Optional productivity monitoring you switch on yourself
Most monitoring tools start watching the moment you install them. Tickin's does nothing until two separate things are true: your workspace has the Desktop App add-on, and an admin switches monitoring on. Until then it is not running, and there is nothing to review.
Shown with sample data. Employees see their own record; team leads see their team.
Two deliberate steps, then it runs
Buying the add-on does not start it. The admin toggle under Integrations → Productivity & Screenshot Monitoring is a separate switch, and it defaults to off. Without the add-on the setting is still visible but disabled, marked “Requires the Desktop add-on”, so you can see what buying it would unlock rather than discovering the feature after you have paid. Turning it off never requires the add-on: an admin can always stop monitoring, whatever the billing state.
What it records once it is on
For employees and team leads running the Desktop App while clocked in, Tickin records the name of the active application, the website domain if a browser is in front — github.com, for example, the domain only and not the full URL or page content — and a periodic screenshot. Applications and domains are sorted into categories, and each category counts as productive, neutral or unproductive toward the score. Admins can reclassify anything, and reclassifying applies to history as well as to future activity.
What it never records
Keystroke content: the app registers that typing happened, never what was typed. Anything during a break. Anything during idle time. Anything at all for admins and sys-admins, who are not tracked by design — an admin running the Desktop App produces no activity and no screenshots. And anything while clocked out: capture is tied to an open work session, not to the app being installed.
Screenshots need the employee’s own permission
On macOS, screenshots require the system Screen Recording permission, which only the person at the keyboard can grant. Tickin cannot grant it for them and does not try. Decline it and everything else still works: application and website time is still recorded, and no screenshots are taken. The dashboard shows a note explaining that screenshots are missing because the permission was not granted, so an empty gallery is never mistaken for an employee doing nothing.
Idle time is measured, then removed
Locking your screen or letting the display sleep starts idle immediately — the fifteen-minute threshold applies only to an unlocked machine left untouched. Idle is measured from the moment activity actually stopped, not from the moment the screen locked. It is then subtracted from worked hours before overtime is calculated, so idle time can never be paid as overtime.
Who sees what, and how to stop it
Admins see everyone in the workspace. Team leads see only their own team and cannot see anyone who does not report to them. Employees see their own record and nobody else’s. Switch the toggle off and capture stops on every device within about ten minutes — nobody has to reinstall or restart anything.
Learn more
Frequently asked questions
- Does Tickin monitor employees by default?
- No. Monitoring is off until an admin turns it on, and it also needs the Desktop App add-on. Both have to be true. Out of the box Tickin records worked hours, breaks and attendance, and captures no screenshots and no activity.
- What exactly does it capture when it is on?
- The name of the active application, the website domain (the domain only, not the full URL or page content), and a periodic screenshot — only while an employee is clocked in and actively working. It never captures keystroke content, anything during breaks or idle time, or anything at all for admins.
- Can employees see their own data?
- Yes. Every employee can see their own record: their score, tracked and idle time, their applications and websites, and their own screenshots. They cannot see anyone else’s.
- What if someone declines the screenshot permission?
- Nothing breaks. On macOS the Screen Recording permission is granted by the employee, not by Tickin. If it is declined, application and website time is still recorded and no screenshots are taken, and the dashboard explains why the gallery is empty rather than leaving it looking like inactivity.
- How do I turn monitoring off?
- Switch it off under Integrations → Productivity & Screenshot Monitoring. Capture stops on every device within about ten minutes. Turning it off never depends on your subscription — an admin can always stop monitoring.