Documentation

Table of Contents

• Getting Started
• Main Dashboard
• Employee Management
• Break Tracking
• Historical Breaks
• Modifying Data
• Reports & Analytics
• Export Options
• Backup & Restore
• Advanced Features
• Tips & Best Practices
• FAQ

🚀 Getting Started

First Launch

When you first open BreakChrono, you'll see the main screen with five tabs at the bottom:

• Breaks - View all recorded breaks
• Add Employee - Register new employees
• Add Break - Start tracking a break
• Reports - View analytics and statistics
• Menu - Settings and advanced options

Quick Start Guide

Step 1: Add Your First Employee

• Tap the "Add Employee" tab
• Tap the "+" button in the top-right corner
• Fill in the employee information
• Tap "Add" to save

Step 2: Record Your First Break

• Tap the "Add Break" tab
• Select an employee from the list
• Choose the break reason
• Tap "Start" to begin tracking

Step 3: End a Break

• Go to the "Breaks" tab
• Find the active break (green "Active" badge)
• Swipe left on the break
• Tap "End" to complete it

📊 Main Dashboard

Breaks Tab

The Breaks tab is your main dashboard, showing all breaks in reverse chronological order (newest first).

For Each Break:

• Employee name (bold heading)
• Break reason (subheading)
• Start date and time
• Duration (hours, minutes, seconds)
• Active status (green badge for ongoing breaks)
• Notes (if added)

Features:

• Search Bar - Located at the top, search by employee name, reason, or notes
• Filter Menu - Tap "⋯" button to toggle "Show Active Only"
• Swipe Actions - Swipe left to reveal Delete (red) or End (orange) options
• Real-Time Updates - Active break durations update every second

👥 Employee Management

Adding Employees

Location: Add Employee tab

Required Fields:

• ID Badge - Employee identification number
• Add Date - Date the employee was added (defaults to today)
• Employee Name - Full name
• City - Location
• Department - Department or team name
• Company - Company name

Optional Fields:

• Email - Employee's email address
• Notes - Additional information or comments

Viewing Employees

Employee List Features:

• Sorted alphabetically by name
• Search bar - Find employees by name, ID badge, department, city, company, or email
• Break statistics - See total breaks and total break time for each employee

Delete Employee: Swipe left on any employee and tap "Delete". ⚠️ Warning: This also deletes all their breaks (cascade delete)

⏱️ Break Tracking

Starting a Break (Live Tracking)

Location: Add Break tab

Steps:

• Tap the "Add Break" tab
• You'll see a list of all employees
• Tap an employee to select them
• Fill in the break information

Break Details:

• Start Time - Defaults to current time (can be changed)
• Reason - Choose from: Shopping, Personal Errands, Family Emergency, Medical Appointment, Child Care Issue, Bank Visit, Post Office, Other
• Notes - Optional additional details

Ending a Break

Method 1: From Breaks Tab

• Go to the "Breaks" tab
• Find the active break (green "Active" badge)
• Swipe left and tap "End" (orange button)

Method 2: Before Starting New Break

• When adding a break for someone with an active break
• Tap "End Current Break" in the warning box

📅 Historical Breaks

Adding Previous Day's Breaks

Location: Menu → Users → Add Previous Day's Break

When to Use:

• Forgot to log a break that already happened
• Entering breaks from paper records
• Recording breaks from past days
• Backfilling historical data

Form Fields:

• Start Date & Time - When the break started
• End Date & Time - When the break ended
• Reason - Select from predefined list or enter custom
• Notes - Optional additional information

Important: End time must be after start time. Duration is calculated automatically. Cannot set future dates.

✏️ Modifying Data

Editing Employee Information

Location: Menu → Users → Modify Employee Data

Steps:

• Tap "Menu" → "Users" → "Modify Employee Data"
• Browse or search for the employee
• Tap the employee to edit
• Modify any field
• Tap "Save" to apply changes

Editing Breaks

Location: Menu → Users → Modify Existing Break

Editable Fields:

• Employee - Reassign to different employee
• Active Status - Toggle between active/completed
• Start Date & Time - Change start time
• End Date & Time - Change or set end time
• Reason - Update break category
• Notes - Edit additional information

📈 Reports & Analytics

Accessing Reports

Location: Reports tab (fourth icon from left)

Time Period Selection:

• Today - Current day only
• This Week - Last 7 days
• This Month - Current month
• Last Month - Previous calendar month
• All Time - Complete history

Statistics Cards

• Total Breaks - Count of breaks in selected period
• Active Now - Number of currently active breaks
• Total Time - Sum of all break durations
• Avg Duration - Average length per break

Top Break Reasons

• Shows top 5 most used reasons
• Ranked by frequency
• Displays count for each reason

Employee Rankings

• Sorted by total break duration (highest first)
• Shows rank, name, department, total breaks, and duration

📄 Export Options

Text Export

Location: Menu → Information → Export Data

Exports complete employee list and all breaks in human-readable text format.

