Timing: See Your Work, Not Just Your Schedule (Sponsor)

Today’s sponsor is Timing, and if you’ve ever wondered where the afternoon went, this app has answers.

I’ve written a lot about hyper-scheduling and blocking time for important work. But there’s a gap between the plan and reality. You schedule two hours for writing, but did you actually write? Or did you spend forty minutes in email and another twenty “researching” something that turned into a YouTube rabbit hole? Without data, you’re guessing.

Timing fills that gap. It runs in the background on your Mac, quietly logging which apps and documents get your attention. You set up rules once (Scrivener equals writing, Safari on specific sites equals research) and Timing handles the rest. No timers to start. No timers to forget. Just an honest record of where your hours actually land.

The newest feature is AI-powered summaries. Instead of sifting through a raw timeline, Timing groups related activities and highlights what you worked on. Open the app at 5 PM and get a clear picture of your day in seconds. For anyone doing the shutdown ritual, this is gold.

Timing also pulls in Screen Time data from your iPhone and iPad, so you see everything in one place. And it detects when video calls end, prompting you to log that time. If you bill clients or just want accountability, that coverage matters.

This is a proper native Mac app. Local data by default, fast interface, no Electron bloat. Plans start at $9/month for Professional. Expert ($11/month) adds the AI summaries and Screen Time sync. Connect ($16/month) brings team features. All plans include a 30-day free trial.

You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Check out Timing and find out where your time really goes.

The Lab Report for January 16, 2026

In this week’s episode: Apple deepens its AI partnership with Google through an expanded Gemini deal, the Creator Studio subscription is coming soon, and Pixelmator Pro is coming to iPad. I also cover rumors about a potential high-end MacBook Pro launch, Apple’s upcoming AI server chips, and progress toward blood sugar monitoring on the Apple Watch.
… This is a post for MacSparky Labs Members only. Care to join? If you’re already a member, you can log in here.

Announcing the 2026 Productivity Field Guide

Hooray! The 2026 Productivity Field Guide lives.

This is the course that teaches you to stop optimizing and start becoming.

Most productivity advice is about doing more, faster. This course is about identifying who you want to become in every role you play and building systems to get there.

The ancient Greeks called it Arete: the pursuit of excellence in your own character. The kind of thing that makes you want to leap out of bed and put a dent in the universe.

What’s inside:

  • 80+ video lessons (8+ hours of focused instruction)
  • A 140+ page book (ePub and PDF)
  • The complete system: roles, Arete, reviews, hyper-scheduling, shutdown rituals

New for 2026:

  • Shadow Roles & The Inner Vader
  • The Arete Radar (and the meditative gap)
  • Physical Anchors
  • Solving for Meaningfulness
  • The Blank Page Ritual
  • The Overhead Tax

Two Editions:

Essentials Edition — All videos and the book
Pro Edition — Adds the eight-session Workshop Series with live implementation, Q&A, and companion guides. Plus invitations to live quarterly planning sessions throughout 2026.
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Both editions are 10% off through January 26th with code PFG26LAUNCH.

Get the Pro Edition

Get the Essentials Edition


​This system works. I’ve been teaching it for two years and I’ve seen the results on myself and others. However, if you’re looking for a quick hack, this isn’t for you.

If you’re looking for something that fundamentally changes how you approach your life and work, this is it.

P.S. The Pro Edition Workshop Series is brand new for 2026. Eight structured sessions walking through the entire system:
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Also, in 2026 we’ll be doing quarterly planning sessions with the Pro Edition to help keep you on track.

All sessions recorded and added to your course library.

Focused 247: Getting Intentional, with Chris Bailey

Chris Bailey is back on this episode of Focused to talk about his new book The Intention Stack, fundamental human values, and why S.M.A.R.T. goals aren’t very smart.

This episode of Focused is sponsored by:

  • Incogni: Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code FOCUSED with this link and get 60% off an annual plan.
  • Squarespace: Save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code FOCUSED.

Gemini and Siri

We’ve now got official confirmation that Apple and Google are working together on what I’ve been calling the “Siri brain transplant.” Instead of an Apple LLM technology, it appears they’ll be using some version of Gemini. There are many unanswered questions here.

For instance, is the Gemini-based model going to be both local and in Apple’s Private Cloud Compute space? I like the idea of a Gemini-caliber PCC engine I can access privately from my Apple devices.

The original sin here isn’t Apple’s failure to build its own LLM over the last few years, but rather its lack of attention toward Siri throughout its lifespan. Anybody who cares about this stuff has experienced frustration as Siri never evolved the way it should have. Indeed, Siri has been the butt of popular culture jokes for at least a decade.

I’ll always believe that if Apple made Siri a priority ten years ago, they wouldn’t be in this position today.

