{"id":460,"date":"2026-08-25T09:52:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T16:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dejal.com\/blog\/?p=460"},"modified":"2026-08-25T09:52:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T16:52:23","slug":"announcing-time-out-version-3-1-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dejal.com\/blog\/announcing-time-out-version-3-1-release\/","title":{"rendered":"Announcing Time Out version 3.1 release"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

I\u2019m pleased to announce the general release of Time Out<\/a> version 3.1, a big update of my popular break reminder app for Mac. \ud83c\udf89<\/p>\n

This update includes several significant improvements:<\/p>\n

Added an option to keep a break displayed until you click a new End Break<\/strong> button, with an overtime counter showing how long the break has continued.<\/li>\n

Added several fun, appearance-aware menu bar icons, including symbols and activity shapes.<\/li>\n

Added Option-click on status item to show a quick menu of options for the next break and more.<\/li>\n

Added Make Due In<\/strong> submenu in break Options<\/strong> menu to change the due time of a break.<\/li>\n

Added Advanced<\/strong> options to hide or disable commands that could bypass a break.<\/li>\n

Added Messages<\/strong> for occasional tips, feature explanations, announcements, and invitations from Dejal, with brief non-disruptive appearances during breaks.<\/li>\n

Added optional Premium<\/strong> subscriptions and a Lifetime<\/strong> purchase, alongside the existing non-recurring Supporter<\/strong> options.<\/li>\n

Modernized the break display while retaining compatibility with existing themes.<\/li>\n

Breaks now wait for mouse or trackpad drag operations to finish before appearing.<\/li>\n

Added URL commands for postponing specific or all breaks by a custom interval.<\/li>\n

