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The work hour data from the employees’ mobile devices is automatically synchronized with the administrative Android app account. This ensures managers get notified, so they can review employees’ time entries to verify them for payroll and client billing. Aside from time tracking, some Android time tracking apps offer GPS and geofencing features to track employee movement during work hours.
How Do Android Time Tracking Apps Work?
Android time tracking apps offer more flexibility in tracking employee work hours compared to traditional time tracking methods, such as manual pen-and-paper spreadsheets or digital timesheets. These apps calculate work hours with greater precision thanks to their real-time tracking features, resulting in accurate client billing and payroll.
With Android time tracking apps, employees only need to tap on the play/pause button to start tracking their work hours. This approach greatly eliminates the company's administrative costs regarding timekeeping data.
Each employee creates their own unique account for the company's Android time tracking application. Some of these apps even support facial recognition or fingerprint scans. This ensures the employee is present at work when they should be and eliminates the chance of time theft or buddy punching.
Pros of Using Android Time Tracking Apps
Ease of Use
Android time tracking apps are simple to use and easy to implement in any type of business. Today, most people are familiar with smartphones, and it doesn’t take a lot of skill to download and install a time tracking app on an Android phone.
Seamless Payroll
When a company replaces traditional time tracking methods with an Android time tracking app, the timesheet collection process becomes a breeze as all information is submitted electronically and managers can view all the time data from the company application account.
Most apps send reminders to employees to electronically submit the timesheet data before each pay period. The apps that lack this feature often include a list of all employee timesheets, so managers can easily see which employees haven’t sent their timekeeping data.
Customization
Android time tracking apps can be customized to calculate overtime and holiday hours, or calculate work hours from different work positions with different hourly rates. For example, writing for 3 hours at $12 per hour and editing for 5 hours at $15 per hour.
Accuracy
Android time tracking apps are precise at tracking work hours as they require minimal manual input. Employees only tap play to start counting and pause to stop. They can be customized to remind employees to clock in at the start of the workday and clock out when their shift ends. Moreover, Android apps can also send reminders to pause the work hour count for breaks or lunchtime.
Managers can customize the apps to receive notifications themselves if an employee clock in late or early, takes longer than the scheduled breaks, or doesn’t take their scheduled break.
Great for Remote Teams
Some industries such as construction, plumbing, and delivery rely on fieldwork, so the ability to remotely track work hours without interruptions saves them time and allows workers to focus on their tasks.
Moreover, if a manager oversees multiple teams on different job sites around town, the Android time tracking app allows them to organize the teams much more efficiently. Managers directly communicate with employees via the app and send coordinates for each job site to each team.
Cons of Using Android Time Tracking Apps
Pricing
While Android time tracking apps are endlessly customizable and feature-packed, not all of them come free of charge. The more premium Android time tracking apps can be pricy but are definitely a worthwhile investment.
Moreover, some states might require companies to provide their employees with company-issued devices in order to legally monitor them while at work. This increases the overall costs of using an app.
Battery
Android phones are powered by a battery that has to be recharged in order for the smartphone to stay operational. If a smartphone runs out of juice, the employee will not be able to track their work hours for that day, and the manager will receive a notification that a device has gone offline.
In this case, the company should issue travel chargers to employees or implement a policy to keep company phones charged at all times to accurately track work hours.
