Nintendo Switch still needs an activity log, but this workaround helps

The Nintendo Switch lacks many basic features at this stage, like streaming services and wireless headphone support. One notably absent application is an activity log, to many stats-obsessed players’ chagrin. But it turns out there’s a simple workaround which should give players at least some sense of how much time they’re logging on their new console.

The Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app is designed to restrict kids from too much playtime, but it has a function that’s useful to the childless, too. An activity log on the app shows just how much playtime a user is getting on their Switch each day.

Under the “Time Played” tab on the app, players can find which games they checked out on a given day and how much time total they spent on the hardware. It doesn’t get much more specific than that, though, and there aren’t filtration options for more granular records.

There’s also a monthly summary that will be sent out every month, cataloguing which games were played the most each month and for how long. A glimpse of this is seen in Nintendo’s official — and adorable — instructional video for the app.

The Nintendo 3DS and Wii U both had logs that got specific about how many hours players put into their games overall and on the regular, which was a fun way to statistically keep track of favorite titles. Without the Parental Controls app, the closest the Switch comes to a native activity log is a record of every game a user has played and when they first played it. That’s ... not exactly the same, and it won’t sate obsessive record keepers.

The Parental Controls app isn’t a perfect solution, but if you want to brag to your friends that you’ve already logged 100-plus hours in Breath of the Wild, the free iOS and Android download is the way to go.

Watch: Nintendo Switch Hardware Review