ZoneIn AI — User Guide

Empty your head. Get a clear, ordered week. Here's how.

Features marked Web app are on the web app now (zonein-82a22.web.app) and not yet in the iPhone and Android apps.

1 · Your first brain dump

ZoneIn starts with one big text box. Don't organise anything first — that's the app's job. Get it out of your head any way you like:

• Type it — a messy list, full sentences, half-thoughts.
• Say it — tap the microphone and talk (see Speaking your list).
• Scan it — photograph a paper list, a whiteboard or sticky notes, and the AI reads your handwriting. Photographing several sticky notes at once? Tick Batch sticky-notes mode.

Speaking your list

Each item works best on its own line — one line becomes one task.

• Tap the mic once for each item — every tap starts a new line. Or keep talking and say "next item" between items. ("next task", "new item" and "new line" work too; "next week" stays part of the task.)
• A pause carries on the same line, so a long thought isn't cut in half. If you ramble several jobs into one line, tap Agree and continue when you organize — the AI separates them. Sort on this device splits only at new lines, full stops and "and".
• Check the box before you organize — you can fix any word, or press Enter to split a line yourself.
• "Didn't catch anything" means the mic heard silence. Tap it and start speaking straight away.

Three ways to add by voice:

1. Your first brain dump — this screen, when you start.
2. Quick task (the box at the top of the board) — straight into the zone you pick, no AI. Say "next item" between tasks to add several at once.
3. Brain Dump: Add to Matrix & Re-Prioritize (AI) (under the zones) — speak a whole list any time and the AI sorts it into all four zones. Keep Merge with my week ticked to keep what's already there.

Then tap Organize My Week ⚡. The AI splits what you wrote into separate tasks, spots any deadlines, and puts each task in a zone.

2 · The four zones

Every task sits in one of four zones, based on how urgent and how important it is. The AI does the sorting; you can always move a task yourself.

When your wording includes a deadline ("before Thursday"), ZoneIn adds it to the task as a date.

3 · Working on a task

Tap a task to open it. Everything you need for that one task is inside.

Get an AI action plan

Tap Tap for AI action plan and ZoneIn writes a short plan: a few concrete steps, each with a time estimate. "Rework the investor deck" might become four steps totalling about 50 minutes. Tick steps off as you go. Two more options sit under the plan:

• Generate extra step — adds one new step that isn't already on the plan.
• Update this plan — when things change ("Supplier said no — need a new one"), type or say what happened. ZoneIn adjusts the steps you haven't done yet. Steps you've already ticked are never changed or removed.

You get 2 AI plans free to try. More AI plans, Generate extra step and Update this plan are part of Premium (section 9).

If the AI can't be reached, ZoneIn still gives you a plan built on your device, and a line under the plan says so and why ("AI unavailable — … Reason: …").

Or write your own steps — always free

Tap or write your own and type or say each step. End a step with a time like 15 min and it counts towards the plan's total. The ✎ beside any step — yours or the AI's — lets you edit it, move it up or down (↑↓), or delete it.

A step that's become its own job? Open its ✎ menu and tap ↗. The step becomes a full task in the same zone, with its own plan. (Ticked steps can't be turned into tasks — they're already done.)

Track progress

Tap a task's circle, or a step's, to move it from not started → in progress (part-filled) → done. A task with a plan fills up as its steps are ticked, and each zone has a thin bar showing how much of it is done. When every step is ticked, the task asks "All steps done — mark complete?" — finishing it is your call.

Add a note

Tap Add a note to leave yourself a reminder of where you got to — "Waiting on Mark — pick up at step 3." It's there when you come back.

Fix the wording

Scanned handwriting isn't always read perfectly. Tap the ✎ beside a task's name to correct it. Enter saves, Esc cancels. Only the words change; the plan, date and history stay.

Report a wrong or unsuitable AI result

Every open task has Report an AI result. Add a note about what was wrong if you like, then tap Send report — it goes to the ZoneIn team from inside the app, with the task's AI result attached. Nothing is sent until you tap it. If sending doesn't work, the card says why and offers Email the report or Copy report instead.

