Tell us your first name and email address, and we'll email you a sign-in code. Type the code in on the next screen and you're in. There's no password to remember.
First time here? The same code sets up your account. Your name is only used to say hello.
Enter your code
We've emailed a sign-in code to . Type it in below. Keep this page open while you check your email.
AdminDidn't get the email, or the code won't work?
Wait a minute, then check your junk or spam folder.
Make sure the email address is spelled correctly.
Each code works once and runs out after about an hour. If you've asked for more than one, use the newest email.
If the email has a sign-in button instead, pressing it works too. Open it on the phone or computer you want to use the app on.
The jobs everyone means to get round to. Tick them off as you go. More detail
Moon tonight
Your stars
Quick task
Trains in the next hour
Your day
Focus timer
25:00
Focus
Local news
UK news
Useful sites
Feeling alright?
Your topic
Sport
Your money
Update your balance whenever you check your banking app. Everything below recalculates from it.
This month
Day-to-day spending, not counting bills.
Bills due this month
Due
Bill
Amount
Paid
Log spending
This month by category
Date
Category
Note
Amount
Money in
Add paydays, invoices you're owed, benefit payments and anything else coming in. The next one sets how long your money has to last.
Date
Source
Amount
Bills
Due
Bill
Amount
Paid
Debts
Add a debt
Next payments due before your next payday come off your safe-to-spend money, so don't add them under Bills as well.
Your debts
Food shop
Your list
Tick items off as they go in your basket. Prices you enter are remembered, so the next time you add the same thing it fills in by itself.
Finished shopping?
Enter your receipt total. It's logged as Food shop spending in your Budget, and ticked items are cleared from the list.
Things you buy
Everything you've bought before, with the last price you paid. Press one to put it back on your list. Change a price here and it's used from now on.
Quick add
Tap a staple to put it on your list.
Meal ideas
Everyday meals, most of them from cupboard basics. Add the ingredients to your list in one go.
Tasks
Add a deadline
Deadlines
Add something regular
Your week
Projects & Roadmap
Job search
Applications
Travel
What's near you
What's near you
Guided set up
Red arrows walk you through connecting everything, one step at a time.
Location
Set this once. It gives you the right weather, sunrise and sunset, and your nearest train stations. Currently:
Your calendar
This app doesn't ask to read your calendar, and it never will. Connecting one would mean handing over permission to everything in it -- where you are, who you're seeing, appointments you'd rather keep to yourself -- and that's a lot to ask for the sake of showing a list.
It works the other way round instead. Key dates builds a calendar file of your renewals, appointments and deadlines that opens straight into Google, Apple or Outlook, so the reminders land in the app that already nags you. Nothing to connect, nothing to approve.
Trains
Your stations follow the location you set above, so you only say where you are once. Right now that's . Change your location and your stations move with it.
How trains work
Trains: the Home Page lists every train leaving your stations in the next hour, in every direction, in departure order. Each shows its platform, how many minutes until it leaves, and its status: On time, Exp 14:32 (running late, with the new time), Delayed or Cancelled. It refreshes every minute. Disruption notices from National Rail show in yellow at the top.
Station codes: the app picks the stations nearest your location on its own. If you'd rather choose, every station has a 3-letter code you can look up on nationalrail.co.uk: Manchester Oxford Road is MCO, Piccadilly is MAN, Deansgate is DGT and Victoria is MCV. Type up to three, separated by commas, and press Save and test. To go back to automatic, empty the box and press Use nearest to me.
"Live trains aren't available" means live trains haven't been turned on for this copy of the app yet. Questions? Email support.
News
Headlines on the Home Page: one list for your area, one for the whole UK, one for sport and one for a topic of your choice. They come from BBC News where it's available, and other UK news sites when it isn't, so the panel keeps working if a feed goes down. Whoever published each story is shown under the headline, and pressing it opens their website.
Anything you want headlines about: your trade, your team, a company or a place. Leave it empty to turn the panel off.
Break reminders
A pop-up reminding you to get up, stretch and rest your eyes, with a daft fact to take your mind off work for a second.
Display
The background colour of the app. The text stays black either way. If a white screen is harsh on your eyes, or you're working late, try the grey.
Background picture
A photo of your own behind the app. It's faded down so everything stays readable, and it's saved in this browser only -- it never leaves your device and it isn't part of your backup file.
Off, and your picture only shows around the edges. On, and it comes through the panels as well. Turn it off if anything gets hard to read.
