The Timeline

The timeline is Align's main screen. On a narrow window, such as an iPhone, it shows one day at a time. On a wider window, such as an iPad, it can show several days side by side, each with its own date header. Each day runs from top to bottom, with your time blocks and calendar events in the order they happen. This page explains what the timeline shows and how to move between days.

Layout

Hours run down the left side of the timeline, each above a faint line.
Time blocks are listed from top to bottom in time order. Each one shows its time and duration.
The date browser at the top shows the days of the week (or the month) and the month and year above them.

The Current-Time Line

On today's timeline, a thin pink line marks the current time, with the time shown in pink in the hour column. The line moves as the day goes on and only appears on the current day.

Each time block also has a vertical bar on its left. The bar is full before the block starts and empties as the block's time passes, so you can see at a glance how much of the current block is left.

Moving Between Days

Tap a day in the date browser to open it.
Swipe the date browser left or right to move to the previous or next week (or month). The day you land on opens.
Swipe the timeline left or right to move one day back or forward.

Today's date in the date browser carries a small today label.

On wider screens, such as iPad, the date browser scrolls freely instead of page by page, and you tap a day to open it.

Week and Month View

A small chevron sits under the date browser and switches between week and month view.

Tap the chevron, or drag it down, to open month view.
Tap it again, or drag it up, to return to week view.

Month view adds a row of weekday names above the dates.

Jumping to Today

Any of these takes you back to today and scrolls the timeline to the current time:

Tap the month and year at the top of the screen.
Tap the chevron tab beside the date browser that points towards today. It appears when the week or month you are looking at does not include today.
On wide screens, tap the Today button next to the month and year. It appears whenever a day other than today is selected.

Align also opens on today, scrolled to the current time. When you return to the app after an hour or more away, it goes back to today and the current time.

Free Time

Gaps of more than 5 minutes between time blocks appear as free time. Each gap shows a label and its length:

Start of day: the time before your first block.
Free time: the time between two blocks.
End of day: the time after your last block.

To fill a gap, tap Create time block (or Create when space is short) inside it. The new time block starts at the beginning of the gap.

All-Day Events

All-day events from your calendars appear in a row at the top of the timeline, above the first hour. The row only appears on days that have all-day events.

Each event shows as a small grey chip with its icon and title.
When there are more events than fit, swipe the row sideways to see the rest.
Tap an event to edit it.

Overlapping Time Blocks

Time blocks that share the same time are grouped into one card:

The card is headed Overlapping time blocks.
Each block in the group is listed as its own row, separated by a line.
The bar beside the card holds a smaller bar for each block in the group.

Tap a row to select that time block. In the Align widget, a group that doesn't fit shows +N Overlaps instead, where N is the number of other blocks in the group.

To keep blocks from overlapping as you move or resize them, see Overlap Avoidance.

Locked and Completed Blocks

Locked: a lock icon appears after the title. See Locking Time Blocks.
Completed: the checkbox fills with a checkmark, and the title is struck through and dimmed. See Complete a Time Block.

Refreshing Your Calendars

Pull down on the timeline to refresh it. This asks your device's calendar system to sync, so the timeline shows the latest changes from your connected calendars.

Note: Apple's calendar system limits how often it refreshes, to save performance and battery. A refresh doesn't always trigger an immediate update; the system only syncs when it determines it's necessary. If changes don't appear right away, the system hasn't detected new updates since the last sync.

For the most reliable sync, make sure your device has an internet connection and your calendars are syncing in the Settings app.

Larger Text Sizes

At the larger accessibility text sizes (set in Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size > Larger Text), the timeline switches to a compact layout so titles have room to wrap:

The hour numbers are hidden; the hour lines stay.
Each block's bar becomes a thin rail, and the block's icon moves in front of its title.
The current-time line shows a pink dot on the rail instead of the time.
Groups of overlapping blocks show a single bar.

Each block still shows its time and duration.

Need more help? Contact us.