Frequently Asked Questions
Is there an import/export option?
As of v1.5.0, Chronicling supports import and export from a csv file per category (in the Edit Category menu) or for all categories (in Settings).
When importing events, the corresponding categories must already exist. Similarly, when importing categories, if they belong to a group the group must already exist. The file format for import must match one of those below:
Single Category (from the edit category menu)
Headings: DateTime,Notes,Count
Fields: ISO8601 formatted date and time, notes (optional, string), count (optional, integer)
Events (settings)
Headings: DateTime,Category,Notes,Count
Fields: ISO8601 formatted date and time, category name (string), notes (optional, string), count (optional, integer)
categories (settings)
Headings: Name,Description,Icon,Color,UseCount,DefaultCount,ShowOnWatch,Group
Fields: Category name (string), description (string, optional), SF symbol name (string), valid color name (string), UseCount (true/false), count (integer, default 1), ShowOnWatch (true/false), group name (optional, string)
Groups (Settings)
Headings: Name,Categories
Fields: Group name (string), comma-separated list of category names in group (N.B. this is not used on import, but is included on export for reference)
What are Shortcuts useful for?
Shortcuts are a great way to get data into and out of Chronicling. Automations, which trigger a shortcut to run at a particular time, or after a particular event, can be used to log events in the background.
Here some examples:
Daily Log – extracts and formats a simple table of all events logged today. Useful to add to a daily journal entry.
Export Category – export a csv file of events for a single chosen category, which you can modify to suit your needs. Simply select which category you wish to export in the “Find Events” action. For large amounts of data, in-app export (see above) is much faster.
Import Category – this is a template for the type of Shortcut needed to import data into Chronicling from any source. Depending on the size of the input file, you may need to enable “Allow Sharing Large Amounts of Data” in Settings.
Import from Do – this shortcut is an example of the Import Category shortcut above customised to support the csv format exported by the “Do” app. It creates all necessary Categories (for habits) and Groups (requires Premium).
Why isn’t sync working?
To sync data between devices automatically, each device must be logged into an iCloud account with iCloud Drive enabled.
Is Chronicling Premium shared with my Apple Family?
Yes, both subscriptions and the one-time lifetime purchase option are eligible for family sharing. Once purchased, if it doesn’t automatically apply to family members devices, please tap restore purchases.
Note that for in-app purchases to be shared, users must share a payment method, as per App Store requirements.
The watchOS app isn’t loading
The watch app relies on iCloud sync to share data with the iOS/iPadOS apps. On first launch, it can take a little while to sync your categories, as indicated by the loading spinner. Please leave the app open for a minute or so to complete this first time sync. If it still fails to load, please get in touch!
Why is the Find.. Shortcuts action not working?
There appears to be a bug in iOS 18 which causes filtering in find actions to fail when using a variable, which I’ve submitted as feedback (FB14741165).
It is possible to workaround this by directly choosing the filter value in the action. You can read more about this in this Mastodon thread.
Why can’t I get the Category from an Event in Shortcuts? Or the Group from a Category?
There appears to be a bug in iOS 18 which results in getting no output when getting other “entity” types from Shortcut entities, e.g. the Category associated with an Event. I’ve submitted this as feedback FB15257307.
I’m afraid there is no current workaround. You can read more about this in this Mastodon thread.
Why is long pressing the category no longer adding an event?
This gesture had to be removed in v1.2.13 in order to fix some issues around list selection in the underlying framework. It is replaced by an option to add an event whenever the icon is tapped, which can be enabled in Settings.
Contact
If you have any questions not answered here, or feedback about the app, please email me at support@chroniclingapp.com