Break Actions page
The Actions page of the Break page in the Settings window is where you can specify things to do before, during or after a break to notify you that it is going to start, pause music for the duration of the break, play a sound during the break, and more.
Start by clicking the Add (+) button in the upper-right corner of the window. This shows a menu of available break actions.
The menu shows built-in actions and installed scripts. Choose Browse Scripts... to search the catalog and read descriptions, authors, dates, requirements, and setup instructions. Click Get to download the selected script without adding an action. The browser stays open so you can get several scripts; once installed, click Add to add one to this break. Bundled and cached catalog information remains available offline.
Time Out asks for access to its Application Scripts folder the first time it needs to install a script. If you cancel access or a download fails, click Get to try again. Reveal Scripts opens the folder in the Finder. If the folder is missing, Get or Reveal Scripts offers to recreate it at the default location. Existing installed and custom scripts are preserved.
Installed script actions have an Open button to edit the script and a Preview button to try it. The info button beside Open or Get opens the browser with that script selected. Choose File > Reload Actions while this page is selected to refresh the actions and available scripts.
Once you add an action, next to its name you'll see a time interval picker and pop-up menu. These can be used to control when the action occurs, as follows. The interval picker is an offset from these times, for example you can set an action to be used 5 minutes before the break is due, or 30 seconds after it finishes fading out.
- Before Due: This will use the action the interval before the break is due to start.
- After Start: This is when the break starts to fade in.
- After Fade In: This is once it has fully faded in.
- Before Fade Out: This is when the break starts to fade out on completion.
- Before Finish: This is once it has fully faded out.
- After Finish: This is the same as Before Finish, but can be offset after completion.
- After Postpone/Skip: This occurs if the break is postponed or skipped instead of completed.
- After Any End: This is a combination of After Finish and After Postpone/Skip, i.e. whether completed or deferred.
- When Button Clicked: Run only when you click a button in the break control panel. Enter its name in the Button title field; this action does not run automatically.
If you have multiple actions, which is a supporter reward, drag anywhere in an action header outside its controls to reorder them. Actions move into place as you drag; cancelling restores the original order. Button actions appear in this order in the break control panel.
The available actions include:
Display Notification
This action displays a Notification Center notification, with a title and message of your choosing. You can optionally play a sound too: either the default chime, or one of the system sounds.
Fadeout Sound
If a long sound is played, it can be gently faded out over a number of seconds. This is a useful action to put at the end of a break, with a Play Sound action at the start, so you can have a pleasant sound (perhaps like wind, waves, a bell or a chant) for the duration of the break then make it fade out at the end.
Flash Screen
This action fades a colored overlay in and out across all displays, using the chosen duration and color. Choose Fixed Color, Random Hue, or Blurred; a random hue is shared across all displays. It's useful as a silent warning of an impending break.
Play Sound
Use this action to play a sound or music before, during or after a break. You can choose a simple beep, a built-in sound, a system sound, or any sound or music file on your computer. The volume can be adjusted, and the sound can be played repeatedly; useful for short sounds during the break, in conjunction with the Fadeout Sound action.
Sound Volume
Change the system sound volume independently of sounds played by Time Out. Choose Increase by or Decrease by an amount, Set to a fixed percentage, or Mute. Set a Fade duration for a gradual change, or zero seconds for an immediate change.
Enable Remember the old volume, then use Restore Remembered Volume in another action in the same break to restore the previous volume and mute state. For example, fade out at After Start and restore at After Any End, including postponing or skipping. The remembered volume is retained until restored or Time Out quits, and is restored only on the same output device. Outputs without software volume controls are left unchanged.
Speak Text
This action uses speech synthesis to say whatever you want. You can choose from amongst your preferred voices (as specified in System Settings) or choose the Show More option in the voice menu to see all available voices. Click the Attributes button to show a popover with voice Rate, Pitch, Inflection (pitch modulation) and Volume.
Pause and resume Music
Get Music Pause and Music Play from Browse Scripts..., then add Music Pause at After Start and Music Play at After Any End on the same break. Music resumes only if it was playing when paused; paused or stopped music stays that way, and Music is not launched if it has quit. These replace the old iTunes Pause and iTunes Play catalog entries; existing installed iTunes scripts remain available.
The Music scripts control playback directly, without Accessibility access. macOS may ask for permission to control Music under Privacy & Security > Automation.
AppleScript actions pass their result to the next AppleScript action in the same break, waiting for the previous script to finish. Results start fresh each break, are separate from other breaks and previews, and are cleared if a script fails. Keep other AppleScript actions outside the Music pair, since each replaces the previous result.
To pause Music, play a Time Out sound during the break, then resume Music, add Play Sound at the start and Fadeout Sound at the end. Give Music Play a delay to allow that fade to finish.