Your hands are on the steering wheel, the keyboard, or a pair of dishes. The day's first project is starting and you don't want to dig the phone out of your pocket. You raise your wrist or look at the HomePod and say: "Hey Siri, start the Acme timer."
Two seconds later, the timer is running on the right project, with the right rate, against the right tag. The entry has a real start time (when you spoke) and will have a real end time when you say stop later.
That's what Siri Shortcuts unlock for Timesheet. Voice commands for the things you do dozens of times a week.
What Siri Can Do for Timesheet
Out of the box, Timesheet ships with App Intents for the actions Siri can call directly:
- Start a timer on a chosen project
- Stop the active timer
- Pause and resume the active timer
- Switch the timer to a different project
- Get the current timer status and elapsed time
- Log a time entry with start time, end time, and project
You don't have to write code or build a Shortcut to use these. They show up in Siri the moment you install the app and grant permission.
Every Siri-driven action creates or closes a real time entry with concrete start and end times. The act of speaking is timestamped; the entry uses that timestamp.
The Basic Voice Commands
Try these first. The exact phrasing is flexible; Siri usually understands close approximations.
| What you say | What happens |
|---|---|
| "Hey Siri, start a Timesheet timer" | Opens a project picker, or starts on the default project if one is set |
| "Hey Siri, stop the Timesheet timer" | Stops the active timer, saves the entry |
| "Hey Siri, pause the Timesheet timer" | Inserts a break, keeps the entry open |
| "Hey Siri, resume the Timesheet timer" | Ends the break, continues the entry |
| "Hey Siri, what's running in Timesheet?" | Reads back the active project and elapsed time |
If Siri opens the app instead of completing the action, grant Siri access under Settings then Siri & Search then Timesheet on iOS.
Custom Shortcuts: One Voice Command Per Project
The biggest win is creating a Shortcut per project so you can say "Start Acme" instead of going through a generic picker.
Step 1: Open the Shortcuts App
Pre-installed on every iPhone and iPad. The icon is two interlocking circles.
Step 2: New Shortcut
- Tap the + in the upper-right corner
- Tap Add Action
- Search for Timesheet
- Pick Start Timer
- Tap the project field and choose your project (e.g., Acme · Frontend)
- Optionally pick a tag (e.g., Billable) and a rate
Step 3: Name It
- Tap the Shortcut name at the top
- Type "Start Acme" or "Start Acme Frontend"
- Tap Done
Step 4: Try It
Say "Hey Siri, start Acme". The timer starts immediately, no picker, no confirmation.
Repeat for each project you switch to often. Most users land on three to five Shortcuts; more than that and the voice phrasing starts colliding.
Shortcuts That Chain Actions
Shortcuts can do more than start a timer. Combine actions for richer flows.
"Start my workday"
- Start Timesheet timer on Day Job · Core
- Set Do Not Disturb to On for two hours
- Open Slack
One voice command boots the workday.
"End my workday"
- Stop the Timesheet timer
- Get today's Timesheet total
- Speak it back ("You worked 7 hours 42 minutes today")
The Shortcut reads the total from the app's intent and uses the system's Speak Text action.
"Log lunch retroactively"
- Use the Log Time Entry intent
- Set start time to today 12:30
- Set end time to today 13:00
- Set project to Break (or whatever you use)
Run this Shortcut as a manual action at the end of the day if you forgot to pause.
"Switch to the next client"
- Stop the active timer
- Wait one second
- Start a new timer on a chosen project
Cleaner than two separate commands and avoids overlapping entries.
Where Siri Lives
The same Shortcut runs on every Apple device where you're signed in.
- iPhone: voice via "Hey Siri" or the side button
- Apple Watch: voice via "Hey Siri" or raising the wrist
- iPad: voice or the Shortcuts widget on the lock screen
- Mac: voice via Siri menu bar or as a menu-bar Shortcut
- HomePod and HomePod mini: voice from across the room
- AirPods: voice via "Hey Siri" when AirPods are connected
For the watch-specific patterns, see the Apple Watch guide.
Automations Beyond Voice
Beyond manual voice commands, Shortcuts can run personal automations triggered by time of day, location, app open, or NFC. A few that pair well with time tracking:
- At 09:00 every weekday: Start the Day Job timer
- When I arrive at the Acme office: Start the Acme timer
- When I open Figma: Start the Design timer
- When I tap an NFC tag: Start a specific project (overlap with the NFC feature, but useful if you want extra logic before the timer)
Personal automations run from the Automation tab in the Shortcuts app. By default Apple asks for confirmation before running; for a true hands-free flow, toggle Ask Before Running off.
Common Patterns That Work Well
One Shortcut per project, named verbally. "Start Acme", "Start Beta", "Start Side Project". Three or four is the sweet spot.
Build Stop into a single command. "Stop tracking" works once you've recorded the matching Shortcut.
Use Shortcuts for the awkward middle. Logging time you forgot, switching while driving, asking for today's total. The actions that are slow in the GUI become one-liners with voice.
Don't fight Siri. If Siri misunderstands "Acme" three times in a row, rename the Shortcut to a word Siri hears well (e.g., "Apollo Frontend").
Common Questions
Does it work on Android? The Siri integration is iOS-only, including watchOS and macOS. Android has a comparable story via Google Assistant; that's not covered here.
Does Siri see my time entries? The Shortcut intent receives only the data your Shortcut asks for. For "what's running?", that's the active project and elapsed time. Nothing else leaves the device.
Can I use these offline? Start and stop work offline. Asking for totals or recent entries needs the local database, which the app caches, so it generally works offline too.
Can multiple users share Shortcuts? Shortcuts are personal. You can share the Shortcut file with a colleague; they'll need to pick their own projects when they import it.
What if Siri responds with "I couldn't find Timesheet"? Grant Siri access for Timesheet in iOS Settings, force-quit and reopen the app once, then try again. Apple's Siri index sometimes lags behind a new install by a few minutes.
Summary
- Siri can start, stop, pause, switch, and query the timer out of the box
- Custom Shortcuts turn project names into one-word voice commands
- Shortcuts chain actions (start timer + DnD + open app)
- Personal automations fire on time, place, or app events
- Works across iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, HomePod, and AirPods
Where to Go Next
- Track from your Apple Watch for the voice and complication combo
- Auto-start a timer when you join Wi-Fi for the parts of the day Siri shouldn't touch
- Automate time tracking with geofence, Wi-Fi, and NFC to round out the hands-free workflow