Introducing a TestFlight of Time Out version 3.1

I’m pleased to announce a pre-release TestFlight for version 3.1 of Time Out, my popular break reminder app for Mac. 🎉

This update includes several big improvements:

Added an option to keep a break displayed until you click a new End Break button, with an overtime counter showing how long the break has continued.

Added several fun, appearance-aware menu bar icons, including symbols and activity shapes.

Added Advanced options to hide or disable commands that could bypass a break.

Added Messages for occasional tips, feature explanations, announcements, and invitations from Dejal, with brief non-disruptive appearances during breaks.

Added optional Premium subscriptions and a Lifetime purchase, alongside the existing non-recurring Supporter options.

Breaks now wait for mouse or trackpad drag operations to finish before appearing.

And a number of other minor improvements.

This pre-release build is available via Apple’s TestFlight. Want to help test it? Install the TestFlight. It is open to all — but note that it requires macOS Tahoe (26.0 or later).

I would appreciate any help in testing this update. If you experience any issues, or have any suggestions for improvements, please contact me.

Read on for full details.

New option to end a break when done

Added a Show button to end break when done checkbox to the Break Appearance page.

If enabled, when the break reaches its scheduled duration, it remains displayed instead of fading out automatically.

The control panel shows an End Break button; click it when you are ready to finish the break.

The left-hand time label continues to show the scheduled duration, while the right-hand label counts upward, e.g. +35 seconds, so you can see how long the break has continued beyond its schedule.

Clicking End Break fades out the break as usual.

This option is available as a new reward for recent Time Out supporters.

New icons for the menu bar status item

Added several new icons for the menu bar status item, as fun indicators of Time Out breaks.

Symbols include a palm tree, umbrella, leaf, cup, pause, and more.

Activity shapes include walking, cardio, strength training, flexibility, etc.

Unlike the app icon and break label icons, these will adapt to the current menu bar appearance.

Optionally hide commands that could bypass a break

Added Advanced options to separately hide or disable the Reset, Disable, Delete, and/or Quit commands.

These join the existing option to hide the Pause commands.

These options make it harder to bypass breaks, for people who want a little extra help.

Introducing Messages from Dejal

Added a new Messages page in the settings window for occasional tips, helpful feature explanations, announcements, and invitations from Dejal.

A brief message may sometimes appear as part of the control panel during a break; it won’t pause, extend, postpone, or otherwise change the break, and the complete message remains available in Settings.

Unread messages are marked, and messages can be searched or marked as read.

Messages can include a Show Me button, that takes you to the relevant settings page and highlights the control being discussed.

As a new reward for recent Time Out supporters, options are available to disable messages, hide them during breaks, or exclude promotional messages.

Time Out does not show third-party advertising; promotional messages are just very rare mentions of other Dejal apps that you might find useful.

Introducing an optional Premium subscription and Lifetime purchase

Added an automatically recurring subscription option, as an alternative to the Supporter options.

It works like a normal subscription, unlocking all premium features while subscribed.

The existing non-recurring Supporter options are still available.

Also added a Lifetime purchase option, which keeps all current and future premium features available forever.

The existing trial mechanism is unchanged; a trial will automatically start when any supporter/premium feature is used.

Trials now more clearly highlight the options being tried with a red highlight.

And of course the basic features of the app can still be used completely free.

Modernized the break display

Rewrote the break display using SwiftUI, while retaining compatibility with all existing themes.

The available control buttons are now always centered when some buttons are hidden.

This modernization was the groundwork for the Messages and End Break enhancements.

Added anonymous analytics to help improve the app

Added a checkbox to the Advanced page to control sending anonymous analytics to Dejal.

This does not include any personally identifiable information, and doesn’t include any third-party trackers.

It was written by Dejal to provide basic aggregated information like the major OS version and similar values, to help guide future improvements of the app.

But wait, there’s more!

If the mouse/trackpad button is down when a break is due, it now waits until the button is released, to avoid interrupting a drag operation.

Added support for URLs like timeout://break/micro/postpone/2m and timeout://postpone/2m, i.e. postponing a specific break or all breaks by a custom time interval.

Added support for a timeout://scheduler/logging/on URL to turn on break scheduler diagnostic logging, and timeout://scheduler/logging/off to turn it off again. Leave off unless instructed by Dejal.

Several other minor improvements.

Want to help test it?

This pre-release build is available via Apple’s TestFlight. Install the TestFlight. Note that it requires macOS Tahoe (26.0 or later).

Once it is in general release, it will be available via the Mac App Store, Setapp, and directly from the Dejal website, as usual.

Again if you experience any issues, or have any suggestions for improvements, please contact me.