime mode is available for bedtime routines. It maintains a calmer atmosphere and pace, suitable for winding down at the end of the day.

Running two routines at the same time

Starting a second routine

While one routine is already running, return to the Home screen (the first routine continues). From Home, start a second routine for a different child. Both routines will now run in parallel.

Viewing parallel routines

When two routines are active, the app shows both side by side. Each child's current task and countdown timer are displayed independently.

Why can't the same child be in two routines?

A child can only follow one routine at a time. If you try to start a second routine for the same child who already has an active routine, the app will not allow it. Stop the first routine before starting a new one for that child.

Maximum active routines

A maximum of two routines can run at the same time. To start a new routine when two are already active, one of the running routines must be stopped first.

Quick Timer

Quick Timer is a simple one-off countdown, accessible from the app navigation. It does not require a routine or a child profile.

How to use Quick Timer

1. Open Quick Timer from the app navigation.
2. Select a preset duration.
3. Tap Start to begin the countdown.
4. Tap Pause to pause, or Reset to start again.

Your data

Where is data stored?

All children's names, routines and tasks are stored locally on your device using standard iOS local storage. Nothing is sent to any server. This information is not transmitted to us or stored on our servers.

Is there a cloud backup?

No. Little Routine Timer does not use any cloud backup or sync. Your data exists only on the device where the app is installed. If you delete the app or clear the data, it cannot be recovered.

How to clear all app data

1. Go to the Settings screen within the app.
2. Tap Clear App Data.
3. Confirm when prompted.

Troubleshooting

The screen looks blank or shows outdated information

Try closing and reopening the app. On iPhone or iPad, swipe up from the bottom of the screen (or double-press the Home button on older devices) to see open apps, swipe Little Routine Timer upward to close it, then reopen it from your Home screen.

A routine I edited doesn't appear to have updated

Make sure you tapped Save after making your changes. If the problem persists, close and reopen the app.

The timer seems wrong after I switched apps

Active routine timers continue to run in the background. If you returned to the app after a long pause, the timer may have continued counting down while the app was in the background.

I can't start a second routine

Check whether the same child is already in an active routine — a child can only be in one active routine at a time. Also check whether two routines are already running — the maximum is two at once.

All my data has disappeared

Data is stored locally on your device. If data has disappeared, it may have been removed by using Clear App Data, by deleting and reinstalling the app, or if your device's local storage was cleared. Because there is no remote backup, this data cannot be recovered.