Left / Life calendar
A life calendar for your iPhone: your life in weeks
A life calendar draws a whole lifetime as a grid, one box for every week, and fills in the weeks you have already lived. It sounds stark, and it is meant to be clarifying. Left turns that idea into a living view on your iPhone, with widgets and a Lock Screen wallpaper that update as the weeks go by.
Free with an 80-year default lifespan. For iPhone with iOS 26 or later.
What a life calendar is
Take an ordinary lifespan, say 80 years, and draw it as rows of 52 boxes, one row per year. That is about 4,160 weeks, and it fits on a single page. Shade in the weeks you have lived, and what is left becomes something you can actually see. The format was made popular by Tim Urban’s "Your Life in Weeks" essay on Wait But Why, and it echoes a much older idea: memento mori, the Stoic habit of remembering that time is limited so you spend it on purpose.
A paper chart is static. In Left the grid updates on its own: each week, one more box dims.
Why people keep one
Most people do not use a life calendar to feel gloomy. They use it to get perspective. Seeing that a week is a small but visible part of the whole makes it easier to say no to things that do not matter and yes to the trip, the call or the project you keep postponing. It also makes ordinary weeks feel less disposable.
If weeks feel too intense, switch the view to months or years for a gentler picture, or hide the life view from the main screen entirely. The point is awareness, not pressure.
How to set up your life calendar in Left
- Open Left, go to Settings and open Your lifespan.
- Set your Birthday. It tells Left where your timeline starts; without it, Left cannot show life progress.
- Under See your life in..., choose Weeks. Months and Years are there too.
- Go back to Time Left and switch to the life view, labelled Your life (or your name, if you have added one). You will see the grid, the weeks you have left, and your current year and age.
- Optional: turn on Hide Life in Left view if you would rather not see it every time you open the app. Your settings are kept.
About the lifespan number
Left uses an 80-year lifespan by default. With Left Premium you can change it: Calculate your lifespan estimates a number from broad factors such as country of birth, exercise, smoking, alcohol, diet, sleep and stress, and Set your lifespan manually lets you choose the number yourself. Either way it is an approximation for reflection, not a medical prediction. Changing it rescales every life view, widget and wallpaper. The lifespan guide covers every option.
Life widgets and the life wallpaper
Opening an app is a choice. A widget or wallpaper is just there, which is why many people keep their life calendar on a screen they see all day.
| Option | What it shows | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Life widget | One symbol per year of your lifespan, with years left or percentage left, and your name if you like | Home Screen: Small, Medium, Large. Lock Screen: Circular, Rectangular, Inline |
| You widget | Time left and time lived, in years, months, weeks, days or hours, with a progress bar | Home Screen: Small, Medium, Large. Lock Screen: Circular, Rectangular, Inline |
| Left Wallpaper, Life mode | Your whole life as a grid of weeks, months or years, as your Lock Screen wallpaper | Lock Screen, updated by a Shortcuts automation |
To add a widget, touch and hold the Home Screen, tap Edit, then Add Widget, search for Left and choose Life or You. For the Lock Screen, touch and hold it, tap Customize, choose Lock Screen and tap the widget area. The wallpaper is the closest thing to a printed life calendar on your phone: see the days left wallpaper page for setup.
What is free and what needs Left Premium
The life view, the Life and You widgets and Left Wallpaper are free, using the 80-year default. A custom lifespan, whether calculated or set by hand, needs Left Premium, which also unlocks unlimited countdowns, habits, streaks and Aims, Planner and more. Prices are shown in the app before you buy.
Curious before you install? The free life expectancy calculator and age calculator run in your browser. Left itself is iPhone-only and needs iOS 26 or later.
Questions
What is a life calendar?
A life calendar is a grid of every week in a typical lifespan, usually 52 boxes per row and one row per year, with the weeks you have lived filled in. It makes the time you have left visible at a glance.
How many weeks are in a lifetime?
An 80-year life is about 4,160 weeks (80 × 52). Left uses your birthday and lifespan to work out how many of those you have lived and how many are left.
Is Left’s life calendar free?
Yes. The life view, the Life and You widgets and the life wallpaper are free with Left’s 80-year default lifespan. Setting a custom lifespan needs Left Premium.
Can I see my life in weeks on my Lock Screen?
Yes. Left Wallpaper has a Life mode that draws your life in weeks, months or years as your Lock Screen wallpaper, and the You widget can show your weeks left as a number on the Lock Screen.
Is the lifespan a prediction?
No. Whether you use the 80-year default, the calculator or a number you choose, it is an approximation for reflection, not medical advice or a forecast.
Make the weeks count.
Download Left, add your birthday, and see your life in weeks on your iPhone.
Scan or search "Left" on the App Store.