4 · Dates, repeats and your calendar

Target dates

Tap Add date on a task, or tap the date it already has. Pick Today, Tomorrow or a day this week in one tap, choose a later date from the calendar, or type something loose like "end of week" — a rough date is fine. Need a time as well? Tap + time. Setting a date never runs the AI.

Repeating tasks Web app

For things that come round again — paying the monthly bills, a weekly report. In the date editor, under Repeat, choose Every day, Every weekday, Every week or Every month. The date then shows ↻ and the rule, for example ↻ Weekly.

• Tick it done and the next one appears, already dated, in the same zone with the same tags and plan steps (all unticked). Its note starts empty.
• The next date counts from the task's own date, not the day you finished it — a Monday task stays a Monday task even if you finish it on Wednesday.
• Ticked it by mistake? Untick it. The new copy disappears, as long as you haven't changed it yet.
• Not finished by the end of the week? It carries forward like any other task — you never get a pile of copies.
• To stop it repeating, choose Never.

A repeating task is different from a task that simply wasn't finished: unfinished tasks carry forward on their own every week (section 7). Use Repeat only for things you deliberately do again and again.

Add a task to your calendar Web app

Any task with a date can go into your own calendar. Open the date editor and, under Add to calendar:

1. Choose when: All day, or a start time — 09:00, 12:00, 15:00, or Pick a time.
2. If you chose a time, choose a Length (30 min, 1 hr, 2 hr, or the length of the task's plan).
3. Tap Google (Google Calendar opens with the event filled in — press Save there) or Apple / Outlook (.ics) (a calendar file downloads — open it to add the event).

This only sets up the calendar event. The task's date in ZoneIn doesn't change. A repeating task goes in as a repeating event. ZoneIn only sends tasks to your calendar — it never reads it.

5 · Your board, day to day

Today, All and Sort — choosing what you see

Above the zones are three controls. They change what you see and in what order. They never move a task to another zone or change the task itself.

• All shows every task.
• Today shows tasks dated today, plus anything overdue — late work is never hidden. A line underneath says how many tasks are hidden ("Showing today only · 12 hidden — show all"); tap it to see everything again.
• Sort sets the order inside each zone:
  • Priority — most urgent and important first.
  • Date — soonest first. Tasks due the same day appear in your own order, then tasks with a rough date, then tasks with no date.
  • Project / Role — grouped by tag, so each project's tasks sit together. Appears once you've made a tag.

Finished tasks always drop to the bottom of their zone. If you use tags, each day starts in Project / Role; whatever you pick then stays for the rest of the day. The small ? next to Sort brings you back here.

Putting tasks in your own order

When several tasks are due the same day, you choose which comes first. Tap ⇅ on a task, then Move up or Move down — one place per tap.

• Dates come first. A task can move above others due the same day, but never above an earlier day. To move it to another day, change its date.
• Tasks with no date, or a rough date, form their own groups and can be ordered the same way.
• Your order shows in Date sort. The first Move up or Move down switches the board to Sort: Date (the card warns you first). If the board opens in another sort the next day, your order is still there — choose Sort: Date. It's kept on all your signed-in devices.
• If a button is greyed out, the line under it says why — for example, the task is already first for its day.

Move a task to another zone

Disagree with the AI? Tap ⇅ and choose a zone under Move to. Your judgement always wins.

Add more tasks

• One task: use the quick-add box at the top of your Workspace. It goes straight into the zone you pick — no AI. Dictating several? Say "next item" between them and each becomes its own task in that zone.
• Another brain dump: tap Brain Dump: Add to Matrix & Re-Prioritize (AI) under the zones — type, speak or scan as much as you like, and the AI sorts it all into the right zones. Choose Merge with my week to add only what's new, or Start fresh to rebuild the board from this dump. (Start fresh puts the old tasks in the Bin, so you can get them back for 7 days.)
• A paper list mid-week: tap the camera button on the board (Scan a paper list).

Feeling overwhelmed?

