Support

Double-tap anywhere on the screen or swipe left.

Open the menu (see above) and select one of the available languages under “Clock language”.

Open the menu (see above) and pick a color under “Colors”.

Yes – on Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, Mac) it works wirelessly via AirPlay on any AirPlay-compatible TV. On Android devices, use Chromecast or Google Cast to stream your screen to the TV.

With iOS 16 or later you can place the Timeless widget right on your Lock Screen – one tap and you’re in the app. Here’s how:

1. Lock your iPhone, then wake it so the Lock Screen is showing.
2. Touch and hold the Lock Screen until the Customize button appears at the bottom, then tap it. (You may need to enter your passcode or unlock with Face ID first.)
3. Select Lock Screen.
4. Tap the area below the time, or tap Add Widgets.
5. Scroll to Timeless in the list and tap the widget – or drag it into the free space below the time.
6. Then swipe down in the widget list, tap Done, and tap Done again in the top right to save your Lock Screen.

That’s it – Timeless now shows the time in words right on your Lock Screen. A tap on the widget opens the app.

If there’s no room left below the time, tap an existing widget first and remove it using the Remove button to make room for Timeless.

It works the same way on iPad – touch and hold the Lock Screen, tap “Customize”, and add the Timeless widget.

That’s not technically possible – neither on iOS nor on Android. The Lock Screen belongs to the operating system: as soon as you lock your device, the manufacturer’s Lock Screen appears, and no app can take it over or replace it full-screen.

On iPhone and iPad there’s a nice middle ground, though: Timeless comes with a Lock Screen widget that shows the clock as a small preview right on the Lock Screen – and lets you jump into the app super fast with a single tap. To set it up, see “How do I add Timeless to the Lock Screen of my iPhone/iPad?” just above.

On Android, Timeless currently doesn’t offer a widget – the Lock Screen widget is an Apple-only feature.

No, this is intentional system behavior. On the power-saving “Always-On” Lock Screen (the dimmed state when your iPhone is just sitting there), iOS deliberately refreshes widgets only occasionally and on its own schedule – this preserves battery life. So the word clock, fittingly, takes its time there; a change may appear late or briefly seem “out of step”. As soon as you raise or tap your iPhone, the widget shows the correct time right away. We see it with a smile – slowing down suits Timeless. On the plus side: the widget gives you direct access to Timeless right from the Lock Screen – one tap and you’re in the app.

The complication is free and comes to your Apple Watch automatically with the Timeless app.

Important first: not every watch face has room for complications – and Timeless needs a large rectangular slot. So first pick a watch face that offers one, for example Modular.

Here’s how to add Timeless to it:

1. Touch and hold the watch face until it shrinks, then tap Edit.
2. Swipe left to the complications page.
3. Tap the large rectangular slot and choose Timeless.
4. Press the Digital Crown to save your changes, then tap the watch face.

If Timeless doesn’t show up in the list, the app probably isn’t installed on your watch yet: open the Watch app on your iPhone, scroll to the bottom of My Watch to Available Apps, and tap Install next to Timeless.

The complication’s language automatically follows the language of your Apple Watch – there’s no separate setting for it. German and English are currently supported:

• German → German
• English (United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta) → British English
• all other English variants and all other languages → American English

This limitation applies to the complication only. The full-screen view on the watch – with the Watch add-on – offers all 13 clock languages to choose from, just like Timeless on iPhone, iPad, and Android (see “How can I change the clock language and color in full-screen mode?” ).

You change your watch’s language on your iPhone in the Watch app under My Watch → General → Language & Region. After a change, it may take a moment for the complication to catch up. Usually it’s enough to open and close the Timeless app on the watch once – if not, restarting the watch helps.

The complication’s color is set by the watch face: Timeless automatically adopts its color scheme. If your watch face offers a color choice, you can change it while editing the face (touch and hold the face → Edit) on the Color page. The full-screen view has its own color variants for the word clock.

This can occasionally happen after a watchOS update: the watch rebuilds its complications in the background, and sometimes one of them gets stuck on an old time. A few steps get Timeless running again:

1. Touch and hold the watch face until it shrinks, then tap Edit and swipe left to the complications page.
2. Tap the slot showing Timeless and choose Off (at the top of the list) or a different complication. Press the Digital Crown to save.
3. Edit the watch face once more and put Timeless back into the large rectangular slot. Press the Digital Crown to save – done.

If the complication still doesn’t update after that, restart your Apple Watch: press and hold the side button until the power-off option appears, turn the watch off, then press the side button again to turn it back on.

Because Apple doesn’t allow it: all Apple Watch faces come from Apple itself, and apps can’t bring their own watch faces. They can only add themselves to an existing face as a complication – and that’s exactly what the Timeless complication does.

If you’d still like to see the word clock big, use the full-screen view of the Timeless app on the watch (see “How can I show Timeless full-screen on the Apple Watch?” ). With the right setting it stays in front for up to an hour – and longer if you glance at it in between (see “How can I extend how long …” ).

You unlock the full-screen view with the Watch add-on – a one-time purchase in the Timeless app on your iPhone:

1. Open Timeless on your iPhone, then open the menu (double-tap or swipe left).
2. In the Apple Watch section, tap Unlock add-on next to “Fullscreen clock” and complete the purchase.
3. Open the Timeless app on your Apple Watch: press the Digital Crown and tap Timeless in the app view.

Your watch detects the purchase on its own – this can take a moment after buying. If it still shows the unlock notice, tap Restore purchases there. Important: your iPhone and watch must be signed in with the same Apple Account.

After a while, the Apple Watch returns from any app to the watch face. You set how quickly on the watch under Settings → General → Return to Clock. You can choose Always, After 2 minutes, or After 1 hour.

• For all apps: the choice at the top of this page applies to every app.
• For Timeless only: scroll down, tap Timeless, and pick a separate setting there – After 1 hour keeps the word clock visible the longest.

The timer starts over every time you glance at your watch in between and it briefly becomes active. So if you look at it regularly, Timeless stays full-screen well beyond an hour.

And if the watch has returned to the watch face after all: if the Timeless complication is on it, a single tap is enough – and the word clock is back in full-screen (provided the Watch add-on is unlocked).

Right on the watch, in the Timeless app:

1. Open Timeless in full-screen.
2. Swipe up or turn the Digital Crown – the settings are just below.
3. Choose one of the 13 clock languages under Language and a color variant under Color. After you pick one, Timeless jumps straight back to the clock.

These settings apply only to the full-screen view on the watch – they’re independent of the iPhone app and of the complication. They appear once the Watch add-on is unlocked.