Re: A mobile clocking solution?

[Marcin Borkowski <mbork@mbork.pl>]

On 2021-11-26, at 22:16, Samuel Banya <sbanya@fastmail.com> wrote:

> Hey Marcin,
>
> There are a few options that exist, so I'm going to drop a few ideas in this email.
>
> *"Buy A Rooted Phone" Option:*
> Why not just get a rooted Android phone with Replicant on it from eBay in the first place?
>
> Then, you can use Termux to ssh into a local or cloud VPS file server where you're hosting your .org files. Most people even use Dropbox (or SyncThing, whatever floats your boat).
>
> Worst case scenario, you can maybe just run a terminal version of Emacs on the rooted Android phone (or even your current non-rooted phone), and clock in like that.

Well, doesn't that have the same security issue I mentioned?

> If you're on iOS though... well... maybe its time to get out of the walled garden?

Of course not.

> *"Just Use A Laptop" Option:*
> I'd say maybe just get a laptop, put some decent Linux distro on it, and use Emacs on that instead.

Out of question.  I need this exactly for the times when I cannot use my laptop.

> Worst case scenario, you can maybe just run a terminal version of Emacs on the rooted Android phone, and clock in like that.
>
> *Bash Script Approach:*
> The only other thing I could think of is to do this via an easy Bash prompt to find the same files on the ssh machine. This might be preposterous to those on the list that might want to use Elisp for everything, but maybe its on a device where a Linux Bash terminal just is present by default.

That /could/ be a solution.

> *"Just Log The Time Later" Approach:*
> You could always even just make org capture templates to estimate time later too.

And I think this is the way to go.  Probably also use/write some very
simple time tracking app on the phone.

> *Summed Up:*
> The most sane approach in my opinion, is just use a computer that can normally just use Emacs as-is. 
>
> Then again, this is coming from someone who respects the "Getting Things Done" method a ton, but doesn't clock in every single personal task, because I think its really unnecessary and tedious. I think this kind of clocking ideas are better suited for work based todo lists if you're trying to get things done for work or something.

I don't clock everything either, but there are some things that I do,
and that's why I want a reasonable mobile solution.

> I've seen the Android apps for Emacs Org Mode demo'd on YouTube, and it looks clunky. Its nice for what it is, but yeah, I think Emacs overall is just better suited for a laptop or desktop computer since you really need to just use a keyboard to pull off most of the magic.

Of course.  I don't need Org editing etc. (well, maybe capture), just
the clocking.  That seems easy enough on mobile (UI-wise)..

> Good luck with this though,

Thanks!

-- 
Marcin Borkowski
http://mbork.pl