Thanks to my experience, I have just a little too much experience with software that wasn’t quite finished and went live anyway. With all the consequences that come with that. I could talk about it for hours, provided there’s beer. I always put it this way: You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
So what’s not going to happen
I’m not putting a product in the App Store that I’m not 200% behind. Yes, I know 200% is mathematical nonsense. But in software, 100% is a claim and 200% is an attitude.
So no “it works most of the time”. No “we’ll fix that in version 1.0.1” (the software world’s official excuse, right after “it’s a feature”). And no “users will figure it out themselves”. The user is not a test team. The user is a customer. That’s an important difference, especially for the customer.
The stepchild
Developing software is fun. Really. Building a new screen, a button that does exactly what you wanted: pure joy. But testing is the baby that too often gets thrown out with the bathwater. Nobody puts “testing” on the poster. Nobody writes “now with 400 hours of testing” on the box. And yet that is exactly the part that decides whether you still have a reputation after three days.
The recipe is simple and utterly boring: test, test, test. Then adjust. Then test, test, test again. Adjust again. Repeat until you feel sick of it, and then once more. Repeat. Forever, or until 1 December, whichever comes first.
“This can never happen,” the developer wrote. The bug didn’t read it.
Why am I saying this?
Because there are always last-minute surprises. Always. It’s a law of nature, somewhere between Murphy’s law and the gravity of a deadline. A few favourites:
Something doesn’t work the way you thought. It worked perfectly for you. For everyone with a different iPhone, a different language or a different mood, suddenly it doesn’t. “It works on my machine” is not a test result, it’s a testimony.
Something overlooked. The kind of bug you only see when someone else points it out, and then it’s suddenly so obvious you wonder how you missed it. Answer: you’d been staring at it for three weeks.
A combination of actions you never thought of. Start the timer, swipe the app away, switch on airplane mode, switch it off an hour later, then tap “stop”. You design for the user you imagine and you get the user who actually exists. They’re a lot more creative.
Time. A time-tracking app that can’t handle time is a very expensive stopwatch. This weekend the clocks went back: an hour that happens twice. For a time-tracking app that’s not a philosophical question but an arithmetic one. And if you work from 11 pm to 1 am, which day do those hours belong to?
Weird input. A client without a name. A client name of eighty characters with an emoji in it. A user who logs exactly one minute every day for four years. “Nobody would do that” is the most famous last sentence before a bug report.
And no, Apple’s review doesn’t count as testing. Apple checks that the app starts, follows the rules and doesn’t crash. Whether your hours add up, Apple has no opinion. For an app your invoices are based on, the hours are the whole product.
What does this mean for 1 December?
The target date stays 1 December, and it remains a target. If I find a mistake on 30 November that affects a freelancer’s money, I’m not going live “anyway”. I’ll postpone. Not fun, but honest. You’d rather have an app that arrives a week later than one that’s almost right. And I’d rather sleep.
In closing
Do you know a combination of actions I would never think of? Let me know via the “Suggest something” button on the roadmap. The weirder, the better. I’m happy to test along with other people’s imagination, because it’s usually better than mine.
Regards, Pim
For now, the app is in Dutch. English is also being considered: leave your email address and we’ll keep you posted.
Yes, you’re only a professional software developer once you have a roadmap. A map of the road ahead, and a tidy one at that. It shows me, but more importantly you as a user, where we stand with TallyHour, where we’re heading and which turns we plan to take further down the road. So it really exists. I’m now officially a professional. The diploma is in the post.
This is not a satnav with a guaranteed arrival time
It’s a roadmap the way you use one in the car: you can see where you want to go, and anything can happen along the way. A road that’s temporarily closed. A bridge that’s up just as you arrive. Or a turn I thought was brilliant last month and, on second thought, won’t take after all.
That goes especially for the features further away. What’s done is done. What’s being tested is in the workshop. But everything far ahead is an intention, not a promise. I’d rather say so now than have you find it in the small print in April. Yes, I know this is exactly what every software developer says right before dropping a feature. I’m just more honest about when I say it.
Four kinds of stops, each with its own icon and colour, so you can see it at a glance. Done, with a tick. Built and being tested, with a test tube. Still to build, with an hourglass. And after the first release, with a rocket. That last one is pure marketing, of course, but I liked the icon and this is my blog.
At the top it says when the roadmap was last updated. An old roadmap is about as useful as a road atlas from 1998: nice to look at, but suddenly you’re in a field. So if the date at the top is old, feel free to remind me.