Star sign
The day and month you were born, for the Your stars panel on the Home Page. No year, so this isn't your date of birth, and like everything else it stays in this browser. Currently:
Key dates
Renewals, appointments and birthdays. They show in the Key dates panel on the Home Page alongside bank holidays and tax deadlines, and go into a calendar file you can load into Google, Apple or Outlook.
What goes in the calendar file
Your own dates, your open deadlines, bank holidays, tax deadlines and the clock changes. Open the file and your calendar app asks whether to add them. Dates marked Every year go in as repeating entries. Everything else goes in once, so if a date changes, delete the old entry from your calendar and download a fresh file.
Your account
Signed in as . Sign out when you finish on a shared computer.
Send feedback
Got an idea, or found something that isn't right? Email it over and it'll be looked at.
For testing and trying out themes. Everyday use doesn't need it.
Admin mode is on for this browser.
Theme tester shortcut: Ctrl or Cmd, Shift and D. Changes only affect this browser and are never sent to anyone.
Share your music list
Send this link to a friend by message or email. When they open it and sign in, they can add your tracks to their own music list.
The link only contains your YouTube links and their titles. Nothing else from the app goes with it, and nothing is stored by us. Anyone you send it to can pass it on.
Music shared with you
Someone sent you their music list. Add it and the tracks appear in Music, ready to play. Anything you already have won't be added twice.
Keep your data safe
Everything you add is saved in this browser as you go.
Your browser's copy can be lost if you clear your browsing data, switch device, or don't open the app for a week or so on an iPhone or Mac. Save it to a spreadsheet as well, and you'll have a copy you can open in Excel and restore from any time.
Auto-save to a spreadsheet
Save a copy now
Edits made in Excel aren't read back into the app.
Talk to someone
Everyone has a rough patch at some point. None of these will judge you, and you don't need a reason.
Right now, any time of day
Samaritans — free, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. You can call about anything, not only a crisis.
A GP can refer you for talking therapy, and in most of England you can also refer yourself to NHS Talking Therapies without seeing a GP first. If you need mental health help urgently and it isn't life-threatening, NHS 111 has a mental health option.
Remember to get up from your chair, stretch, and gently move your head around to relax your neck muscles and get your blood flowing. A 10 minute break helps your concentration when you come back.
Did you know?
What's new
Life v9.0, made for everyday life rather than university.
This month
A new page in Budget: set a monthly spending budget, and see every bill due this month, whether it's paid, when and how much. Look back at earlier months with Prev.
Bills that keep track
Mark a bill paid with the real date and amount. Weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly bills set up the next one for you.
Job Search
A list of the roles and contracts you're going for, with follow-up dates that show on the Home Page.
More meal ideas
Filter by quick, veggie or batch cook, let it pick one for you, or save your own.
How to use Life
Your money, bills, week and plans in one place. Everything stays on this device.
Get started in five minutes
Go to Settings, type your town or postcode so you get the right weather, and add your first name under Your account so the app says hello.
Go to Budget and enter how much is in your bank account and when your next payment arrives.
Add your bills on the Bills and income page. Mark each one paid with the date and amount as you pay it.
Set a monthly spending budget on the This month page.
Add your regular week in Routine, and anything with a due date in Deadlines.
Put renewals and appointments into Key dates in Settings, then download the calendar file so they land on your phone.
Prefer to be shown? Guided set up points to each step with red arrows.
What each tab does
Everything fits on one screen, so there's no scrolling. Budget, Food Shop and Settings have more than one page. Switch pages with the buttons at the top of the tab. Long lists scroll inside their own box.
Home Page
Your home screen. See how much you can spend today, what's on, what's due soon, the next trains, key dates, local, UK, sport and topic news, useful links and a focus timer, all on one screen.
Press Hide on any panel you don't need. Press Arrange at the top right to drag panels where you want them, or to bring hidden ones back. Press Done when you're finished.
Budget
Type in your bank balance whenever you check it. The app takes off bills that are still to pay and tells you how much you can spend each day until your next payment.
This month shows your spending against a monthly budget, and every bill due that month: paid, when and how much, or still to pay. Use Prev and Next to look back at other months.
Debts keeps each card, loan or arrears with its balance, next payment and notes. Log each payment with the date and amount and the balance comes down.
Add paydays under Money in, and bills under Bills with how often they come round. Press Mark paid, check the date and amount, and the next one is set up for you.
Food Shop
Make a shopping list, add a meal's ingredients in one tap, and see an estimated total before you go. Tick things off in the shop, then enter your receipt total and it's added to your Budget. Meal ideas can be filtered by quick, veggie or batch cook, and you can save meals of your own.
