Chronolyze

Support

Turn your iPhone into a mechanical-watch timegrapher.

Need help? Email hkutluay@hotmail.com and we'll get back to you. Including your iPhone model, iOS version, and the watch you're measuring helps us help you faster.
Please note — this is a reference tool, not professional instrumentation. Chronolyze uses your iPhone's microphone and sensors to give useful approximate readings. Results depend on ambient noise, how the watch is positioned, and your device's hardware, and can differ from a calibrated timegrapher or a watchmaker's bench equipment. Use it for hobbyist insight and relative comparisons — not for professional servicing, valuation, or repair decisions. For a definitive diagnosis or to regulate a movement, consult a qualified watchmaker.

What Chronolyze does

Chronolyze listens to a mechanical watch through your iPhone's microphone and measures how well it's running: rate (seconds per day), beat error (milliseconds), amplitude (degrees), and it auto-detects the beat rate (bph). It also offers a guided positional test and a magnetization check — no bench equipment required.

Measuring a watch

  1. Find a quiet room — background noise is the enemy of accuracy.
  2. Rest the watch case directly against the bottom edge of your iPhone, where the microphone is.
  3. Open the Measure tab and tap Start Measuring.
  4. Wait a few seconds for the beat rate to lock, then read the trace and the numbers as they settle.
  5. Set the movement's lift angle (default 52°) for accurate amplitude — check your caliber's datasheet.

Frequently asked questions

My watch isn't being detected. What can I do?

Make sure it's a mechanical watch (it ticks several times per second). Press the case firmly against the bottom mic edge, move to a quieter room, and raise Detection sensitivity in Settings. A fully wound watch is louder and easier to detect.

Does it work with quartz (battery) watches?

No. Quartz watches tick once per second with a very different sound and aren't what a timegrapher measures. Chronolyze is for mechanical (hand-wound or automatic) movements.

How do I try it without a watch?

Turn on Settings › Demo movement. The app generates a synthetic movement so you can explore every feature — measurement, positional test, and the trace — without a real watch.

How accurate is the amplitude reading?

Amplitude is estimated from the timing of the escapement's sub-sounds and depends on the lift angle you set and on clean audio. It's a best-effort figure — when the signal is unreliable the app shows a dash (—) or an approximate marker rather than a misleading number. Rate and beat error are the most robust measurements.

What is the positional test?

A watch runs at slightly different rates depending on its orientation. The Positional Test guides you through the six standard positions (dial up/down, crown up/down/left/right) and reports the spread (Δ) between the fastest and slowest — the figure a watchmaker regulates against.

What does the magnetization check do?

A watch that suddenly runs minutes fast is often magnetized. The check uses your iPhone's magnetometer to detect a strong field near the watch. If it reports magnetization, a watchmaker's demagnetizer usually fixes it in seconds. (This feature needs a magnetometer, which some devices lack.)

Why is Chronolyze iPhone-only?

Measuring works by resting the watch against the phone's microphone — a natural handheld gesture — and the magnetization check relies on a sensor many iPads don't have. The app runs on iPad in iPhone-compatibility mode.

What data does the app collect?

Your audio is analyzed on-device and never recorded or sent anywhere; your saved watches and measurements stay on your device. The app uses Google Analytics for Firebase for anonymous, aggregate usage statistics only. See the Privacy Policy for details.

Tips for the best results

Still stuck? Reach out any time: hkutluay@hotmail.com.