What’s this? Yet another update of Time Out?!

This is getting ridiculous, but I think I’ve finally caught all of the issues with older macOS versions.

Why did this happen, you may wonder? It’s my own fault, of course. I’m working on version 3.0, which will require the latest macOS version. But it included a bunch of bug fixes, which I decided to bring forward to version 2.9.x, since some of them were affecting a bunch of people. But I had stripped out logic to check for API availability, since that wasn’t needed in version 3.0… and thus ended up including some function calls that were not supported by older macOS versions.

I’ve gone though all of the changes in these 2.9.x releases and checked the API availability, so I’m pretty sure that it’s good now. And a couple of customers on older OS versions have confirmed the app works properly now. Yay!

A couple of important lessons: beta testing is important (though that would have only caught these issues if at least one tester was on an older OS version; people who don’t upgrade their Macs tend to be less likely to test app updates too). And secondly, supporting older OS versions is risky, and perhaps not worthwhile, since the majority of people do use the latest release. Again, people who are happy to stay on an old macOS release are typically happy to stay on an old app release, too. (Of course, there are exceptions.) I typically require the latest OS version for a major upgrade, but I might consider adopting that policy for all updates. As an indie developer, I don’t have the ability to test updates on older OS versions, which makes supporting them somewhat difficult, for minimal benefit.

Anyway… version 2.9.7 again includes a critical fix for people on older macOS versions:

• Fixed another crash on pre-Sonoma macOS versions. Sorry about that!

If you missed them, versions 2.9.6, 2.9.5, and 2.9.4 were released over the last week, and included several more fixes and tweaks:

• Fixed a different crash on pre-Sonoma macOS versions.
• Fixed the app launch helper unexpectedly opening Terminal on older macOS versions.
• Fixed the settings window unexpectedly appearing after restarting the Mac, when the Dock icon is hidden.
• Fixed misnaming the app in the sidebar when using a When Open app exclusion.
• Fixed the Also skip breaks during focus exclusion option.
• Fixed a break with a large negative duration when scheduling from the calendar with no more events.
• Fixed the tooltip for the Ask When to Start scheduling option.
• When there are multiple displays available, now uses the names of the displays in the menu.
• Fixed the With Inactive Menubar option for multiple displays.
• The other displays now fade out and back in correctly.
• Fixed requesting full calendar access when using the calendar exclusion option (need full access to look for matching events).
• Fixed the Skip button appearing when previewing a break if the end early option is enabled.
• Fixed the option to alert of another copy of the app.
• Added support for break-specific pause via a URL like timeout://break/micro/pause/30m, where micro is the break name, and 30m means pause for 30 minutes.
• Also break-specific resume via a URL like timeout://break/micro/resume.
• Fixed using a timeout://pause URL without an amount (to pause all breaks indefinitely) possibly crashing.
• Fixed the settings window unexpectedly appearing when using a timeout:// URL.
• Bonus: added the Sinclair Trails 2023 theme, with random timelapse clips of driving around the US.

Want to try it?

If you are using the Mac App Store edition, you can update via the App Store app.

Similarly, if you are using the Setapp edition, it will handle that update for you.

If you are using the direct edition, you can use the Check for Updates feature in the app to update. (If it says you’re up-to-date with a previous version, turn off the Via SSL checkbox; CloudFlare caches the version state for a few hours.)

Otherwise, download Time Out 2.9.7 now!

Let’s make it three: another update of Time Out, my popular break reminder tool.

When I did the recent 2.9.4 update, I figured I didn’t need to do a beta release, since it was just basic bug fixes. Oops… no, beta releases are useful even for bug fixes, since I can’t test on older OS versions, and sometimes Apple changes things that break apps, even apps for taking breaks.

Version 2.9.6 includes a critical fix for people on older macOS versions:

• Fixed a crash on pre-Sonoma macOS versions. Sorry about that!

If you missed them, versions 2.9.5 and 2.9.4 were released a few days ago, and included several more fixes and tweaks:

• Fixed the app launch helper unexpectedly opening Terminal on older macOS versions.
• Fixed the settings window unexpectedly appearing after restarting the Mac, when the Dock icon is hidden.
• Fixed misnaming the app in the sidebar when using a When Open app exclusion.
• Fixed the Also skip breaks during focus exclusion option.
• Fixed a break with a large negative duration when scheduling from the calendar with no more events.
• Fixed the tooltip for the Ask When to Start scheduling option.
• When there are multiple displays available, now uses the names of the displays in the menu.
• Fixed the With Inactive Menubar option for multiple displays.
• The other displays now fade out and back in correctly.
• Fixed requesting full calendar access when using the calendar exclusion option (need full access to look for matching events).
• Fixed the Skip button appearing when previewing a break if the end early option is enabled.
• Fixed the option to alert of another copy of the app.
• Added support for break-specific pause via a URL like timeout://break/micro/pause/30m, where micro is the break name, and 30m means pause for 30 minutes.
• Also break-specific resume via a URL like timeout://break/micro/resume.
• Fixed using a timeout://pause URL without an amount (to pause all breaks indefinitely) possibly crashing.
• Fixed the settings window unexpectedly appearing when using a timeout:// URL.
• Bonus: added the Sinclair Trails 2023 theme, with random timelapse clips of driving around the US.

