Plans & Schedule

The Schedule tab has two views; switch between them with the buttons at the top. Month shows your weeks as one calendar you scroll through without stopping at the end of a month, so you can plan this month and next side by side. The month you're reading stays bright and the others fade back, and the card above the calendar shows that month's goal: logged and planned time (striped) against your goal, the time you've logged, and whether you're ahead of or behind your plans. Tap it for goal coverage, schedule pace, and the Assistant. Each day shows the time you planned, or the time you logged once you log some. Tap a day to see or change it, or touch and hold it to add time or plan it. Year shows the twelve months of the service year (September through August), each day colored like the calendar, under the same card for the whole service year: logged and planned time (striped) against your annual goal if you have one, the time you've logged, and whether you're ahead of or behind your plans. Tap a month, or pinch outward, to zoom into it; pinch inward in Month to zoom back out. A labeled line marks where one service year ends and the next begins; tap it to see that year. Use the arrows or swipe to change years, and tap Today to come back. Both views only show what's already in your records; changing views doesn't share anything.

Tap a day on the Schedule tab, then tap one of its Plans, or tap a Plan on Home, to open it. Its page shows the date, when it starts and ends (with the next day's date if it runs past midnight) or Anytime for a Plan with no set time, how long it is, its Type, how often it repeats, the place, and the note; tap the place to open it in Maps. To change the Plan, tap Edit (the pencil). For a recurring plan, saving asks whether the change is for only this date, this and future dates, or all dates. More (•••) holds Duplicate, Log as Time, Open in Maps, Copy Address, Copy Note, and Delete. Duplicate opens a new Plan with the same details; a one-time Plan's copy starts on the same day next week, and you can change the date before you save. With Buddies, the page also lists who you invited and how each answered, plus anyone who asked to join, with Invite. Tap Invite Buddies to invite someone right away while the Plan is still ahead; they get the date, time, title, location, and note. To take someone off, use Edit. For a Plan you joined through a buddy's invitation, the page shows who organized it and your answer. Switch between Going and Can't Make It anytime until the Plan ends: Can't Make It takes the Plan off your schedule, and Going puts it back. After the Plan, you can still open it, with its note and photos, for a month, but no longer change your answer.

Yes. On the Plan form, tap the How long? button next to the date. Choose Just hours to plan the hours for that day without a time, or Time span to pick when you start and finish; the hours add up for you. New Plans open in whichever one you used last, so your usual way is ready next time. A Just hours Plan shows Anytime on your Schedule and counts toward your goals like any other Plan. With Notify Me on, it reminds you at 8:00 AM that day instead of before a start time. Buddies you invite see the day and how long, with no time. To give it a time later, edit the Plan and switch to Time span. If another of your devices still runs an older version of WitnessWork, it shows the Plan at noon until it updates.

Yes. On the Schedule tab, tap the day, then tap the plan to open it. To change only that date, tap Edit (the pencil), make your changes, save, and choose Only this date. Changing the Type, title, location, or Notify Me reminder for one date turns that date into its own one-time plan. To remove only that date, tap More (•••), then Delete → Delete This Plan. Your recurring plan stays intact for every other day.

Tap a plan on that day in the Schedule tab to open it, tap More (•••), then Delete → Delete This Plan. Do this for each plan on that day. Only that day is removed, and a recurring plan keeps going from the next day forward. To go out at a different time that day instead, tap Edit, change it, and choose Only this date when you save.

Yes. A day can hold as many plans as you like, one-time, recurring, or both, like field service every Friday morning and a Bible study every Friday evening. Every plan on a day adds up: the day's planned time on the Schedule calendar, the time left to plan, and your projected total all count each one. To add another plan, tap the day on the Schedule tab, then tap + next to Plans. To skip a recurring plan on one day, open it, tap More (•••), then Delete → Delete This Plan; your other days stay the same. To change it for one day only, tap Edit and choose Only this date when you save. One-time plans used to replace a day's recurring plans. When you updated, days where that happened were set to skip the recurring plan, so your totals didn't change. If a day shows more time than you expect, tap it and delete the plan you don't need. Plans stay on your device, sync between your devices if you turned sync on, and only their day, time, and length are shared with your buddies if you use Buddies.

Yes. During setup, if you log hours and have a monthly goal, you get a quick preview of the Assistant: pick the days you usually go out and it spreads your goal across those days for this month, or next month if fewer than seven days are left. This month's plan starts on the 1st, so the days that have already passed get plans too: log the time you already spent on them. Days you've already logged time on are left alone. Tap any day to change its plan with the slider, or to plan a day yourself. Tap Add to my schedule to save them as plans on the Schedule tab, where you can change or delete any of them, or tap I'll plan later to continue without plans. The weekdays you didn't pick become off days, so the Assistant won't suggest plans on them; change this anytime in Settings → Preferences → Plans → Availability. After setup, you plan on the Schedule tab by tapping any day, and the Assistant there suggests plans whenever you're short of your goal. Plans are saved with your other records and don't count toward your report; log the time you actually spend. Kingdom Publishers who don't log hours, and anyone without a monthly goal, skip this step but can still add plans from the Schedule tab.

