What are the differences between the direct, Mac App Store, and Setapp editions of Time Out?

The direct edition (available from this site), the Mac App Store edition, and the Setapp edition are very similar, but there are a few minor differences:

Download

The direct edition can be downloaded from this site.

The Mac App Store edition can be downloaded from the App Store app.

The Setapp edition can be downloaded from the Setapp app.

Installation

The direct edition will download to your Downloads folder, so simply drag it into your Applications folder to install.

The Mac App Store edition will be downloaded directly into the Applications folder.

The Setapp edition will be downloaded directly into the Setapp subfolder within the Applications folder.

Updates

The direct edition can be updated via an in-app updater.

The Mac App Store edition can be updated via the App Store app.

The Setapp edition can be updated via the Setapp app.

Beta releases

The direct edition supports beta releases to help test new updates.

The Mac App Store and Setapp editions are not updated until the general release.

Purchase

The direct edition offers optional in-app purchases via FastSpring (or from this site).

The Mac App Store edition offers optional in-app purchases via your Apple ID (Apple iCloud account).

The Setapp edition doesn’t offer any purchase; all features are always available as part of your Setapp subscription.

Proceeds

The direct edition provides 91% of the purchase price to me, the developer (after FastSpring’s cut).

The Mac App Store edition provides 85% of the purchase price to the developer (after Apple’s cut).

The Setapp edition provides a portion of your Setapp subscription to the developer, based on the number of people using it each month.

Sandbox

The direct and Setapp editions are not sandboxed, to enable updating, though they act with the same limitations as a sandboxed app.

The Mac App Store edition is sandboxed, requiring extra steps to approve keyboard usage detection and install action scripts.

Data location

The direct edition stores its data in the path “~/Library/Group Containers/6Z7QW53WB6.com.dejal.timeout/”, where “~” means your home folder.

The Mac App Store edition stores its data in the path “~/Library/Group Containers/6Z7QW53WB6.com.dejal.timeout.free/”, where “~” means your home folder.

The Setapp edition stores its data in the path “~/Library/Group Containers/6Z7QW53WB6.com.dejal.timeout-setapp/“, where “~” means your home folder.

Your choice

That’s about it. None of the differences are all that significant, so you are welcome to use whichever edition you prefer. Downloading and updating are about as easy for each, and purchasing the direct and Mac App Store editions are similar, it just depends on whether you want to buy with your credit card or PayPal account, or your Apple ID. Of course, purchasing is optional; you can use it for free if you don’t want to become a supporter. And if you have Setapp, it makes sense to use that edition, since it’s included in your Setapp subscription.

I get a warning of another copy of Time Out

Look in your Dock and menu bar; does Time Out appear more than once?

If it’s in the Dock more than once, you can long-click or right-click on the Dock icon to display the Dock menu for the app, then choose Options ▸ Show in Finder to reveal the app in the Finder. Do this for each to find the one that shouldn’t be there — it could be in your Downloads folder, or in a subfolder of Applications if you installed both from the Dejal site and the Mac App Store.

Once you find the duplicate, quit that app (by double-clicking the app icon to bring it to the front, then press ⌘Q), then move it to the Trash and empty the Trash.

Can I move the Time Out break controls, or change the buttons?

Yes, the control panel with the progress bar and buttons, that appears during breaks, can be freely moved anywhere on the screen. The position will be remembered for next time.

Having difficulty with self control, skipping breaks too often?

No problem: you can disable the buttons during the break. Simply go to the Break Appearance page, and you’ll find checkboxes to enable or disable each button, and change the number of minutes for the two postpone buttons.

There are also options to disable the buttons for a few seconds, to give you a chance to decide if you really want to skip the break. And to limit the number of times they can be used, if you need a little more help.

Break controls

No Time Out break appears when I try to start one

If no break appears when you manually start one, or as scheduled, there are a few possibilities.

  1. Firstly, look in the sidebar; it should indicate why a break didn’t occur.
  2. You should restart your Mac. That often fixes wackiness.
  3. If that doesn’t help, make sure you don’t have more than one copy of Time Out.
  4. If still no luck, there may be a permissions issue.

To fix a permissions issue, try this:

Make sure Time Out is in your Applications folder.

Paste the following command into Terminal:

xattr -d -r -s com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Time\ Out.app

If this gives a permissions error (e.g. “xattr: [Errno 13] Permission denied”), try it again with sudo before the command, to elevate the privileges. You’ll need to enter your Administrator password. This command is safe to use with sudo:

sudo xattr -d -r -s com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Time\ Out.app

What are natural breaks in Time Out, and how do I configure them?

“Natural breaks” are when the Mac is not being used; idle.

By default, Time Out will wait briefly then count backwards when you are having a natural break, to give you credit for not using your computer.

If you do a lot of reading on-screen, that doesn’t cause keyboard or mouse activity, you can change the app to disable this behavior by choosing Continue Countdown from the popup menu on the Break Appearance page of the settings.

Or if you’d prefer to have it just pause the countdown, instead of counting backwards, or reset the timer, those are also options.

Why isn’t my Simon Email Notifier working?

I seem to get more queries about the Email notifier than any other feature. Usually, it comes down to not filling in all of the fields, or setting the wrong authentication.

So the first thing I’d recommend is checking that both the To and From address fields are filled in with valid email addresses.

If that doesn’t help, check that the Outgoing Mail Server is correct in the Email Transport Options panel — if you use iCloud, make sure you enter just “smtp.icloud.com” (without the quotes), and not the colon and username following.

If still not working, try each of the Authentication options in that panel, with the appropriate User Name and Password entered. Also try turning SSL off. It’s not always easy to tell which will work.

Are older versions of Time Out available for download?

Yes. I recommend that you always use the latest version of Time Out if you can, as it has the latest improvements and fixes. But if your Mac isn’t using a recent OS version, you’re curious what older versions were like, or you have some other reason to want an older version, they are still available. Just download the latest release that supports your OS version.

Is a Windows or Android version available?

No, I’m a solo developer, so have limited time, and choose to focus my skills on platforms I use. I believe that Apple devices are the best computing platforms, so only write software for Macs, iPhones, and iPads.

I don’t have any significant experience with other platforms, so can’t recommend alternatives for them.