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Getting Started

Welcome to Correlate. This page walks you from "just installed it" to "tracking your first day."

A few words about iPhone gestures

Correlate uses three basic gestures. If you're already comfortable with iPhone, you can skip ahead.

  • Tap — A quick, light press of your finger on the screen, then lift. Used for buttons, toggles, and most things.
  • Long-press — Touch the screen and hold your finger there for about a second before lifting. Some buttons in Correlate do something extra when long-pressed (the manual will call this out where it matters).
  • Swipe — Touch the screen and slide your finger across it before lifting. In Correlate, swiping left or right on the main screen moves you between days.

You'll also see "sheets" — these are panels that slide up from the bottom of the screen for things like Settings or a graph view. To dismiss a sheet, swipe down on it from the top, or tap the close button if there is one.

Installing the app

Correlate is on the App Store. Open the App Store app on your iPhone, search for Correlate, and tap Get. The first time you open the app you'll see an empty list with a hint pointing you toward Settings.

The very first time you open it

The app starts empty. You need to tell it what you want to track.

  1. Tap the gear icon in the top-left corner. This opens Settings.
  2. Tap Add Variable.
  3. Give your variable a Name (up to 32 characters — for example, Sleep or Walked the dog).
  4. Optionally add a short Note that reminds you what the variable means (up to 256 characters). It will appear as a subtitle under the name on the main screen.
  5. Choose a Type:
  6. Boolean — a yes / no toggle. Good for habits and events. (Did I exercise?)
  7. Number — a slider you can set to any value in a range you choose. Good for ratings and measurements. (How well did I sleep, 1–10?)
  8. For Number variables, set the Range Min and Range Max (the smallest and largest values your slider can reach), and a Precision (how many decimal places to keep). Read more about precision →
  9. Tap Save. The variable now appears on the main screen.

Repeat for everything you want to track. You can reorder, edit, or delete variables any time.

Recording your first day

Back on the main screen you'll now see a card for each variable.

  • For a Boolean, tap once to flip it on, tap again to flip it off.
  • For a Number, tap anywhere along the slider to set that value, or drag your finger left and right to fine-tune.

Your data saves immediately — there is no save button to press.

What's next

  • Recording Your Day — the full reference for the days bar, sliders, and toggles.
  • Daily Notes — adding context that doesn't fit in a variable.
  • Sync — set up iCloud or WebDAV so your data is safely backed up and available on more than one device.