Tap Feeling overwhelmed? Focus on what matters. The board shows only Zone 1 and your top three Zone 2 tasks, sorted by date. Tap Show the full matrix to bring everything back.

Your morning note

Each morning the board opens with one short note based on your own numbers — what you finished last week, how much went to Zone 2. On a hard week it says so honestly. It's written on your device; nothing is sent. Collapse it to a slim "Today's note" strip, close it until tomorrow with ✕, or turn it off in Settings → Accessibility → Daily affirmation.

Finish or delete

Tap the circle to complete a task (it counts towards your week). Tap the bin icon to delete it. Deleted by mistake? Deleted tasks wait in the Bin for 7 days — open it from the "Bin" row at the bottom of your Workspace, or Settings → Data → Bin — and come back with everything intact: plan, tags, notes and dates.

6 · Projects and roles (tags)

Tags group tasks by project ("Ajax"), by role ("CEO", "Quality") or by deliverable. Open a task and tap Add to a project / role. A task can have several tags, and each tag has its own colour.

• See one project: once you have tags, a bar of them appears above the zones. Tap one to see only that project's tasks across all four zones, with a strip showing how much is done.
• Status report: with a tag selected, tap Status report… for a ready-to-send update — a summary, what's finished, and what's open, grouped by zone with dates and your notes. Edit the wording in the preview, then Copy or Share. Your edits go into the report only, never back into your tasks.
• Tags fill themselves in: once you have an "Ajax" tag, writing or scanning "Ajax: call the builder" tags the new task Ajax automatically.
• Rename, recolour or delete a tag from its strip. Renaming a tag to an existing tag's name merges the two. Deleting a tag only removes the label — the tasks stay.

7 · The weekly rhythm

ZoneIn works in weeks. When your week is done, press Start New Week:

1. Finished tasks are saved as that week's achievements. Before you roll over, you can copy them for Slack, Microsoft Teams or Google Keep, or email them.
2. Unfinished tasks carry forward, each with a counter so nothing slips quietly.
3. A task that has carried forward 3 times or more gets a check-in: break it into smaller tasks, delegate it, drop it, or keep it going.

The Mastery Log tab shows where your finished work went each week. The aim is to watch Zone 2 grow.

Your weekly review, focus projects ★ and hand-offs Web app

These are on the web app first while early users tell us whether they help.

• Your week in three lines. After Start New Week, open the Mastery Log. The Last week card gives up to three facts about the week you just closed, one question and one suggestion. It's worked out on your device from your own tasks — no AI, nothing sent. Each past week in the archive has its own review.
• Star your focus projects ★. Star the 3–5 projects or areas you're focusing on right now — not everything you own, just this season's priorities. Tap Choose your focus projects on the review card, or open a task → Edit tags → tap ☆ beside a tag. Change them whenever your priorities change. (This is different from Focus on what matters in section 5, which simply shows less of your board.)
• What the stars show you. The review tells you how much of what you finished was focus work. Where your weeks go shows eight weeks of focus work against everything else, and Planned this week shows the minutes of open steps on each focus project — so you can check your plan matches your priorities before the week starts.
• Hand it off. On a Zone 3 task, tap Hand to…, type who has it and pick a check-back day. The task leaves Today until then. On that day it comes back and asks: Done, Still with them or Take it back. Choosing Delegate it in the weekly check-in opens the same fields.
• Tell us if it helps. When you're signed in, the review card asks Useful? Yes / No, with room for a comment. If a number ever looks wrong, please say — that's the most useful feedback of all.

8 · Sign in and sync

You don't need an account — without one, everything stays on this device. Sign in when you want the same board on your phone, tablet and computer. Open Settings → Cloud Sync and choose one:

• Sign in with Google — one tap.
• Sign in with Apple — on iPhone.
• Email and password — any email address, on every device. New here? Choose Create account (passwords need 8 or more characters). Forgotten it? Tap Forgot password?.
• Email me a link — on the web app only: we email you a one-tap sign-in link, no password. Nothing after a minute? Check your spam folder, then tap Resend link.