Added anonymous analytics to help improve the app.<\/li>\n

Includes several other minor improvements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Like version 3.0, this update requires macOS Tahoe (26.0) or later.<\/p>\n
Read on for full details.<\/p>\n
New option to end a break when done<\/h2>\n
$\"Show$ <\/p>\n
$\"End$ <\/p>\n
\n
Added a Show button to end break when done<\/b> checkbox to the Break Appearance<\/b> page.<\/li>\n
If enabled, when the break reaches its scheduled duration, it remains displayed instead of fading out automatically.<\/li>\n
The control panel shows an End Break<\/b> button; click it when you are ready to finish the break.<\/li>\n
The left-hand time label continues to show the scheduled duration, while the right-hand label counts upward, e.g. +35 seconds<\/code>, so you can see how long the break has continued beyond its schedule.<\/li>\n
Clicking End Break<\/b> fades out the break as usual.<\/li>\n
This option is available as a new reward for recent Time Out supporters.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
New icons for the menu bar status item<\/h2>\n
$\"Status$ <\/p>\n
\n
Added several new icons for the menu bar status item, as fun indicators of Time Out breaks.<\/li>\n
Symbols include a palm tree, umbrella, leaf, cup, pause, and more.<\/li>\n
Activity shapes include walking, cardio, strength training, flexibility, etc.<\/li>\n
Unlike the app icon and break label icons, these will adapt to the current menu bar appearance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Alternative status item menu<\/h2>\n
$\"Option-click$ <\/p>\n
\n
Hold the Option key when clicking the menu bar status item to show a menu of useful commands for the next due break, while a regular click continues to show the window.<\/li>\n
This menu includes an item to show the Time Out window, several commands to start, postpone, skip, etc the next due break, and useful commands that apply to all breaks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Quickly change when a break is due<\/h2>\n
$\"Make$ <\/p>\n
\n
Added a Make Due In<\/b> submenu to change a break to be due in 30 seconds, 1 to 10 minutes, 15, 20, 30, or 45 minutes, or 1 hour.<\/li>\n
This is equivalent to editing the due date in the Break Schedule<\/b> page, so doesn\u2019t count as postponing or skipping.<\/li>\n
It is also useful for testing Break Actions<\/b>, to make them due soon.<\/li>\n
This submenu appears in the new alternative status item menu, and in each break\u2019s Options<\/b> menu in the sidebar.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Optionally hide commands that could bypass a break<\/h2>\n
$\"Hide$ <\/p>\n
\n
Added Advanced<\/b> options to separately hide or disable the Make Due In<\/strong>, Reset<\/b>, Disable<\/b>, Delete<\/b>, and\/or Quit<\/b> commands.<\/li>\n
These join the existing option to hide the Pause<\/b> commands.<\/li>\n
These options make it harder to bypass breaks, for people who want a little extra help.<\/li>\n
These new options are available as a new reward for recent Time Out supporters.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Introducing Messages from Dejal<\/h2>\n
$\"Messages$ <\/p>\n
$\"Tip$ <\/p>\n
\n
Added a new Messages<\/b> page in the settings window for occasional tips, helpful feature explanations, announcements, and invitations from Dejal.<\/li>\n
A brief message may sometimes appear as part of the control panel during a break; it won\u2019t pause, extend, postpone, or otherwise change the break, and the complete message remains available in Settings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
$\"Welcome$ <\/p>\n
\n
Click the message during a break to show the full message after the break ends.<\/li>\n
Or click the X next to the message (that appears when pointing at it) to dismiss the message.<\/li>\n
Unread messages are marked, and messages can be searched or marked as read.<\/li>\n
Messages can include a Show Me<\/strong> button, that takes you to the relevant settings page and highlights the control being discussed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
$\"Green$ <\/p>\n
\n
As a new reward for recent Time Out supporters, options are available to disable messages, hide them during breaks, or exclude promotional messages.<\/li>\n
Time Out does not show third-party advertising; promotional messages are just very rare mentions of other Dejal apps that you might find useful.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Introducing an optional Premium subscription and Lifetime purchase<\/h2>\n
The Support Time Out<\/strong> page now has two new options: a one-time Lifetime Supporter<\/strong> purchase, and a button to switch to subscription<\/strong> options:<\/p>\n
$\"Lifetime$ <\/p>\n
Clicking the View Premium Options<\/strong> button shows the auto-renewing subscription options, with a button to switch back to View Supporter Options<\/strong>:<\/p>\n
$\"Premium$ <\/p>\n
\n
Added an automatically recurring subscription<\/b> option, as an alternative to the Supporter<\/b> options.<\/li>\n
It works like a normal subscription, unlocking all premium features while subscribed.<\/li>\n
Note that the subscription option is only available in the Mac App Store<\/strong> edition.<\/li>\n
The existing non-recurring Supporter<\/strong> options are still available in both the direct<\/strong> and App Store<\/strong> editions.<\/li>\n
You may not be offered one or the other, depending on your current supporter status.<\/li>\n
Also added a Lifetime<\/b> purchase option, which keeps all current and future premium features available forever.<\/li>\n
The existing trial mechanism is unchanged; a trial will automatically start when any supporter\/premium feature is used.<\/li>\n
Trials now more clearly highlight the options being tried with a red highlight.<\/li>\n
And of course the basic features of the app can still be used completely free.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
$\"Show$ <\/p>\n
Modernized the break display<\/h2>\n
\n
Rewrote the break display using SwiftUI, while retaining compatibility with all existing themes.<\/li>\n
The available control buttons are now always centered when some buttons are hidden.<\/li>\n
This modernization was the groundwork for the Messages<\/b> and End Break<\/b> enhancements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Added anonymous analytics to help improve the app<\/h2>\n
$\"Analytics$ <\/p>\n
\n
Added a checkbox to the Advanced<\/b> page to control sending anonymous analytics to Dejal.<\/li>\n
This does not include any personally identifiable information, and doesn\u2019t include any third-party trackers.<\/li>\n
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.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
But wait, there\u2019s more!<\/h2>\n
\n
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.<\/li>\n
Added support for URLs like timeout:\/\/break\/micro\/postpone\/2m<\/code> and timeout:\/\/postpone\/2m<\/code>, i.e. postponing a specific break or all breaks by a custom time interval.<\/li>\n
Added support for a timeout:\/\/scheduler\/logging\/on<\/code> URL to turn on break scheduler diagnostic logging, and timeout:\/\/scheduler\/logging\/off<\/code> to turn it off again. Leave off unless instructed by Dejal.<\/li>\n
Several other minor improvements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nWant to try it?<\/h2>\nNote that Time Out requires a minimum of macOS Tahoe (26.0)<\/strong>. If you are still using an older OS version, you can continue to use version 2.9.7 until you\u2019re ready to upgrade your OS.<\/p>\n If you are using the Mac App Store edition, you can update via the App Store<\/b> app.<\/p>\n Similarly, if you are using the Setapp edition<\/a>, it will handle that update for you.<\/p>\n If you are using the direct edition, you can use the Check for Updates<\/b> feature in the app to update.<\/p>\n Otherwise, download Time Out 3.1 now!<\/a><\/p>\n I hope you enjoy the many improvements in Time Out!<\/p>\n \u2013 David Sinclair, author<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019m pleased to announce the general release of Time Out version 3.1, a big update of my popular break reminder app for Mac. \ud83c\udf89 This update includes several significant 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-release","category-time-out"],"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dejal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":461,"href":"https:\/\/dejal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460\/revisions\/461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

New option to end a break when done<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

New icons for the menu bar status item<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n