Question 1

What is Daychain?

Accepted Answer

Daychain is a free mobile app (iOS and Android) that helps you track your daily habits. It's inspired by Jerry Seinfeld's 'don't break the chain' productivity method.

Question 2

How is the chain (streak) calculated?

Accepted Answer

Every day you complete forges a new link in your chain. For daily habits, consecutive completed days count; for flexible schedules, the targeted days count.

Question 3

What happens if I miss a day?

Accepted Answer

Your chain breaks and resets. This is designed to motivate you to complete every day; flexible modes allow a little more slack for missed days.

Question 4

Can I mark past days?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can backfill completions for the last few days.

Question 5

Can my friends see my habits?

Accepted Answer

No, friends can only see your total chain length and activity chart. Habit names are private.

Question 6

Is Daychain free?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Daychain is a free, ad-free habit tracker app. You can use daily habit tracking, chain tracking, and friend leaderboards for free.

Question 7

What habits can I track?

Accepted Answer

You can track exercise, reading, water intake, meditation, studying, reducing screen time, or any daily, weekly, or specific-day habit you define.

Question 8

How does habit tracking with friends work?

Accepted Answer

Add friends by username or invite code, then compare total chain lengths and activity charts. The leaderboard is for motivation; your private habit names are never shared.

Question 9

What devices does it run on?

Accepted Answer

Daychain runs on iPhone and Android phones. You can download it free from the App Store or Google Play.

Question 10

How do I delete my data?

Accepted Answer

You can permanently delete your account from Settings > Account in the app. All your data will be deleted.

Question 11

What is a habit?

Accepted Answer

A habit is a behavior you repeat often enough that it becomes automatic — something you do with little conscious effort, usually triggered by a consistent cue like a time of day or a location. Daychain helps make habits concrete: instead of a vague intention, each habit becomes a visible chain link you either forge or miss today.

Question 12

How long does it take to form a habit?

Accepted Answer

There's no single fixed number — research on habit formation (notably a widely cited UCL study) found it can take anywhere from about three weeks to several months for a new behavior to become automatic, depending on the habit and the person. What matters more than the exact day count is consistency: Daychain's chain view shows your streak growing day by day, so you can see the habit taking hold instead of guessing when it 'counts.'

Question 13

How long does it take to break a habit?

Accepted Answer

Breaking a habit isn't really about a countdown — it's about interrupting the cue that triggers it and going long enough without the behavior that the automatic urge fades. Some people notice it ease within a few weeks; others take longer, especially for deeply ingrained habits. Daychain's avoid-type tasks let you track a habit you're trying to stop the same way you track one you're building: a forged link for every day you don't do it, and an honest, non-shaming broken link if you slip.

Question 14

How do habits form?

Accepted Answer

Habits form through a loop: a cue triggers a routine, and a reward reinforces it, so the behavior gradually needs less conscious effort each time. Repeating the loop in the same context — same time, same place — speeds this up. Daychain is built around making that repetition visible: every completed day forges a new link, turning an abstract psychological process into a chain you can watch grow.

Frequently Asked Questions

Daychain is coming to your phone