A video for those who’d rather not read
I also made a short film to go with it. Fifteen seconds, because that’s how long it takes to get the point. On a computer it starts with sound, because you probably have a keyboard and some wifi there. On a phone the sound is off, because I don’t want to be responsible for a platoon of commuters suddenly hearing me talk on the train.
TallyHour Roadmap
Sorry, this video is only in Dutch.
Why all this?
Because as a freelancer you want to know what you can count on before you put an app on your phone, and this is my honest answer to “does it also do…?”. The roadmap is my way of answering that question once and for all, without having to write an email every single time. Yes, a bit for myself too. If I don’t write down what I plan to do, nobody can hold me to it later. And I’m saying this purely out of self-discipline, certainly not because I like to keep up the appearance of having a plan.
The target date for the App Store remains 1 December. The same applies as for every other turn: somewhere in California someone else decides whether the road is actually open. I’ll be driving there on time, in any case.
To wrap up
Missing something, or is there something on it you’ll never use? Let me know via the “Suggest something” button on the roadmap itself. I read everything. So far the best turns have always been thought up by users, and I’m happy to take the credit for the map reading.
Regards, Pim
For now, the app is in Dutch. English is also being considered: leave your email address and we’ll keep you posted.
Up the scaffolding with a three-grand iPhone? I don’t think so.
Five more weeks. On 1 December I’m leaving my permanent job to carry on with my own business. And if all goes well, TallyHour will be in the App Store that very same day. Starting twice on one day. Some call it efficient. Others call it reckless. I’ll let you know in January.
First, Apple’s shiny new toy
This month Apple released the iPhone Duo, the first foldable iPhone. Closed, it’s a phone; open, it’s almost an iPad. Gorgeous thing. The most expensive version costs € 3,089. Luckily, TallyHour costs less than one billable hour. Did you catch that? I spent a whole evening on that one. A one-off € 19.95 (incl. VAT) and you’re done. That won’t even buy you a case for that Duo.
I can picture it already. Monday morning, seven o’clock, up on the scaffolding. Cold, wet, a tube of sealant on the plank, and you carefully unfold your three-grand phone to enter your hours. One gust of wind and you’ve got the most expensive gutter decoration in the Netherlands. Or you put it down on the scaffold for a second and the cement mixer does the rest.
The builder has just seen what an iPhone Duo costs
No. The average tradesman I know has an iPhone with a crack in the corner, in a case that’s been on it for three years, with plaster dust in the charging port. And you know what? TallyHour works just fine on that. Every iPhone running iOS 17 is welcome. Cracks included.
Got a Duo anyway? Then TallyHour will run nicely on it too: closed like a regular iPhone, open with overviews like on an iPad. I’m not jealous. Not at all. Really not.
By the way: Apple has made it pretty easy to get an app ready for the Duo. A few tweaks, an afternoon of testing, done. And yet, at the time of writing, a surprising number of apps still act like it’s 2015 when you unfold the thing: a narrow strip in the middle with a sea of nothing on either side. You pay three grand for a big screen and get a postage stamp. Maybe those developers are all up the scaffolding too. TallyHour will look neat right away, closed and open. Not like I had anything better to do.
Where does TallyHour stand now?
TallyHour is growing steadily. What’s there now already does what it should. The coming weeks are about the parts that really matter in the end: everything you need to send off your hours with peace of mind at the end of the week or month. The part that makes your accountant happy, and you mostly because you no longer have to look at it.
For now I’m testing everything on the Mac only. That’s a deliberate choice. The foundation has to be right first, and the fastest way to test that is on a big screen with a keyboard, not with thumbs covered in building dust. I expect the first iPhone prototype in mid-November, and then I’ll show the first screenshots here. Promise.
The target date for the App Store remains 1 December. One small caveat: somewhere in California, someone else decides whether it really will be 1 December. Thanks to Foxifier I now know how that works. You submit something, you wait, you refresh your mail every five minutes, and then you get a friendly question asking why button three is blue. The current status is always on the roadmap.
New on the list
Since sitting still isn’t my strong point, the list has only grown longer in recent weeks:
Dictate instead of typing. There’s always a microphone at the top right. Up on the scaffolding and want to remember something? Just say it, and it’s stored with the right job. Gloves can stay on.
Forward voice notes. Your spoken note goes straight to a colleague via WhatsApp or email. Then nobody can say they didn’t know.