Want to try it?

If you are using the Mac App Store edition, you can update via the App Store app.

Similarly, if you are using the Setapp edition, it will handle that update for you.

If you are using the direct edition, you can use the Check for Updates feature in the app to update. (If it says you’re up-to-date with a previous version, turn off the Via SSL checkbox; CloudFlare caches the version state for a few hours.)

Otherwise, download Time Out 2.9.6 now!

I’m a little embarrassed that I needed to do a second release, but here it is: another update of Time Out, my popular break reminder tool.

Version 2.9.5 includes a critical fix for people on older macOS versions, and properly fixes something I attempted to fix in the previous update:

• Fixed the app launch helper unexpectedly opening Terminal on older macOS versions.
• Fixed the settings window unexpectedly appearing after restarting the Mac, when the Dock icon is hidden.

If you missed it, version 2.9.4 was released a couple of days ago, which included several more fixes and tweaks:

• Fixed misnaming the app in the sidebar when using a When Open app exclusion.
• Fixed the Also skip breaks during focus exclusion option.
• Fixed a break with a large negative duration when scheduling from the calendar with no more events.
• Fixed the tooltip for the Ask When to Start scheduling option.
• When there are multiple displays available, now uses the names of the displays in the menu.
• Fixed the With Inactive Menubar option for multiple displays.
• The other displays now fade out and back in correctly.
• Fixed requesting full calendar access when using the calendar exclusion option (need full access to look for matching events).
• Fixed the Skip button appearing when previewing a break if the end early option is enabled.
• Fixed the option to alert of another copy of the app.
• Added support for break-specific pause via a URL like timeout://break/micro/pause/30m, where micro is the break name, and 30m means pause for 30 minutes.
• Also break-specific resume via a URL like timeout://break/micro/resume.
• Fixed using a timeout://pause URL without an amount (to pause all breaks indefinitely) possibly crashing.
• Fixed the settings window unexpectedly appearing when using a timeout:// URL.
• Bonus: added the Sinclair Trails 2023 theme, with random timelapse clips of driving around the US.

Want to try it?

If you are using the Mac App Store edition, you can update via the App Store app.

Similarly, if you are using the Setapp edition, it will handle that update for you.

If you are using the direct edition, you can use the Check for Updates feature in the app to update. (If it says you’re up-to-date with a previous version, turn off the Via SSL checkbox; CloudFlare caches the version state for a few hours.)

Otherwise, download Time Out 2.9.5 now!

I’m pleased to announce an update of Time Out, my popular break reminder tool.

Version 2.9.4 includes some nice fixes and tweaks:

• Fixed the settings window unexpectedly appearing after restarting the Mac, when the Dock icon is hidden.
• Fixed misnaming the app in the sidebar when using a When Open app exclusion.
• Fixed the Also skip breaks during focus exclusion option.
• Fixed a break with a large negative duration when scheduling from the calendar with no more events.
• Fixed the tooltip for the Ask When to Start scheduling option.
• When there are multiple displays available, now uses the names of the displays in the menu.
• Fixed the With Inactive Menubar option for multiple displays.
• The other displays now fade out and back in correctly.
• Fixed requesting full calendar access when using the calendar exclusion option (need full access to look for matching events).
• Fixed the Skip button appearing when previewing a break if the end early option is enabled.
• Fixed the option to alert of another copy of the app.
• Added support for break-specific pause via a URL like timeout://break/micro/pause/30m, where micro is the break name, and 30m means pause for 30 minutes.
• Also break-specific resume via a URL like timeout://break/micro/resume.
• Fixed using a timeout://pause URL without an amount (to pause all breaks indefinitely) possibly crashing.
• Fixed the settings window unexpectedly appearing when using a timeout:// URL.
• Bonus: added the Sinclair Trails 2023 theme, with random timelapse clips of driving around the US.

Want to try it?

If you are using the Mac App Store edition, you can update via the App Store app.

Similarly, if you are using the Setapp edition, it will handle that update for you.

If you are using the direct edition, you can use the Check for Updates feature in the app to update. (If it says you’re up-to-date with version 2.9.2, turn off the Via SSL checkbox; CloudFlare seems to be caching the version state.)

Otherwise, download Time Out 2.9.4 now!

I’m pleased to announce an update of Time Out, my popular break reminder tool.

This update includes some nice fixes and tweaks:

• Now uses more modern ways to start the break helper, the automatically start on login option, and access the System Settings.
• Fixed app icons not appearing in the Activity log for apps with display names that don’t match their filename.
• Fixed a break sometimes stopping too early when using the Ask When to Start option.
• Fixed a break not being rescheduled past midnight when a natural break occurs.
• Added themes for the Sinclair Trails blog and YouTube channel, and updated the Tropical Rain theme.
• Fixed the Speak Time break action script.
• Can now use a URL of timeout://settings to open the Time Out settings window, in addition to the existing timeout://preferences (useful for scripting and shortcuts).