PDF Export

Location: Menu → Information → Export as PDF

Features:

• Professional formatted document
• Period-based filtering (Today, Yesterday, This Week, Last Week, This Month, Last Month, Custom Period)
• All breaks organized by employee
• Detailed tables with complete information

PDF Document Structure:

• Header: Title, selected period, summary statistics
• For Each Employee: Name, ID badge, department, company, city, summary, detailed table
• Table columns: Date, Start Time, End Time, Reason, Duration
• Footer: Generation timestamp

💾 Backup & Restore

Creating Backups

Location: Menu → Users → Backup & Restore

Manual Backup Steps:

• Tap "Menu" → "Users" → "Backup & Restore"
• Review current data count
• Tap "Create Backup"
• Backup is created instantly
• Choose where to save (Files, iCloud, Email, etc.)

File Name Format: BreakChrono Backup - YYYY-MM-DD HH-mm-ss.json

Restoring from Backup

Steps:

• Tap "Select Backup File"
• Browse to your backup file
• Tap the .json backup file
• Review backup information
• Choose import mode: Merge (adds to existing) or Replace (deletes all first)
• Tap "Restore" to proceed

⚠️ Warning: "Replace" mode deletes ALL current data and cannot be undone!

⚙️ Advanced Features

End All Active Breaks

Location: Menu → Actions → End All Active Breaks

Ends all active breaks immediately with current time as end time. Useful for end-of-day cleanup.

Delete All Data

Location: Menu → Actions → Delete All Data

⚠️ Extremely Destructive: Permanently deletes ALL employees and breaks. Cannot be undone. Create a backup first!

💡 Tips & Best Practices

Daily Workflow

Morning Routine:

• Check for any active breaks left from previous day
• End any orphaned active breaks

During the Day:

• Add breaks as they occur
• Keep break reasons consistent
• Add notes for unusual circumstances

End of Day:

• Review active breaks
• End any forgotten active breaks

Backup Strategy

Recommended Schedule:

• Daily: If high volume of changes
• Weekly: For normal usage
• Before major changes: Always
• Monthly: Minimum recommendation

Storage Locations:

• Primary: iCloud Drive (auto-sync)
• Secondary: Email to yourself
• Tertiary: Local computer/external drive

❓ FAQ

General Questions

Q: Is my data stored in the cloud?
A: No, all data is stored locally on your device. You control backups and where they're saved.

Q: Can I use BreakChrono offline?
A: Yes, the app works completely offline. No internet connection required.

Q: How many employees can I add?
A: No limit. The app handles small teams to large organizations.

Break Tracking

Q: Can I edit a break after ending it?
A: Yes, use Menu → Users → Modify Existing Break.

Q: What if I forget to end a break?
A: Edit the break and set the correct end time, or end it and adjust the time.

Q: Can an employee have multiple active breaks?
A: No, only one active break per employee. You'll be warned if attempting to start a second.

Data Management

Q: How do I transfer data to a new device?
A: Create a backup, save to iCloud Drive or email, then restore on new device.

Q: Can I export to Excel/CSV?
A: Not directly, but you can copy the text export into Excel or use PDF export.

Q: What happens if I delete an employee?
A: All their breaks are also deleted (cascade delete). Create a backup first.

Backup & Restore

Q: What's the difference between Merge and Replace?
A: Merge adds backup to existing data. Replace deletes everything first.

Q: Are backups encrypted?
A: No, they're plain JSON. Store them securely.

Q: Can I restore a backup from an older version?
A: Yes, backups are forward-compatible.

Privacy & Security

Q: Is my data shared with anyone?
A: No, data never leaves your device unless you explicitly export it.

Q: Are there analytics or tracking?
A: No tracking whatsoever. Your privacy is complete.

📞 Support & Contact

We value your feedback and suggestions for improving BreakChrono.

Email: contact@breakchrono.app
Phone: +40 (750) 499 256

📝 Version History

Version 1.0.4 (Current)

• Complete employee management system
• Real-time break tracking
• Historical break entry
• Break modification
• Comprehensive analytics
• PDF export with period selection
• Complete backup and restore
• Search and filter across all data
• Dark mode support

Thank you for using BreakChrono!

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