Sign-off per job. The client signs on your iPhone to approve. Discussions along the lines of “surely it wasn’t that many hours” get a lot shorter.
Private or business. Per client, with its own little icon. Because Mrs Jansen with the leaking tap is not a construction company.
Own work. Admin, tidying the van, the garage. It counts towards your hours criterion but never ends up on a timesheet. “Having a beer” is on the default list too. What you do with that is up to you.
VAT-exempt. For freelancers in healthcare with a BIG registration.
Address lookup and travel time. Type in the postcode and house number, TallyHour fills in the rest. One tap opens the route in Apple Maps, CarPlay included. Getting lost becomes a choice.
Finally
Want to be the first to know when TallyHour is in the App Store? Leave your email address. You’ll get one email, no newsletter, no spam, no “exclusive offer, today only”. And if you have an idea, a wish or a question, send me a message. I always reply. Usually with a cup of coffee, and without a three-grand iPhone.
Regards, Pim
For now, the app is in Dutch. English is also being considered: leave your email address and we’ll keep you posted.
Since recently, there’s an app of mine in the Mac App Store: Foxifier (called Vossenpost in Dutch), a mail notifier with a little fox. That’s nice, but it’s not why you’re on this site. This was the dress rehearsal for TallyHour.
Why a fox first?
Foxifier started as a joke and grew into a learning journey. I wanted to know what it takes to build a Mac app, and above all what it takes to get it through the App Store. That last part turned out to be a craft of its own. Certificates, code signing, setting up an in-app purchase, making screenshots and texts, answering privacy questions and then waiting for the review, sometimes followed by a round of changes and resubmitting. It took time, but it’s knowledge I won’t have to gain again for TallyHour.
To be honest, Foxifier was mainly an exercise. I don’t expect much from it, although the basic version is free and there’s a paid option. I’m happy with it myself, anyway: it works, it’s in the store and Apple approved it.
It’s on its way. TallyHour is the app that lets freelancers track their hours, expenses and mileage per client and create a neat timesheet in a few taps. No hassle with loose spreadsheets or a note in your coat pocket, but one place for what you worked and for whom. In an earlier update I wrote that the foundation is in place. The roof isn’t on yet and the window frames are still in the van, but you can already stand on it just fine.
I’m working on it full steam now. The goal is to have TallyHour in the App Store around 1 December. There’s one caveat: somewhere in California, someone else decides that. Thanks to Foxifier, I now know what to expect, and that helps. What’s already there and what’s still coming is on the roadmap.
Want to stay up to date?
Check this site now and then; this is where the updates appear. If you’re a freelancer and want to know whether TallyHour is something for you, do follow along. If you have a wish for the app, let me know, because I can still take it into account now.
A few days ago I showed what TallyHour can already do. Time for the other side of the story: what’s still to come, and what has been added to the plans over the past few days. Spoiler: the list hasn’t got any shorter. It has got more fun, though.
But first: TallyHour has a film! Half a minute, starring a man pulling his hair out. Sound familiar? Then you know exactly why this app is coming. The video is in Dutch.
With everything I build, I keep three things in mind. Robust: the app simply has to work, every day, even when you quickly enter something with dirty hands. Calm: a clean Apple design, without flashing buttons, pop-ups or other distractions. And intuitive: on every screen I think of the freelancer who is busy enough already. If you have to think about it, I haven’t done it right.
Smart touches
First, what’s already in there, and what you might not expect:
Not every job is the same! TallyHour makes a functional distinction between private and business clients, with the right VAT settings and that sort of thing.
Smart address lookup: look up an address and instantly see the distance and travel time from where you are, with one tap to Apple Maps or CarPlay.
No hassle with your logo: no need to dig up your logo for the settings, TallyHour simply pulls it from your website.
Duplicate? TallyHour spots it: a warning when you enter a client with a name or email address that already exists.
Super-smart search, in everything! Even when you make typos: TallyHour thinks along with you.
And much more!
