Timelapse Playback

Watch visual timelapses of your screen activity to review your day

Overview

Dayflow’s Timelapse feature lets you watch a visual playback of your screen activity — a sped-up “movie” of your day. This gives you a different perspective on your timeline beyond text summaries.

Timelapses are generated on-demand from the Timeline UI to avoid background battery drain. They’re not created automatically.

How It Works

1. Timelapse Generation

When you click to view a timelapse for a timeline card:

1. Dayflow retrieves all screenshots associated with that card
2. The screenshots are stitched together into a video file
3. The video is saved locally for playback

Timelapses are stored in:

~/Library/Application Support/Dayflow/timelapses/

2. Playback

The timelapse player lets you:

• Play/pause the timelapse
• Scrub through the timeline using a slider
• Jump to specific moments
• Review what was visible on screen during that activity

Timelapse videos are compressed and stored locally — they don’t leave your Mac.

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Use Cases

Verify work done

Visually confirm what you were working on during a specific time period

Catch context switching

See how often you switched between tasks or applications

Review research sessions

Replay what you read or watched during research time

Debug timeline cards

If a timeline card seems inaccurate, watch the timelapse to see what the AI saw

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Storage Management

Timelapse videos can accumulate quickly and consume significant disk space.

Automatic Storage Limits

Dayflow includes automatic storage cleanup for timelapses:

• Configurable limits: Set storage caps from 1GB to 20GB (or unlimited)
• Automatic purging: Oldest timelapses are deleted when limits are reached
• Manual purge: Force cleanup in Settings → Storage

Timelapse storage is separate from screenshot storage. You can configure different limits for each.

How Purging Works

When timelapse storage exceeds your limit:

1. Dayflow sorts timelapses by creation date (oldest first)
2. Deletes timelapses one-by-one until usage is below the limit
3. Logs which files were deleted (visible in Debug view if enabled)

Manual Cleanup

To manually delete all timelapses:

1. Quit Dayflow
2. Delete the folder:
   rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dayflow/timelapses/
   
3. Restart Dayflow

Timelapses will be regenerated on-demand as needed.

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Storage Configuration

Configure timelapse storage limits in Settings → Storage → Timelapse Storage:

Option	Description
1GB	Minimal storage, ~1-2 days of timelapses
5GB	Light usage, ~1 week of timelapses
10GB	Moderate usage, ~2 weeks of timelapses
20GB	Heavy usage, ~1 month of timelapses
Unlimited	No automatic cleanup (use with caution)

Start with 5GB and adjust based on your usage. You can always increase the limit later.

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Accessing Timelapse Files

From the App

1. Click the Dayflow menu bar icon
2. Select Open Recordings Folder
3. Navigate to the timelapses/ subdirectory

From Finder

1. Open Finder
2. Press ⌘⇧G (Go to Folder)
3. Enter:
   ~/Library/Application Support/Dayflow/timelapses/
   
4. Press Enter

Timelapse files are standard video files and can be played in QuickTime, VLC, or any video player.

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Privacy Considerations

Timelapses are stored locally on your Mac:

• No cloud upload: Timelapse videos never leave your machine
• Sensitive content: Be cautious when reviewing timelapses — they may contain passwords, private messages, or other sensitive information
• Sharing: If you share a timelapse externally, be aware of what’s visible on screen

Security reminder: Timelapse videos capture everything visible on your screen, including sensitive data. Store them securely and delete when no longer needed.

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Performance Impact

Timelapse generation is on-demand to minimize battery impact:

• No background processing: Timelapses are only created when you request them
• CPU usage: Moderate during generation (video encoding)
• Storage: Timelapses consume more space than screenshots

By generating timelapses on-demand, Dayflow avoids unnecessary battery drain from background video processing.

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Troubleshooting

Timelapse playback is choppy

Choppy playback can occur if:

1. Low screenshot frequency: Fewer screenshots = more “jumpy” playback
2. Missing frames: Some screenshots may have failed to capture
3. Video encoding: Try restarting the app and regenerating the timelapse

To improve smoothness, ensure screenshot capture is enabled and working correctly.

Timelapse won't generate

If timelapse generation fails:

1. Check that screenshots exist for that timeline card
2. Ensure you have enough disk space
3. Verify the timelapses/ directory exists and is writable
4. Check Console.app for error logs (search for “Dayflow”)

Timelapse files are huge

Timelapses are compressed but can still be large for long sessions. To reduce storage:

1. Lower the timelapse storage limit in Settings
2. Let automatic purging delete old timelapses
3. Manually delete timelapses you no longer need

Can I export a timelapse?

Yes! Timelapse files are standard video files stored in:

~/Library/Application Support/Dayflow/timelapses/

You can copy them to another location or share them externally. Warning: Be careful not to share sensitive screen content.

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Comparison: Timelapse vs. Timeline Cards

Feature	Timeline Cards	Timelapse
Format	Text summaries	Visual playback
Generated	Automatically (background)	On-demand (when requested)
Storage	Minimal (~KB per card)	Moderate (~MB per timelapse)
Privacy	Sent to AI provider	Stays local
Best for	Quick review, context	Visual verification, detailed review

Use timeline cards for daily review and timelapses when you need to visually verify what you were working on.

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Next Steps

Timeline

Learn about automatic timeline card generation

Storage Configuration

Configure storage limits for screenshots and timelapses

Export Timeline

Export timeline as Markdown (text-based alternative)

Privacy

Understand where your data is stored