Yes. Go to Preferences → Plans, turn on Remind Me to Log Time, and choose a Remind At time (8:00 PM unless you change it). If a day has a plan but no time logged, you get one reminder at that time after the day's plans end: a morning plan reminds you that evening, and a plan still going at your Remind At time reminds you the next day. Several plans on the same day give one reminder, and when two days' reminders would arrive at the same time they're combined. Logging any time for that day stops its reminder and clears one you've already received; removing that day's plans or turning the setting off does too. A day planned with no time doesn't remind you, and days you missed before turning the setting on aren't included. Tapping the reminder opens Add Time with the date, planned time, and type already filled in. The reminder is also listed in the Home bell for a week, even if system notifications are off. The setting appears when you track hours; Regular Publishers turn on Log my hours first. Turning it on asks for notification permission, or opens your device settings if you've declined before. Reminders are worked out on your device from your own plans and time and aren't sent anywhere. Each device schedules its own reminders up to two weeks ahead, so open WitnessWork at least every two weeks to keep them coming. If you log time on another device, open WitnessWork on this one so it can cancel that day's reminder. On Android, the system may deliver a reminder a few minutes late to save battery. If reminders don't arrive, check that notifications are allowed for WitnessWork in your device settings (on Android, including its Reminders category) and that Focus or Do Not Disturb isn't silencing them. If they still don't arrive, report the problem from the Help Center without including names or other private details.

Yes. Go to Preferences → Plans, turn on Remind Me to Plan Next Week, then choose Remind On and Remind At (Saturday at 6:00 PM unless you change them). At that time, if the following week has no plans yet, you get one reminder inviting you to plan it. Weeks follow your Start of Week setting. Any plan in that week, including a recurring plan, means no reminder, and adding one later clears a reminder you've already received. If you've marked every day as an off day under Availability, you aren't reminded. Tapping the reminder opens the Schedule at that week's month, where you can tap a day to plan it or use the Assistant's suggestions when you have an hour goal. The reminder is also listed in the Home bell until that week ends, even if system notifications are off. It's available for every publisher role. Turning it on asks for notification permission, or opens your device settings if you've declined before. Reminders are worked out on your device from your own plans and aren't sent anywhere. Each device schedules up to two weeks ahead, so open WitnessWork at least every two weeks to keep them coming, and if you plan on another device, open WitnessWork on this one so it can cancel the reminder. On Android, the system may deliver a reminder a few minutes late to save battery. If reminders don't arrive, check that notifications are allowed for WitnessWork in your device settings (on Android, including its Reminders category) and that Focus or Do Not Disturb isn't silencing them. If they still don't arrive, report the problem from the Help Center without including names or other private details.

Route planning is a Supporter feature on iPhone, iPad, and Android. Open it from any day from today on: tap the day on Home or in Schedule (on iPad, the day's details show beside the calendar), then tap Plan Route; or touch and hold a day and choose Plan Route; or choose Plan Route in a plan's menu to plan the day around that plan. On Home, Plan Route also shows at the top of the conversations card when at least two of today's stops have a map location. A day with no follow-ups or plans can still be planned from scratch. Anyone can open it to see the day on the map; Shortest Order and Start Route need Supporter. The map shows your route with a card at each stop saying when you'd get there, and the box at the top shows when the day starts, when it finishes, and how long that is. Zoom in to see cards that would overlap, and drag the bar under the map to make it taller or shorter. On iPad and other wide screens the map sits beside the list. Use the arrows beside the date to plan another day. Stops start as the day's open follow-ups and plans that have an address or pin. Follow-ups already answered by a visit that day, and follow-ups for dismissed contacts, aren't included. Tap Add Stop to add Home, your Kingdom Hall, a place or address from search (you can also paste coordinates such as 37.7749, -122.4194 or a map link there), one of your contacts, or a pin you drop on the Map tab. From version 1.45.0, you can also pick contacts on the Contacts map, tapping their pins or drawing around them, and tap Plan Route to add them all at once. You can also touch and hold the route map to drop a pin and add it as a stop, the start, or the finish. A route can have up to 10 stops. To change the order, drag a stop by its grip, or touch and hold it and drag; you can also use Move Up and Move Down in the stop's ⋯ menu. Shortest Order asks the WitnessWork server for the fastest driving order; it needs an internet connection, works with up to 10 stops, and can be used 10 times in any 24 hours. Remove a stop from its menu; the day's stops you remove are listed below so you can add them back. Set how long you'll spend at each stop with its time chip. Between stops, the line shows the drive and, when you'd get somewhere early, how long you'd wait. From version 1.45.0, the map follows the roads, and drive times come from Apple Maps on iPhone and iPad, or from HERE through the WitnessWork server on Android, with traffic as it is when you plan; without a connection, they're estimated from the distance between stops. Either way, check them against fixed appointments. A stop shows when you'd be late for its set time. With Start Visits at Set Times on (in Details, when a stop has a set time), arriving early waits until the set time; turn it off to see how early you'd get there. In Details, link the route to one of the day's plans, invite buddies, and add notes with formatting, lists, and links. Your route is saved on this device for that day and isn't synced to your other devices. Tap Start Over to rebuild it from the day's follow-ups and plans. Planning a route never changes your contacts, follow-ups, or plans. For other problems, use the Help Center's private support option and keep householder details out of public reports.

