Eon: Time Tracking That Integrates With Anything!

Have you ever wished for a really, really simple app to just track the time you are spending on a task? Nothing fancy, nothing that forces you to install a full blown application with so many options you forget what it was that you wanted to do?

Or are you craving for something that will simply work with your favorite web service like Freshbooks or Basecamp? Well, look no further. Eon might be the answer to your needs.

The Interface

Eon doesn’t have an interface in the traditional sense. After installation, it will sit in your menu bar. A tiny timer, unobstrusive yet elegant.

Through the preference window, you can manage your projects. If you have multiple sub-tasks belonging to a single project, you can group them together. That will help you to keep your stuff organized. There are no restrictions to the number of projects you can add, so go crazy!

Once you’ve set up your tasks, you can start tracking time for them. You can do that either via the menu item or time tracking screen, depending on your preferences.

Integration With Other Services

While being useful and extremely pretty, the true power of Eon lies in its integration with 17 – yes, that’s right: seventeen – third party services that you might use to write your invoices and keep track of your work. You can see a complete list on Eon’s website, but some of the most widely known services are ActiveCollab, Basecamp, Billings, Freshbooks and Harvest.

In order to transfer the recorded time from Eon to any of those services, simply select the project in question in the preferences window and set the checkmark for “Integrate with An Online Service”. Then chose your account type and enter the relevant information.

I tried this with Billings, since it’s the app I use for my invoicing. It’s not an online service, but the method is the same (depending on which service you chose, the information you need to provide may vary).

The recorded time shows up in Billings as a general slip (time record), which I can then assign to a project or client I’ve already set up in the app.

Additional Features

So far we’ve talked about the basic functionality of Eon, which is exactly what it claims to be: a simple and elegant time tracking app. But there are some other nice features worth mentioning.

First of all, you can round your time. Doesn’t sound spectacular? Well, it depends on if and how you charge for your time. I myself charge in 30 minute increments. So, if I’ve worked for less than 30 minutes, I can have Eon round up that time for me before sending it to Billings.

What if I made a mistake while doing that (or for some reason got distracted while the timer was running), and now I am about to charge my client more than I actually worked for? Eon has a solution for that as well – time editing. It’s all simple, elegant and very easy to use.

And, of course, many of you will know the scenario where you walk away from your computer, but forget to stop the timer. Maybe your phone rang, maybe your kid needed you … you come back and the timer runs and runs and you have no idea how much time you actually spent before walking away.

You guessed it: Eon has a solution for that as well. It’s smart enough to notice if your computer is idle (you’re not doing anything with it) and it just stops the timer then. Once you’re back, you can restart it where you left off. Cool.

Verdict

Eon is a very smart and handy little app that comes with just enough features to be very useful but not enough to make it bloated. Apart from sexy looks, it surprises with the level of third-party service integration offered and I think that’s where its strength lies.

Some of those services don’t offer you the ability to constantly track your time unless you have the website open. With Eon, you don’t need an internet connection. You can simply work wherever and whenever you want and, once you’re done, send the information where you want it.

Is it worth $30? For a casual user, maybe not. But if you’re a freelancer using any of the integrated services and you make your living by charging others for your time, you might want to give Eon a closer look.