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The basics

What does Ratekeeper actually do?

It tells you your watch’s rate — how many seconds a day it gains or loses — measured against atomic network time, to the tenth of a second a day. No timing machine, no microphone, no cradle. Just your watch, your phone, and a tap.

How do I measure a watch?

Add the watch, set it to true time to start a run, and a day or two later tap the screen the instant its second hand crosses 12. Ratekeeper compares that tap to network time and, from two readings, works out the rate. The whole measurement is a five-second thing.

What does Ratekeeper cost?

Ratekeeper is free to download, and free in full for your first seven days. After that, one watch — its readings, runs, and current rate — stays free forever. A single one-time purchase unlocks the full rate history, earlier runs, resting positions, the shareable rate card, and room for the rest of your collection. No subscription, no ads, and nothing you’ve recorded is ever deleted. A purchase on the App Store covers your iPhone and iPad; on Google Play, your Android devices.

Do I need an account?

No. There’s no sign-up and no login. Your watches and readings live on your device. On iPhone and iPad they sync through your private iCloud; on Android you can connect Google Drive for a private backup. Either way, there’s nothing we can see.

Does it work offline?

Yes. Ratekeeper reaches the network only briefly, to fetch true time before a reading. Everything else — your collection, history, and charts — works with no connection at all.

Taking a reading

How do I take a reading?

Open the watch and tap Take reading. Watch your wrist, not the screen, and tap anywhere the moment the second hand crosses 12 — a gentle knock confirms the tap. Then confirm the minute your dial reads, and save.

Why does it ask me to confirm the minute?

The tap captures the seconds precisely; confirming the minute just tells Ratekeeper which minute mark the hand was crossing. It pre-fills its best guess — nudge it with − / + if your dial reads differently.

It says my tap landed “off” — what does that mean?

That’s a gentle check, not an error. When a tap lands far from where the second hand was expected, it usually means the minute got confirmed wrong, or the hand wasn’t quite crossing 12. Give the dial a second look, or Re-capture. If the watch genuinely reads that far off, you can use the reading anyway.

Why won’t it give me a rate yet?

A rate needs two readings far enough apart — at least 12 hours, and a day or two is better (a week or two for quartz). Right after you set a watch, Ratekeeper shows a live “rate-ready” countdown; take your next reading once it’s ready.

I tapped and nothing happened.

Ratekeeper was still fetching true time — it can’t measure against a clock it doesn’t have yet. The instruction shakes and re-syncs; wait a second for “Tap anywhere…” to appear, then try again.

Runs, rates & positions

What’s a run?

Everything between two settings of the watch. Setting your watch to true time starts a run at a clean 0.0 seconds, and every reading in that run charts the drift from there. Start a new run whenever you reset the watch — after a service, say, or a day it wound down.

What does “spd” mean?

Seconds per day — how much the watch gains (+) or loses (−) each day. Ratekeeper always says it in words too (“gains 5.4 seconds a day”), so the sign never has to be decoded. What seconds per day actually means goes into the unit itself.

Why is the big rate different from a run’s average?

The big number is the latest measured interval — reading to reading, your watch’s current behaviour. A run’s average is its whole drift across its whole span — the long view. Both are true; they just answer different questions.

Why does Ratekeeper ask which position the watch rested in?

Gravity. A mechanical watch runs at slightly different rates dial-up, crown-down, on the wrist, and so on. Recording the resting position lets Ratekeeper break the rate down position by position — and even suggest how to rest the watch tonight to pull it closer to true. It’s always optional, and quartz watches are never asked, since gravity doesn’t move a crystal. Resting position and overnight accuracy covers how much difference it makes and how to find out what your watch does.

Why is my rate different from a timing machine’s?

A timegrapher reads the instantaneous beat in a fixed position for a few seconds. Ratekeeper measures the real rate over hours or days, in whatever positions the watch actually lived in — closer to how it performs on your wrist than on a stand. Timegrapher readings and real world rate goes through why the two disagree and what each one is good for.

Can I fix or remove a reading?

Yes. Swipe a reading in the history (or press and hold it) to edit its resting position or delete it — rates recompute without it. You can also undo a run you’ve just started.

How many watches can I track?

As many as you like — manual, automatic, quartz, or something else. Each is measured on its own terms.

Accuracy benchmarks

What do −4/+6 and 0/+5 mean?

Two accuracy bands, in seconds per day. −4/+6 lets a watch lose 4 seconds a day or gain 6; 0/+5 is tighter and gaining-only. Pick one on a watch (tap Edit) and every rate is graded against it, so you can see at a glance whether the watch is keeping to spec. What is good accuracy for a mechanical watch covers what the bands allow and why a great many watches are specified far wider.

Does staying inside a band mean my watch is accurate?

It means its daily rate is, over the readings you’ve taken. A band is a reference line, not a verdict — Ratekeeper measures daily rate and only daily rate.

True time & the Clock

What is “true time”?

A network-time (NTP) clock — from time.apple.com on iPhone and iPad, or time.google.com on Android — cross-checked against a second time server when it can be reached and accurate to about a hundredth of a second. It’s the reference every reading is measured against — far truer than your phone’s own displayed clock.

What’s the Clock tab for?

It’s a standalone true-time reference, showing network time to the tenth of a second. Hold any watch against it to set the dial. (To log a reading, open the watch in Watches and tap Take reading — the Clock is only for setting.)

Reminders & alerts

How do I get reminded to take readings?

In Settings → Reading reminder, turn the reminder on and pick a rhythm (every 2 days, every 3 days, or weekly) and a time. Rates come from readings a few days apart, so a quiet nudge helps you keep the cadence.

What’s the “rate-ready alert”?

A single alert, per watch, the moment enough time has passed for a reading to make its first rate — so you know exactly when it’s worth measuring again. You can turn it off with the reading reminder.

Are notifications sent from a server?

No. Every reminder and alert is a local notification scheduled on your own device — nothing is scheduled off it.

My reminder isn’t arriving.

Check that the reminder is on in Settings → Reading reminder, and that notifications for Ratekeeper are allowed in your phone’s own settings — on iPhone, Settings → Ratekeeper → Notifications; on Android, Settings → Apps → Ratekeeper → Notifications.

Your data & backups

Do my watches sync across devices?

Yes — through your own cloud, never ours. On iPhone and iPad, sign into the same Apple Account on each device and your collection and readings stay in sync through iCloud. On Android, connect the same Google account in Settings → Google Drive backup on each device and your readings follow you there too. There’s no account to create with us and nothing we can see.

Does it sync between iPhone and Android?

No. Each platform backs up to its own cloud — iCloud on Apple devices, your own Google Drive on Android — and the two don’t talk to each other. Your readings are never locked in, though: either version will export the lot to CSV.

What is the backup row in Settings?

It’s called iCloud backup on iPhone and iPad, and Google Drive backup on Android. Either way it shows whether your data has been backed up to your own cloud — a reassuring relative date (“yesterday”) when all is well, or a gentle “waiting to sync” if it hasn’t caught up, usually because you’re signed out or offline. Tap it for the details. On Android, backup stays off until you connect it — tap the row and choose Connect.

How do I export my readings?

Settings → Export readings writes every watch, run, and reading to a CSV file you can save or share — one row per reading. The data is yours to keep.

How do I erase everything?

Settings → Reset all data permanently deletes every watch, run, and reading — on this device and in your iCloud or Google Drive backup, if you have one. You’ll be asked to confirm twice, and it can’t be undone. Export a CSV first if in doubt.

Still need help?

New to any of this? Settings → How Ratekeeper works is a short, plain-language guide to runs, rates, resting positions, and the benchmarks.