What’s still to come
Timesheets and expenses
A neat timesheet as a PDF in your own style, emailed or printed straight away
The client signs for approval on your iPhone or iPad, soon also with the Apple Pencil
Tracking expenses: materials, recurring items, mileage and receipts
Smart and self-employed
A counter for the Dutch hours criterion (1,225 hours)
Warnings if you work too much for one client (false self-employment)
A reminder when you haven’t entered any hours yet
A timer, also in the menu bar of your Mac
New on the list
iPhone Duo: a layout for folded, unfolded and half-folded, so that your client can sign on the bottom half, for example
iCloud: a clear message when your iCloud is full, photos reduced automatically, and an overview of how much space TallyHour uses
Recommending TallyHour: one tap to share the app with a colleague, with a QR code you can show full screen to scan
Voice notes: there you are, up on the scaffolding, and you want to quickly add a note, something you need to remember. Typing is tricky up there, of course, so you tap the microphone, which is always ready at the top right of the screen, and just say it. That works for existing notes, but also for a new note you quickly add to the current job or another one. You can also forward the voice message, straight away or later, for example to a colleague via WhatsApp or email
The final stretch
A welcome screen and colour themes of your choice
Feedback & suggestions from within the app, plus a manual and release notes on declaruur.nl
15 days free trial, then €19.95 once (incl. VAT)
Testing on iPhone and iPad, in portrait and landscape, and then: submitting to Apple
Dzień dobry!Здравей!
The Netherlands is home to more than 241,000 people of Polish and 61,000 of Bulgarian origin (CBS, Statistics Netherlands, 1 January 2024). Together, they could fill the Johan Cruijff ArenA more than five times over. And according to Statistics Netherlands, about one in eight working people born in another European country is a freelancer. That’s a lot of loose scraps of paper, in a lot of languages. That’s why I’m seriously considering making the app in Polish and Bulgarian too, and in English. This website already speaks those languages: pick your flag at the top right.
And Android?
The same question keeps coming up: will TallyHour also come to Android? Honest answer: I’m starting to consider it seriously. But it’s not a matter of pressing a button. An Android version is a separate app, built with different technology, and that means a few things:
Apple first: the Android version will only come after the launch on iPhone, iPad and Mac
No iCloud: syncing via iCloud doesn’t work on Android. Your data then stays on your own device or goes through other storage of your own, such as Google Drive. Syncing between an iPhone and an Android device is therefore not possible.
Bought separately: Apple and Google don’t share purchases. If you want to use TallyHour on both, you buy it separately in each store.
Not everything is possible: some parts are truly Apple, such as the Mac version with the timer in the menu bar and signing with the Apple Pencil. These are dropped on Android or work differently.
Would you like an Android version? Let me know below. The more votes, the sooner it goes from “considering” to “building”.
Your opinion really counts
You don’t make an app for freelancers just behind your desk. I read every message sent via Feedback & suggesties (feedback & suggestions) or the contact form myself, and I really do reply. Missing something, or could something be easier? Let me know; I seriously consider every suggestion. Chances are you’ll see it in a future version.
I’m still aiming for 1 December for the App Store. After that, it’s up to Apple; I just hope the reviewer sleeps well that week. What’s already there and what’s still coming is on the roadmap.
1 December is a nice date anyway: that’s also when I officially start my own business. It will be called The Jumping Fox, and TallyHour will be the first cub to leave the den.
Had enough of loose scraps of paper too? Leave your email address below and you’ll be the first to know as soon as you can download TallyHour. One address, one button, zero spam.
For now, the app is in Dutch. English is also being considered: leave your email address and we’ll keep you posted.
Time for a first status update on the development of TallyHour. It’s coming along nicely. So nicely, in fact, that the app already looks pretty much finished. It definitely isn’t; you only notice that when you press a button that doesn’t lead anywhere yet. To put it in building terms: the foundation is laid. The roof isn’t on yet and the window frames are still in the van, but you can already stand on it just fine.
Below is a short overview of what has already been built, and what still needs to be done. Spoiler: that second list isn’t any shorter. For the current state of play, see the roadmap, which I keep up to date.
What TallyHour can already do
Tracking hours
Enter hours per client: from–to, break, description, billable or not, also for an earlier day.
A note with formatting, photos and files for every job.
Own work: hours without a client, such as admin or tidying up the van. You choose the description from your own list, and your business name appears in the overviews.
Hours are rounded to the quarter or half hour if you want, and the default break is filled in for you.
Overviews
Today: what you did today, with the total hours and amount, and your logo.
Week: the current week from Monday to Sunday, browsing by week and by day.
History: find, filter and sort everything, edit or delete several lines at once.
Export to Excel, optionally with the notes, photos and files in a zip.
Clients
Up to 25 active, unlimited inactive.