Tasks
A simple to-do list. Add a due date and it shows on the Home Page when it's coming up.
Deadlines
Forms, renewals, invoices, anything with a date. Each one counts down and turns amber a week before and red three days before. Add to my calendar puts them on your phone with a reminder.
Routine
Add the things that happen every week once, with the day, time and place: work, the gym, the school run. The Home Page then shows what's on now and what's next.
Projects
For bigger things like a website build, a room redo or a trip. Break it into steps with dates, keep notes and save links. The bar fills up as you tick steps off.
Job Search
Keep every role or contract you go for in one list, with its stage, the advert and a date to follow up. Follow-ups and interviews show on the Home Page when they're due.
Travel
A live departure board for each of your stations, like the ones at the station: times, platforms, delays and cancellations with the reason. It refreshes every minute.
Focus timer
Press Start and work until the chime, then take a short break. After four sessions you get a longer break.
Music and break reminders
Press Music at the top and paste a YouTube link to play music while you work. It needs the app opened from a web address or localhost, not straight from the file. Add & Play starts it straight away; Save for later just puts it on your list without interrupting anything. Hide tucks the player into a small tab in the corner, and the music keeps going — press the tab to bring it back. To send your list to a friend, press Share my list under your tracks. A reminder pops up every 15 minutes to get you moving. You can change or turn it off in Settings.
Step-by-step help
Get your dates into your phone's calendar
This app doesn't ask to read your calendar. Connecting one means handing an app permission to see everything in it, and for the sake of showing you a list you already have, that isn't a fair trade. It works the other way round instead.
Go to Settings and add your renewals and appointments under Key dates.
Press Download calendar file.
Open the file that downloads. Your phone or laptop asks which calendar to put the dates in.
Your own dates, your deadlines, bank holidays and tax deadlines all go across in one go, and your usual calendar app does the reminding. Dates marked Every year repeat on their own. The rest go in once, so if one changes, take the old entry out of your calendar and download a fresh file.
What's coming up also shows on the Home Page under Your day and Key dates, without going anywhere near your calendar.
Set up trains
There's nothing to set up. Once your location is saved in Settings, the app picks your nearest stations on its own and shows their departures on the Home Page and on the Travel tab.
The Travel tab also has a map of what's around you: where you are, your nearest stations, the bus stops nearby and the nearest supermarkets, each with how far it is and roughly how long it takes to walk. Press anything in the list to find it on the map, and use the tick boxes to show or hide each kind.
Bus times: next to each bus stop there's a Live button. Press it to see the next buses from that stop right there: the time, the bus number and where it's going. Look for your destination in the list, like Windsor. "Live" means the bus is being tracked; "Timetable" means it's the planned time.
Find a bus to somewhere: type where you're going in the Where to? box above the list, like Windsor, and press Find bus. The app checks your two nearest stops and tells you the next bus going there, which stop to wait at, and how long until it comes. It works by where each bus says it's heading, so if nothing comes up, try a bigger town nearby or press Live on your stop to see everything that's due. What you type stays on your device.
Send it to your phone: under the answer, press Send to my phone. On a phone it opens your usual share menu, so you can text it, WhatsApp it or save it. On a laptop you can email it to yourself or copy it. The message has the bus, the time, the stop, a map link to the stop and when it was checked. Remind me adds the bus to your calendar with an alert before it's due.
Live bus times are shared between everyone using the app and there's a small daily allowance. If it says they're used up for today, they come back at midnight.
To use different stations, go to Settings, find Trains and type the 3-letter codes, separated by commas. Manchester Oxford Road is MCO, Piccadilly is MAN, Deansgate is DGT and Victoria is MCV. For any other station, search for it on nationalrail.co.uk and the code is shown next to its name. Press Save and test.
To hand it back to the app, empty the Stations box and press Use nearest to me.
Back up your data or move to a new device
Everything is saved in this browser only. If you clear your browser data, change browser or get a new laptop, it won't come with you unless you've backed it up.
Go to Settings, find Your data and press Back up.
On a computer with Chrome or Edge, choose Choose Where to Auto-save and pick a folder, like OneDrive or Google Drive. Every change is then saved there automatically.
On anything else, press Download Spreadsheet to save a copy. Do this every few days.
To move to a new device, open the app there, press Back up, then Open a Saved Spreadsheet and pick your file.
Life admin
The Life admin panel on the Home Page has these as a tick list. None of it is urgent, but all of it is easier to do on a quiet week than when something's gone wrong.
