How to choose your tools

Left has more tools than can comfortably fit in the main bottom menu at once. Choose your tools lets you decide which tools deserve the fastest access — pick what appears in the bottom menu, set the order, choose which one opens by default, and decide whether the menu shows names or just icons. Everything else stays inside the tools button at the end of the bottom menu.

What the bottom menu is for

The bottom menu is the fastest way to move around Left. It is meant for the tools you use most often, not necessarily every tool in the app.

You can display between 2 and 4 tools in the main menu. This keeps the menu usable and prevents it from becoming crowded. The default setup starts with core tools such as Time Left, Time Ahead, and Time Since, but you can change that to match how you actually use Left.

Available tools include:

1. Time Left
2. Planner
3. Time Ahead
4. Time Since
5. You
6. Friends
7. Left Wallpaper
8. Time Between
9. Games

Step 1 — Open Choose your tools

To customize the bottom menu:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Choose your tools.
3. Look at the preview at the top of the screen.

The preview shows how the bottom menu will look with your current choices. As you select, remove, reorder, or hide names, the preview helps you understand the layout before you leave Settings.

Step 2 — Choose the tools to pin

In the tool list, tap a tool to select or deselect it.

Left lets you choose between 2 and 4 tools for the main menu. If you already have 4 selected, you need to remove one before adding another. If you only have 2 selected, Left keeps those selected so the menu does not become too empty.

Choose the tools you want to reach quickly. A good setup is usually based on your daily behaviour:

1. Pick Time Left if you use Left mainly as a time awareness app.
2. Pick Time Ahead if countdown dates are important to you.
3. Pick Time Since if streaks and habits are part of your routine.
4. Pick Planner if you use Left to understand your day.
5. Pick Friends if accountability and shared dates matter to you.
6. Pick You if you often check your profile, lifespan, and personal reflections.

There is no correct setup. The best menu is the one that removes friction from the parts of Left you actually use.

Step 3 — Choose what opens by default

Use Open app by default in... to choose the tool Left should open first.

Only selected tools appear in this picker. If you want a tool to be the default, make sure it is selected in the main tool list first.

For example, if you want Left to always open on Planner, select Planner as one of your tools, then choose it in Open app by default in.... If you later remove that tool from the menu, Left will choose another selected tool as the default.

Step 4 — Reorder your tools

The order of selected tools controls how they appear in the bottom menu.

To change it:

1. Tap Reorder in the top-right.
2. Drag the selected tools into the order you want.
3. Tap Done.

The footer changes to Drag to change the order. Selected tools keep that order in the main menu. while you are reordering. Only the selected tools are shown in this mode, so you can focus on the tools that will actually appear in the bottom menu.

Step 5 — Hide tool names if you prefer icons

Turn on Hide names if you want a cleaner bottom menu with icons only.

This is useful if you already know the icons or prefer a more minimal layout. If you want the menu to be easier to read at a glance, leave names visible.

You can switch this setting back at any time.

Where the rest of the tools go

Tools that are not selected do not disappear. They move behind the tools button at the end of the bottom menu.

That button uses the tools icon and always remains available. Tap it when you want to open a tool that is not pinned in your main menu. This is the balance Left is aiming for: your favourite tools stay one tap away, and everything else remains accessible without crowding the interface.

Changes save automatically when you leave Choose your tools.