Private or business, with name, short description, contact person, email, phone, address, Chamber of Commerce number, hourly rate and VAT.
Look up an address, and the distance and travel time from where you are, with one click to Apple Maps or CarPlay.
Smart search on everything, typos included.
The latest job and all previous jobs per client.
A warning for duplicate names or email addresses.
Settings
My business: details and logo, with checks on phone number, Chamber of Commerce number, VAT number and website. The logo can also be fetched from your own website.
Hours: rounding and default break.
Clients: private or business by default, own work on or off, and distance and travel time on or off.
Display: animations on or off. Advanced: ‘Continue where you left off’.
iCloud status: whether everything is in sync, and on which Macs, iPhones and iPads TallyHour is running.
General
Everything is kept in sync between your devices via your own iCloud.
A trash bin with a warning, and windows in the app’s own style that you can drag around.
After a restart, you continue where you left off.
A test button to add dummy data or erase everything; it will disappear before the App Store release.
A look inside the app
For those who prefer looking at pictures to reading lists (very understandable). The app is in Dutch, so the screenshots are too:
Today: total hours and amount, with your logo.
Week: the current week, browsing by week and by day.
History: find, filter and sort everything.
Clients: rate, VAT and the latest job in one list.
My business: details and logo, with checks on Chamber of Commerce number, VAT number and website.
Settings: your own list of descriptions, rounding and default break.
iCloud status, from the settings.
Entering hours: client, from–to, break and description.
Editing hours, with the client’s details alongside.
All jobs per client.
A note with formatting, photos and files for a job.
iCloud status: on which Macs, iPhones and iPads TallyHour is running.
1 / 12
Click an image to view it full size.
What still needs to be done
Still in Settings
Sign-off: the client signs for approval on your iPhone or iPad.
Calendar link: jobs automatically in your calendar.
Auto-save, as an option.
Major parts
Expenses: materials, recurring items, mileage and receipts.
Timesheets: a neat PDF in your own style, emailed or printed straight away.
Reminders: a nudge when you haven’t entered any hours yet.
Self-employment: a counter for the Dutch hours criterion (1,225 hours), and a warning if you work too much for one client (risk of false self-employment).
Timer: start and stop, also in the menu bar.
First launch: a welcome screen and choosing a colour theme.
Feedback & suggestions, plus a manual and release notes on declaruur.nl.
Trial and purchase: 15 days free, then €19.95 once (incl. VAT). In TestFlight everything is unlocked, with a test menu.
Finishing and release
Testing the iPhone and iPad versions, in portrait and landscape, and later also on the foldable iPhone.
Removing the test buttons, and submitting TallyHour to the App Store.
Meanwhile, the marketing department (that’s me too) is going all out: the business cards have been ordered, and I’ll soon be leaving flyers at DIY stores, among other places. Spot a TallyHour flyer somewhere between the screws and the sealant tubes? Feel free to take one. Or two, for a colleague.
I still expect TallyHour to be in Apple’s App Store on 1 December, but unfortunately there are no guarantees. I’ve already done some testing, and Apple’s ‘Review’, the approval (or rejection 🥺), can sometimes take quite a while. Somewhere in California, someone decides when my baby is allowed out. I just hope that person slept well that night.
In short: watch this space! And don’t forget to sign up below, it’s really simple, and you’ll get a heads-up as soon as TallyHour can be downloaded. One email address, one button, zero spam. Easier than tracking your hours. Well, easier than tracking your hours without TallyHour.
For now, the app is in Dutch. English is also being considered: leave your email address and we’ll keep you posted.
After more than a quarter of a century of happily working as an employee, it’s time for a new chapter: from 1 December 2026 I’m running my own business. With fresh energy, I’ve already started raising my baby: TallyHour.
TallyHour is an app for every self-employed professional: the carpenter, the painter, the installer and the freelancer behind the laptop. You keep track of your hours, expenses, mileage and notes for each client, and create a neat timesheet in just a few taps. No more scraps of paper in the van, no more puzzling on a Sunday evening. Klaar & declaar, as we say in Dutch: done and billed.
It feels great to be building things on my own again: dreaming it up, building it, testing it. And with a bit of luck, it’ll earn me a few pennies too.
TallyHour is coming soon to the App Store, for iPhone, iPad and Mac. A one-time €19.95 (incl. VAT), no subscription, made for freelancers working in the Netherlands. Want a heads-up as soon as you can download it? How it’s going is on the roadmap.
