Start with one photo and two clocks
Suppose you take a photo at lunch and later scrub the day to an evening walk. The replay control now points into the evening, but the lunchtime photo is still a lunchtime photo. Its caption should not become the later clock reading merely because the route playhead moved.
The same rule applies to place names. Your current GPS fix and the nearest replay route point are not substitutes for an observed capture position. One truthful caption is better than two contradictory labels.
The date picker chooses the collection
Selecting a date changes which day’s moments and recorded paths you review. It does not move a capture from one day to another. Travel can make local dates less obvious, so the selected day’s time context remains important even when normal screens avoid abbreviations.
A photo near midnight deserves particular care. The app keeps its original time data rather than sorting it by whichever clock your phone displays when you review it weeks later.
The replay control is for inspection
Move through the replay to understand the sequence. A gap in actual location observations remains a gap; scrubbing across it does not authorize drawing a confident route between distant endpoints. Genuine earlier geometry can remain visible without a moving marker pretending to know the missing position.
Moments and Route serve different levels of detail. The supporting map under a photo helps orientation, while Route lets the saved path become the focus. Neither creates a missing location just to keep an animation moving.
The export range chooses the edit
From and To choose the material used in a particular movie. They do not edit capture times. Inspect the included thumbnails after changing the range, then create the output. Adjust can return to the settings without discarding the selection.
Underlying local-day rules still handle clock changes and ambiguous hours. Apple’s Calendar time-zone guidance illustrates why displayed local time and the underlying event instant need not be treated as the same thing. Nowhop’s current implementation keeps those details quiet until a choice is required.
Questions this guide answers
Can I backdate a moment with the replay slider?
No. The slider is an inspection control, not a timestamp editor. Original capture identity and time remain unchanged when you browse, scrub or export another range.
Why is there no place name on one photo?
Its capture may lack a usable observed position. Omitting a label is more accurate than assigning your current location or the position of a different moment.
Does a two-hour range make a two-hour movie?
No. The range selects source material. Movie length comes from the included photos, short clips and optional map transitions, not the elapsed hours between From and To.
How long does each moment appear in the current movie?
Photos use 1.5 seconds; clips use their actual duration up to three seconds. Eligible map gaps use 1.2–2.4-second bridges, bounded to twelve gaps and twenty-four seconds total. A one-second final route tail appears only when recorded movement extends beyond covered media. These timings do not measure travel speed.
Can I set every scene duration myself?
The current bounded renderer is not a custom animation timeline editor. A two-second clip stays its actual length, and changing the displayed time zone does not lengthen the original media.
Sources & scope
Official pages reviewed for this guide on October 31, 2026. Features and availability can change; check the linked provider before choosing.
Nowhop behavior is based on our implementation specification. Public demos use samples. Read our editorial approach.
See how a day comes together.
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