Nevertheless, all of this feels more like a black eye than a knockout. There is still time for Apple to evolve and we’re all still figuring out what LLM-based AI means for all of us.

If I were going to look for a silver lining on this, at least Apple had the maturity to swallow their pride and go get help.

But let’s not forget this is all still just news. I still haven’t seen Siri work the way I’d have expected in 2026.

Timing: Time Tracking That Does the Work for You (Sponsor)

Today’s sponsor is Timing. If you’ve got “understand where my time actually goes” on your 2026 goals list, this is the app that can make it happen.

Most of us know we should track our time. Knowing how you spend your hours is the first step to spending them better. But manual time tracking is a pain. You start a timer, get interrupted, forget to switch it, and by 3 PM, your log looks like fiction. The friction kills the habit before it takes root.

Timing takes a different approach. It runs quietly in the background on your Mac, watching which apps you use, which documents you open, and which websites you visit. Then it categorizes everything automatically based on rules you define. Work in Scrivener for two hours? That’s writing time. Spend 45 minutes in Safari on research? You decide once, and Timing remembers.

What’s new is the AI summaries feature. Timing now analyzes your work and automatically groups related activities, highlighting the key topics you’ve worked on. Instead of scrolling through a raw timeline, you get an instant understanding of how your day actually went.

The app also tracks beyond your Mac. It imports Screen Time data from your iPhone and iPad, so you see your complete picture across devices. It even detects when video calls end and prompts you to log that meeting time. For anyone doing client work, this eliminates the anxiety of wondering whether you’ve captured everything accurately.

Timing is a native Mac app. Not an Electron wrapper or a web app pretending to be desktop software. It’s fast, it respects your privacy by keeping data local (unless you opt into sync), and it feels right at home on macOS. Plans start at $9/month for Professional, with Expert ($11/month) adding AI summaries and Screen Time integration, and Connect ($16/month) for team features. All plans come with a 30-day free trial.

January is the perfect time to start building this habit. Check out Timing and see exactly where your year is going.

Five New Apple Products in 2026? Yes, Please.

If the rumors are true, 2026 is shaping up to be one of Apple’s most interesting hardware years in recent memory.

According to the rumor mill, Apple has five all-new products in the pipeline: a foldable iPhone, augmented reality glasses, a HomePod with a touchscreen, home security cameras and a video doorbell, and a more affordable MacBook. That’s a lot of new territory for our favorite fruit company.

I’m genuinely optimistic about all of it.

The iPhone Fold

It’s time. I have several friends who love their Android folding phones, and I’ve watched them unfold those big screens with some envy. Apple’s late to this party, but that’s never stopped them before.

The interesting thing is that this likely creates a new kind of trade-off at the top of the iPhone lineup. I expect the iPhone Pro will still have the better camera and longer battery life.

So for the first time, there won’t be a single “best” iPhone. You’ll have to choose: big folding screen or superior camera and battery. That’s a healthy problem to have. Either way, I’m curious to see Apple’s take on a folding phone.

Augmented Reality Glasses

I expect Apple’s first steps here will be tentative. The Meta Ray-Bans have proven there’s a market for smart glasses that don’t look ridiculous.

Apple has a history of entering existing product categories and making something genuinely great. The Vision Pro showed they’re serious about spatial computing.

Lightweight AR glasses feel like the natural next step. Let’s hope they can pull it off.

HomePod with Touchscreen

This one has been rumored for years, and I’ll admit I’m strangely invested in it. I love the idea of dedicated home control centers. If Apple takes it in that direction, a HomePod with a screen could finally make the smart home feel cohesive instead of cobbled together.

The current HomePod is a good speaker with Siri bolted on. A touchscreen version could be something much more useful.

Home Security Cameras and Video Doorbell

This one is overdue. I’d love to see Apple get serious about HomeKit hardware.

Right now, finding home security products you can truly trust with your data is harder than it should be. Apple’s privacy-first approach could be a real differentiator here.

I’m not expecting them to out-feature Ring or Nest on day one, but if they nail the basics with solid Apple integration and strong privacy protections, I’m interested.

Affordable MacBook

Finally. Apple Silicon is so good that even a basic entry-level chip would make for a genuinely capable computer.

There are a lot of people who need a Mac for school, for basic work, for browsing the web. They don’t need an M4 Pro.

An affordable MacBook with an efficient Apple Silicon chip would serve them well and bring more people into the Mac ecosystem. I sincerely hope this one comes to life.

Will They Actually Ship?

Five new product categories in a single year is ambitious. Will Apple actually ship all of them in 2026? Maybe not.

But even if we get three or four, it’s going to be a fun year to be an Apple nerd.