At the top of the route, tap the place under Start to choose your current location, the first stop, Home, your Kingdom Hall, one of the day's plans that has a place, or any place you search for, and tap the time to change when you leave. If a plan with a place starts before your first follow-up, such as a meeting for field service, the route starts there at that time. At the bottom, tap the place under Finish to end at the last stop (the default), go back to where you started, or finish at Home, your Kingdom Hall, or any place you search for. The finish isn't a stop, so there's no time spent there; the drive to it is added, and the finish time is when you'd get there. Start Route takes your navigation app on to the finish. Shortest Order puts the stops in order from the start and keeps the finish last. To save Home or your Kingdom Hall, tap Set Home or Set Kingdom Hall in the Start or Finish menu, or in Add Stop, then search for the address or drop a pin on the Map tab. After that, they're one tap away in those menus and in Add Stop. To change or remove one, touch and hold it in Add Stop. Saved places stay on this device and aren't synced.

Invitations go out with a plan, so a route's buddies are its plan's buddies. In the route's Details, tap Invite Buddies. If the route already belongs to one of the day's one-time plans, the row opens to your buddies: tap one to invite them to that plan right away, and tap them again to take them off, which cancels their invitation. If the route doesn't have a plan yet, Invite Buddies opens a new plan filled in from the route's day, start time, and starting place; choose who to invite there and save, and the route then belongs to that plan. Buddies get the plan's date, time, title, location, and note, plus any changes you make to the plan, and they can say whether they're going; their answers show in Details. They don't get the route's stops, order, or notes. You can also start from the plan: choose Plan Route in its menu to plan the day around it. Plans that follow a buddy's invitation are invited to by their organizer, and recurring plans can't carry invitations, so Invite Buddies doesn't show for them. Buddies must be set up first: with no buddies yet, Invite Buddies opens Buddies.

Tap Start Route. Your route opens in the Default Navigation App chosen in Settings → Preferences → Navigation, in the order shown, starting with the place you chose as the start when it isn't your current location, and ending where you chose to finish when that isn't the last stop. Google Maps opens the whole route as one trip with every stop in order. Apple Maps does the same on iOS 18.4 or later; on earlier versions it opens one stop at a time. Waze always opens one stop at a time because its links accept only a single destination. When stops open one at a time, come back to WitnessWork and tap Navigate to Stop 2 (and so on) for the next stop. To go to any one stop, open its menu and tap Navigate Here. If Google Maps isn't installed, the route opens in a web browser, which may show fewer stops; install the app or choose another navigation app. On Android, choose Google Maps or Waze. If a map app doesn't open, check that it's installed and try again.

To find the order, WitnessWork sends the map coordinates of your starting point and each stop to the WitnessWork server, which passes only those coordinates to HERE, a mapping service, to calculate the drive. Names, addresses, notes, topics, and visit details are never sent. The request also carries the app's random account identifier, the one tied to your Supporter purchase, so the server can confirm Supporter status and count your routes; it isn't sent to HERE. The server doesn't store coordinates. It keeps only the times of your route requests from the last 24 hours to apply the daily limit. From version 1.45.0, to draw the route along the roads and time each drive, WitnessWork also asks for driving directions between your start, each stop, and your finish whenever the route changes. On iPhone and iPad, Apple Maps receives those coordinates, as when you get directions in Maps. On Android, they go to the WitnessWork server, which passes only the coordinates to HERE; the request carries your anonymous WitnessWork account so the server can count requests, and the server doesn't store the coordinates. When you open the route, your navigation app receives each stop's address, or its coordinates for a pin you placed, and the place you finish when it isn't the last stop, just as it does when you navigate to a single contact. Usage analytics record counts such as how many stops a route had, never locations. The route you build, including its notes, added stops, and where it starts and finishes, is saved only on this device; it isn't sent anywhere or synced. So are the addresses you save as Home and Kingdom Hall. Buddies you invite get the route's plan, the same as inviting them from the plan: its date, time, title, location, and note. They don't get the route, its stops, or its notes.