A habit tracker without streaks: how Rhythm works

Why a streak is the wrong measure

A streak counts the days in a row you’ve done something and drops to zero the first time you don’t. On a routine with eleven things in it, a streak of perfect days reads zero most of the time, and one bad Tuesday undoes a month.

Rhythm looks at the whole picture instead. The day after a miss is just another day, and the number shows where your routine is, not how long since it last slipped.

How the number moves

Every finished day gets its own score: how much of what it asked of you was kept. Rhythm is a running average of those days, pulled towards each new day in turn. It rises faster than it falls: on the way up, the last week or so carries most of the weight, and on the way down it’s nearer the last fortnight. Today isn’t counted until it’s over, so you’re never watching a number that starts each morning at zero.

Beside the number is a word for where it sits: Starting, Forming, Holding, Settled or Worn in. Once there are two weeks to go on, a second word says which way it’s heading: “getting easier”, “steady” or “needs a nudge”. Rhythm also keeps your best, the highest it has ever been. A streak can be destroyed; your best can’t.

Ticking something late still counts as kept. “Counts as late after”, in Settings, Reminders, only changes the shading in Rhythm’s charts. Nothing is ever marked as failed.

Rest days, days off and light days

Rest is part of a routine, so Ethos counts it as kept. Set your rest days in Settings and they count as whole whatever you do with them. A change to your rest days starts from today, so earlier weeks keep the rest days they had and your history doesn’t shift under you.

Days off work the same way: take today off from the day’s menu, or plan a holiday’s worth of days off in advance. On a day that’s hard but not a day off, “Make today light” counts only the tasks you’ve marked as anchors. When the day goes wrong goes through every option.

A monthly task, such as the first Saturday’s big shop, only counts on the day it actually falls. It never drags your number down in the weeks between.

Each habit’s own reading

Under the number, Rhythm can show your days as a ring, bars, a line, or a grid of weeks and months in shades of green. Below that, each habit has its own reading: how many times it was kept against how many it was asked, over 30 days, 6 months or all time, and a word comparing it with a fortnight ago.

“Needs a nudge” picks out the habit that’s slipping, so you know where to look without reading a chart.

The weekly review

Once a week, on the day you choose in Settings, Ethos offers a review: “Sixty seconds, one change”. At six that evening a notification, “The week in review”, reminds you if you haven’t done it. It looks at the last thirty days and suggests at most one change. If you keep a task but usually around half an hour after it’s set, it suggests moving it there. If you reliably skip something on Fridays, it suggests taking it off Fridays. When the week is holding, it says “Nothing to change.”

Accept the suggestion or choose “Leave it”. If a change doesn’t help, move it back the next week.

What the weeks say, with Plus

With Ethos Plus, Rhythm reads all of your history for patterns: when things really happen, which days slip most, and how fast you come back from a poor day. A pattern only appears once eight weeks of days back it up, and until then it says “Nothing stands out yet.” Plus also keeps your week’s history, every version of your week with a way back to any of them.

If you keep routines with other people, each group has a Rhythm of its own, and you choose whether to share yours. The habit tracker page covers the basics, and the free and Plus split is under Ethos Plus.

Questions

What happens to my Rhythm if I miss a day?

It dips by a few points. Nothing resets, and it rises again with good days. A poor day costs a little, and falls more slowly than good days build.

Do rest days break my progress?

No. Rest days you set in Settings and days off you take count as kept. On a light day, only your anchor tasks count.

Is Rhythm a streak counter?

No. Ethos doesn’t count days in a row at all. Rhythm is a weighted average of every finished day since you started, with recent days counting most, shown as a number out of a hundred.

Is the habit tracker free?

Yes. Your routine, the week and Rhythm are free, along with the weekly review. Ethos Plus adds what the weeks say, your week’s history and iCloud sync. Prices are shown in the app.