Time Tracker is buggy as hell.

[boris268]

I work as an Artist and I noticed that the time tracker is sometimes speeding ahead of time or slower then the clock. Sometimes even freezes and doesn't move. Sometimes I work for 5-6 8 hours in a day and it only logs like 4-5 hours from that day.

I do understand how it works "basically it reads how many clicks and key strokes you do per min or so" but this doesn't work well for artists who need to take time to do art.

This would make sense only for coders or writers. I noticed this when I was writing complex shaders and was writing programing code that the tracker was actually working better then when it was doing art. I also noticed when my computer was under CPU preassure because I work on heavy scenes that require a lot of GPU and CPU power the timer would basically stop working completly and I would have to stop it until the action finished.

Only solution to fix this was to restart it or stop the tracker and track again. I hope upwork fixes this I'm on windows 10 I wrote already to feedback on the tracker app itself and I said also some nice things but the tracker is still not 100% accurate and I don't trust it.

[kimsmiles]

Yes, mine is not even opening after updating to the latest version. I have restarted it like twice, I even restarted my computer, it's still not coming up. 

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Oluwakemi,

Could you please clarify if the desktop app is not running at all (showing on your desktop) or you`re having another problem/error on your end? Thank you.

[kimsmiles]

Hi Govan, the application is not coming up. I can't see the interface. I have uninstalled and re-installed and it's still the same thing. 

[BojanS]

Hi Oluwakemi,

Could you please look at the system tray where the Upwork icon should be running? Please right-click on that and go to settings and logout. Once this is done, click on the application icon and log back in.  

If the issue persists, you can also try Troubleshooting tips shared in this help article.

Thank you.

[kimsmiles]

Thanks Bojan. I'm using Mac, when I right-click at the icon on the tray, I can't find settings, but can find 'options' but nothing like settings or log out. 

[BojanS]

I'm sorry to hear that this didn't help,  Oluwakemi! Could you please confirm the OS version and I'll have one of our agents reach out to you directly to further assist? 

Thank you for your patience. 

[kimsmiles]

Hi Bojan,

It's macOS High Sierra

Version 10.13(17A405)

[BojanS]

Thank you for following up with additional information, Oluwakemi. 

One of our team members will reach out to you directly via a support ticket to further assist you with this issue. 

[kimsmiles]

Hi Govan, I am presently working on a project that needs to be tracked. Please what should I do. How can I un-update the app. It was working perfectly before the update. 

[g_vasilevski]

Hi Boris,

Just to confirm that I`m checking few details with our team and once I have more details I will post an update here. Thank you.

[wlyonsatl]

Boris,

I wish TimeTracker tracked my actual activities rather than using clumsy 10-minute blocks. Like you, I sometimes have to do work for my clients (like read large legal documents) that doesn't require moving my mouse or using the keyboard. I can keep TimeTracker engaged by taking notes online dring these session, but it's not an ideal solution.

Unfortunately, I think we're stuck with the current version of TimeTracker.

[prestonhunter]

Boris:
It is what it is.

The time-tracker works without any problems on many systems. I am a programmer, and the time-tracker actually works quite well for me.

That might not be the case on your computer.

My work does not entail heavy GPU or CPU use.

It sounds like it may be legitimately buggy on your computer.

You can send reports to Upwork about this, depending on your level of patience and interest. Ultimately, you are not the Upwork time-tracker project manager, though. So it isn't your responsibility to get it to work right.

Until Upwork improves the way it works on your particular type of computer and operating system (which may or may not happen), then your alternatives would seem to be:

- Use manual time

- Use fixed-price contracts

- Use a different computer

None of these seem "ideal." Just speaking in terms of practicality.

[dzadza]

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Preston H wrote:

- Use fixed-price contracts

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time tracker + illustrator +  dimension = total disaster, lol

tracker usually crashes my illustrator (CC 2019), and when I tried to use it with illustrator and dimension - time literally stopped, lol
I think I'll stick to fixed price contracts...