Use the same sign-in on every device — two different sign-ins are two separate accounts. Changes then appear on your other devices within seconds, and only you can read your data.

Signed out? ZoneIn remembers the last account used on that device and offers Sign in as … in one tap.

Already have lifetime access? Sign in with the same account you used before — your access follows your account.

If your devices don't agree

Now and then a device stops keeping up — usually after an app update, a long time offline, or a phone putting the app to sleep. Try these in order; each is stronger than the last, and none of them loses data. (Want a safety copy first? Settings → Data → Export my data (JSON) on the device that has everything.)

1. Check the sign-in. On every device, Settings → Cloud Sync should say Sync active with the same email address.
2. Reload. Close the app completely and reopen it (on the web, refresh the page). If you see "ZoneIn was updated — reload", tap it: one device running an older version is the most common cause.
3. Sign out and back in on the device that's behind (Settings → Cloud Sync → Sign out). It reads your data from the cloud again.
4. Reinstall on the device that's behind, then sign in. It downloads your data from the cloud.

Erase this device isn't a sync fix. It signs you out first, so your cloud data is safe, but it wipes this device's copy.

9 · Free and Premium

Free, for good: sorting your brain dumps into zones, writing your own plans, quick add, the weekly cycle and Mastery Log, repeating tasks, calendar export, tags and status reports — plus 2 AI action plans and 3 photo scans to try.

Premium adds unlimited AI action plans, Generate extra step, Update this plan, and unlimited scans. Choose:

• Monthly, cancel any time;
• Annual, with a 7-day free trial; or
• Lifetime pass — pay once. Only on sale until 31 March 2027 or until 500 passes are sold, whichever comes first.

Just need more scans? When your free scans run out you can buy a one-off pack of 15 instead of going Premium.

You'll see the price for your country on the upgrade screen before you pay. Subscriptions are managed and cancelled in your app store's subscription settings — Settings in ZoneIn links straight there.

10 · Your data and privacy

• Your device first. Your tasks live on your device. No account is needed for anything except sync.
• No trackers. No analytics or advertising tools, no ads, no selling your data.
• AI only with your agreement. When you use an AI feature, the text (or photo) goes to our own server on Google Cloud, where Google's Gemini model processes it and sends the result back. Your content isn't used to train AI models. Our server doesn't store it; Google may hold a request briefly (up to 24 hours) and may log it to check for abuse. Switch AI off any time: Settings → Privacy & Data → AI processing.
• Sync only you can read. If you sign in, your cloud copy is locked to your sign-in.
• You're in control, in Settings → Data:
  • Export my data (JSON) — a full copy of everything.
  • Delete my cloud data — removes your synced copy; your tasks stay on this device.
  • Erase this device — signs you out, then wipes this device. Your cloud copy isn't touched.
  • Delete my account… — removes your account and all its data, for good. Type DELETE to confirm. A store subscription keeps billing until you cancel it in your app store.

The full plain-language version: Privacy & Data Security.

11 · Make it yours

• Light, Dark or System theme: Settings → Appearance.
• Easier to read: Settings → Accessibility — three text sizes, Calmer motion (stops looping animations) and Easier-reading font (Atkinson Hyperlegible). ZoneIn also follows your device's reduce-motion setting.
• Print your week: Print this week on the Workspace prints the whole colour-coded board, or one zone, with boxes to tick by pen. Choose "Save as PDF" in the print window to email it.
• Use the web app like an app: in your phone's browser, choose Add to Home Screen. It works offline.

12 · Troubleshooting and help

• "AI unavailable" or the AI seems busy: wait a few seconds and try again — your photos and text stay where they are. The message under the plan gives the reason.
• A task is in the wrong zone: tap ⇅ and move it.
• Sync says "Signed out": tap Sign in as …, or sign in again in Settings → Cloud Sync.
• A change isn't showing on another device: follow If your devices don't agree.
• Something looks stuck: reload. Your work is saved as you go — on your device, and in the cloud when you're signed in.

Found a bug, or have an idea? Email [email protected]. To report a specific AI result, use Report an AI result → Send report on the task — it attaches the details for you.