Just 5min
Run a session
Open the app and press Start. It is already set to five minutes, and the session is anchored to a real finish time — lock the phone, take a call, or close the app and it still ends when it was going to.
Timer tab
Support
Help with Just 5min
What everything does, the handful of things that go wrong, and how to reach a human. Just 5min is made by one person, so mail is answered personally — usually within two working days.
Start here
The whole app in ten paragraphs
The same tour that lives inside the app, under Settings → App Tour. Each card says where the thing actually is.
Change the length
Tap the countdown to pick a different length. Five minutes is the default because it is the one you will actually start; longer blocks are there for the days you are already warmed up.
Timer → tap the clockLabel what you did
Add a mood, a tag and a line of your own before or after a session. Four seconds, and it is what turns a pile of sessions into patterns worth reading.
Timer → Add detailsStreaks and freezes
One finished session a day keeps the streak. Miss a day and a freeze absorbs it automatically instead of resetting you to zero.
Analytics tabFocus Shield
Block the apps you actually reach for the length of a session. iOS asks once for Screen Time access, then the block turns on with the timer and off when it ends.
Timer tab → shield chip, or Settings → Focus ShieldSessions on your calendar
Turn it on and a finished session writes itself into your calendar as an event, with its length and any note or tags attached. It only writes — it never reads what's already there.
Settings → CalendarBadges
Badges mark real thresholds — your first hour of focus, your fiftieth session — and can be shared as a card.
Analytics → AchievementsAnalytics and patterns
Your peak hour, strongest weekday, the tag you actually finish, and the words that keep coming back in your notes. All of it derived on the device from your own sessions.
Analytics tabWidgets and the Lock Screen
Add the widget to start a session in one tap without opening the app, and to keep the countdown visible on the Lock Screen while it runs.
Home Screen → long press → Edit → Add WidgetReminders
A daily reminder at a time you choose, an evening alert only on days a streak is genuinely about to break, and a notification when a session finishes. Each one switches off separately.
Settings → NotificationsThemes, sounds and haptics
Light, dark or system, eight palettes, four completion sounds, and a countdown tick you can silence.
Settings → Appearance and SoundsYour data
Everything is stored on your device. Delete all of it whenever you like — it is immediate and permanent.
Settings → Data & Privacy
Troubleshooting
Something isn't working
Six things account for nearly every message we get. If yours is not here, skip to the bottom and write to us.
The session ended but I never got a notification
The timer itself does not need notifications — it finishes on time either way — but the alert that tells you does. Check iOS Settings → Notifications → Just 5min → Allow Notifications, then Settings → Notifications inside the app, where the session-finished alert can be switched off separately.
Focus modes and Do Not Disturb will also hold the alert back. Add Just 5min to the allowed list for whichever Focus you use while working.
I closed the app mid-session — did I lose it?
No. A session is stored as a finish time, not a running counter, so closing the app, locking the phone or having iOS suspend the app does not stop it. Reopen the app and the session will either still be running or already recorded as finished.
The one thing that does end a session early is deleting the app while it runs.
The widget is missing, blank, or shows old numbers
Long-press the Home Screen, tap Edit → Add Widget, and search for Just 5min. If the widget is there but stale, open the app once — widgets are refreshed by iOS on its own schedule and a launch forces the update.
If it is still blank after that, remove the widget, restart the phone, and add it again.
My streak reset even though I did a session
A day counts once a session is finished, not started, and days are counted in your device's local time zone. If you flew across time zones or finished at the exact turn of midnight, the session may have landed on the neighbouring day.
Streak freezes cover missed days automatically. If the numbers still look wrong, email us with a screenshot of the Analytics tab and the date it happened.
The app looks wrong after changing theme or dark mode
Settings → Appearance repaints the whole app, not only the screen you are on. If a screen is still showing the old palette, close it and reopen — and if that fails, force-quit the app and relaunch. Please report it if you can reproduce it; that is a bug, not a setting.
Focus Shield isn't blocking anything
Focus Shield needs Screen Time access. Turn it on from the shield chip on the Timer tab, or Settings → Focus Shield — iOS will ask you to approve it once. If you already approved it and it still isn't blocking, check that the apps you want blocked are actually selected in the picker; an empty selection blocks nothing.
It only activates while a session is running, and switches itself off the moment the session ends or is reset.
Calendar logging isn't creating events
Turn it on in Settings, then check iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Calendars → Just 5min is allowed to add events. The app only writes finished sessions as new events — it never reads or edits anything already on your calendar, and it writes to whichever calendar account you have set as default.
Purchases
Plus, trials and billing
Every purchase goes through Apple, which means cancellation and refunds do too. Here is the exact route for each.
I paid on another device and Plus is not showing
Open Settings → Restore Purchases. Your entitlement is attached to your Apple Account, not to an account with us, so restoring works on any device signed into the same Apple Account. Make sure it is the same one you bought with.
How do I cancel my subscription?
Cancellation is handled by Apple, not inside the app: iOS Settings → tap your name → Subscriptions → Just 5min → Cancel Subscription.
Cancelling stops the next renewal. You keep Plus until the period you already paid for ends. Deleting the app does not cancel a subscription.
How do I cancel the free trial before it charges me?
Same route as above, and do it at least 24 hours before the trial ends — Apple bills for the first period within the 24 hours before the trial expires. You keep the trial's access until it runs out.
Can I get a refund?
Refunds are issued by Apple, not by us. Request one at reportaproblem.apple.com with the Apple Account you bought with.
If the reason is that something in the app is broken, tell us too — we would rather fix it, and we will back up your case with Apple.
Why was I shown a different price than someone else?
Just 5min runs price tests, so two people can see different prices for the same tier. Assignment happens once on your device and is not based on anything about you personally — we do not know who you are. Whatever Apple shows in the purchase sheet before you confirm is what you pay.
Still stuck? Write to me.
Include your iOS version, your device, and the app version from Settings → About. A screenshot of what you are seeing saves a whole round trip.
Bug reports and refund problems are answered first. For what the app does and does not collect, see the Privacy Policy; for billing terms, the Terms & Conditions.