Where do I go when something's wrong?
A pharmacy for coughs, rashes, minor infections and advice. No appointment, and they can prescribe for some things themselves.
NHS 111, online or by phone, when you're not sure. It's free and it tells you where to go.
Your GP for anything ongoing, mental health included.
An urgent treatment centre or minor injuries unit for sprains, cuts and small breaks. Much faster than A&E.
A&E or 999 for chest pain, serious bleeding, breathing trouble, a head injury, stroke signs, or anything you'd call life-threatening.
Your nearest hospitals, GP surgeries and pharmacies are on the map on the Travel tab. Not every hospital has an A&E department, so check before you set off.
Council tax, tax codes and the TV licence
Council tax: if you're the only adult living at your address, you get 25% off. Ask your council; it isn't applied automatically. Some homes are in the wrong band, and the gov.uk checker shows your neighbours' bands for comparison.
Tax code: after a job change, or with more than one income, your tax code is often wrong for a while. Your personal tax account shows it, and overpaid tax comes back to you.
TV Licence: you need one to watch live TV on any channel or service, or to use BBC iPlayer at all. If you only use Netflix and YouTube and never watch live, you don't.
Moving house: tell your bank, employer, HMRC, the DVLA, your GP, your insurers and the electoral register. The DVLA one carries a fine if you forget.
Your data and privacy
Where is my information kept?
On this device, in this browser only. Your account is just your email address, used to sign you in. Your budget, bills, tasks, deadlines, routine, projects and job search are never uploaded to us. If you choose to back up, the file goes wherever you save it, such as your own OneDrive or Google Drive.
Can dPaul Studio see my data?
No. We can see the first name and email address you sign in with and when you last signed in, and nothing else. Your first name is only used to greet you, and you can change it any time under Your account in Settings. There's no tracking or advertising in the app. We can't see your money, bills, plans or calendar.
Can this app read my calendar, email or contacts?
No, and it never asks to. There's no Connect button for any of them, so there's no permission to grant and nothing to take back later. Earlier versions had a Google Calendar connection; it was taken out in v6.3 because reading somebody's whole calendar to show them a list they already had wasn't a fair swap.
Dates travel the other way instead: the app makes a calendar file you load into your own calendar app, which needs no permissions at all.
Does anything leave my device?
Only what's needed to fetch live information, and only when you use that feature:
Signing in: your email address and first name go to Supabase, the service that sends your sign-in codes and remembers that you're signed in. Keeping your name there is what lets it greet you on a new phone or laptop.
Weather and map: your saved location goes to Open-Meteo for the forecast and to OpenStreetMap for the map. A postcode you search for goes to postcodes.io.
Trains: your station codes go through our train service to National Rail. It doesn't record who asked. Working out which stations are nearest happens inside the app, so your location isn't sent anywhere for that.
The map on Travel: to find the bus stops and shops near you, your location rounded to about 100 metres goes to OpenStreetMap's public map service. Your exact position is never sent, and the answer is kept in this browser for a month so it's only asked once.
Bus times: when you press Live next to a bus stop, only that stop's code goes through our bus service to TransportAPI for the next departures. It doesn't record who asked. Sending a bus to your phone uses your own share menu, text or email app, so the app never sees a phone number.
News: only your news area (like Berkshire) goes through our news service to the news sites it reads, never your exact location. It doesn't record who asked. Opening a headline takes you to whichever site published it, shown under each one.
Music: nothing at all is asked of YouTube until you press play and agree. After that the player uses YouTube's no-cookie address, and YouTube's own privacy rules apply. You can change your mind under Privacy and cookies in Settings.
Like any website, these services see a normal web request, which includes your internet address.
How do I sign in and out?
Type your email address on the sign-in screen, then type in the code we email you. You stay signed in on that device until you press Sign out in Settings. To sign in on another phone or computer, ask for a new code on that device.
To close your account, email support from the address you sign in with.
What's in a music share link?
Only the YouTube links in your music list and their titles. It's built into the link itself, so nothing is stored by us. Whoever you send it to can see those tracks and pass the link on, so only share it with people you're happy to.
How do I delete my data?
Go to Settings, find Your data and press Delete all my data. Clearing your browser's data for this site also deletes it. Any backup files you saved are yours to keep or delete.
Is it safe on a shared computer?
Press Sign out in Settings when you finish. Your information still stays in that browser after you sign out, so on a computer other people use, it's safest to use your own device or browser profile, or press Delete all my data before you leave.