Want to try it?

If you are using the Mac App Store edition, you can update via the App Store app.

Similarly, if you are using the Setapp edition, it will handle that update for you.

If you are using the direct edition, you can use the Check for Updates feature in the app to update.

Otherwise, download Time Out 2.9.2 now!

[This post was recovered from the old blog, thanks to being cross-posted on Reddit.]

I’m pleased to announce the general release of an update of Time Out, my popular break reminder tool.

Version 2.9 includes several great enhancements, including a status message in the sidebar to indicate why a break was skipped etc, the ability to schedule and exclude breaks using calendar events, support for Monterey focus, an option to hide the Pause function, new break options to pause or reset an individual break, and much more.

Read on for details.

Added a status message to the breaks in the sidebar

• The break items in the sidebar now display a status message, e.g. to indicate that the break has been postponed or skipped.

• When a break is skipped or postponed due to an app exclusion, the app name is included.

• So if you ever wonder why a break didn’t occur as expected, look at this status message.

Added the ability to schedule breaks using calendar events

• A new Calendar option is now available in the From pop-up menu on the Break Schedule page.

• If chosen, a pop-up menu of your calendars, and a field to filter on event text is displayed.

• The first time this is chosen, the app will prompt for permission to access your calendars.

• When using this option, Time Out will look at the specified calendar for events containing the specified text, and start a break at the start of the event, and finish at the end.

• If the event text filter field is left blank, all events will be used; specify something else to use the same calendar for multiple breaks.

• Multiple values can be entered in the filter field, separated by commas, e.g. “break, lunch, snack”.

• A reload button is available to reset the due date, if you edit the events.

• Since the calendar controls the duration, frequency, and availability of the break, those controls are disabled.

• This feature is available as a reward for current supporters; others can try it for an hour at a time.

Added an Exclusions option to skip breaks when busy on the calendar

• A new Also skip breaks during calendar events option is now available on the Exclusionspage.

• If chosen, a pop-up menu of your calendars, and a field to filter on event text is displayed.

• The first time this is chosen, the app will prompt for permission to access your calendars.

• When using this option, Time Out will look at the specified calendar for events containing the specified text, and skip a due break if it would fall within an event.

• As with calendar scheduling, if the event text filter field is left blank, all events on that calendar will be used; specify something else to only skip some of the events.

• Multiple values can be entered in the filter field, separated by commas, e.g. “meeting, 1-on-1, planning”.

• This feature is available as a reward for current supporters; others can try it for an hour at a time.

Support for Monterey focus

• Renamed the Exclusions option to skip breaks during Do Not Disturb to focus, Apple’s new name for it in Monterey.

• The first time this option is enabled, the app will prompt to get permission to look at the focus state.

• If declined, you can enable it via System Preferences ▸ Security & Privacy ▸ User Availability.

• This feature will still work with the old Do Not Disturb state from previous macOS versions.

Added an Advanced option to hide the Pause function

• Sometimes it can be very difficult to resist the temptation to pause Time Out to avoid breaks, even though you know you shouldn’t.

• So for people who don’t want the Pause function, there is now an option on the Advanced page to hide it.

• This feature is available as a reward for current supporters; others can try it for an hour at a time.

New break options to pause or reset an individual break

• Added a Pause Break or Resume Break command to the break options menus. So a break can be paused independent of other breaks.

• The Pause Break menu item can be chosen to pause indefinitely, or choose a shorter time from the submenu.

• This is of course not included if the new Advanced option to hide pause is active.

• Also added a Reset Break command to these menus. This will start the work period again from now, just for this break.

But wait, there’s more!

• Fixed the Flash Screen break action on Apple silicon Macs. It now uses the built-in screen flash, so doesn’t have color or duration options.

• Fixed the Fadeout Sound break action not showing the fade out time interval field.

• Updated the Stop Screensaver break action script.

• Breaks due on future days are no longer adjusted when having a natural break (idle).

• When resetting a From: Fixed Time break, the next due time now respects the fixed time.

• Break names are now cleaned up to avoid invalid characters that can cause saving the break to fail.

• Updated the Exclusions to remove DVD Player, and change FaceTime, Photo Booth, and QuickTime Player to include “System” in their paths.

• For new folks, the exclusions for Zoom are now When Frontmost, to avoid a common support query. Existing data is not changed, in case you like them When Open.

• The Pause All Breaks menu item can now be chosen to pause indefinitely, instead of needing to choose that from the submenu.

• When paused indefinitely, the status item text now shows “–“.

• Improved the highlighting of the status item rows.

• Hidden a couple of rarely-used diagnostic logging options.

• Fixed a performance issue where the app could use more CPU than it should in some unusual circumstances.

• Time Out now requires a minimum of macOS Catalina (10.15).

Want to try it?

If you are using the Mac App Store edition, you can update via the App Store app.

Similarly, if you are using the Setapp edition, it will handle that update for you.

If you are using the direct edition, you can use the Check for Updates feature in the app to update.

Otherwise, download Time Out 2.9 now!