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Personal productivityOriginal Reddit post

I made a Mac timer that lives in your menu bar - the bar itself fills as it counts down

u/jtapia_devJuly 3, 2026RedditEnglish
Full contextOriginal content · Reddit

Hi r/macapps, I built TimeBarX because every Mac timer I tried had the same problem: to know how much time was left, I had to interrupt myself. Click the menu bar icon. Hover. Hunt for a window. Each glance was a tiny context switch and 30 of them a day kills focus. So I made the timer the menu bar itself. A thin progress bar drains across the top of every connected display in real time. You don't check the time. You see it. Always. Then back to work. A few things that make it different from the other Mac timers: - Spans every display, perfectly in sync - one timer, four monitors, no math - Type it like a sentence: "25 min review PR" - no sliders, no dropdowns - URL schemes for Shortcuts, Alfred, Raycast - start a focus block with one keystroke - Survives sleep, restart, even crashes - saves the exact end time and resumes correctly - Sandboxed Mac App Store app - no analytics, no account, no telemetry Free forever for the core experience (full-width bar, slider, hotkey, flash completion effect). Pro is a one-time purchase, $3.99 for the first month, $5.99 after, unlocks natural language input, custom colors, all completion effects, transparency, and the automation. No subscription. App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6774862177 Site: https://gettimebarx.com Happy to answer anything, including critical feedback. Built it solo, want to know what's missing.

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Personal productivityPlatform availabilityDesktop appSolved by configuration

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u/Elegant_Mobile4311

>- URL schemes for Shortcuts, Alfred, Raycast - start a focus block with one keystroke Is there any detailed documentation on this part?

u/jtapia_devOPReply

Thanks for asking! At the moment, the advanced mac workflows section on the website is the main documentation for URL schemes and launcher integrations. The currently supported URL schemes are: - timebar://start?duration=<seconds>&message=<optional text> (Pro) - timebar://stop These can be used from Apple Shortcuts, Alfred, Raycast, Terminal (open), shell scripts, or any app that can open URLs. I’ll be adding a dedicated documentation page soon with more examples.

u/Elegant_Mobile4311Reply

Thank you, I will be sure to check out your site. This will increase the range of utilization!

u/jtapia_devOP

Hey r/macapps 👋 A while back I shared TimeBarX, a menu bar timer that turns your menu bar into the progress bar itself. Since then I’ve shipped a bunch of updates, so I thought I’d do one recap instead of posting every release. What’s new since launch: 🎨 Custom presets with names, colors, shortcuts, sounds, and one-click launch. 🔊 Choose any built-in macOS system sound for timer completion, globally or per preset. 🔔 Persistent Finish so completed timers stay visible until you dismiss them (great for people who often miss notifications). 🍅 Pomodoro mode with configurable work/break sessions, auto-advance, cycle limits, and iCloud sync. 🖥️ Multi-display support where the progress bar spans across all monitors. 🌈 Drain mode, live color picker, session history, smart auto-pause, new completion animations, mute toggle, plus lots of bug fixes and polish. The core timer, presets, and shortcuts are still free. Some advanced features (Pomodoro auto-advance, Persistent Finish, per-preset colors/sounds, multi-display support) are available with a one-time Pro unlock. As always, I’d love to hear what you’d add next. A lot of these features came directly from feedback here, so thanks for helping shape the app. 🙏

u/luuk64

Maybe a nice app for this directory https://macmenubar.com/submit-your-menu-bar-app/

u/jtapia_devOPReply

Thanks for the suggestion! I’ll try to submitting it there, I appreciate it!

u/SpaceAngler03

How's the CPU load? esp. when the timer's running and animation looks smooth.

u/jtapia_devOPReply

Very low, I’ve tried to optimize it to keep the animation smooth while using as little CPU as possible

u/jtapia_devOPReply

Sorry about that, and thanks for letting me know! Some countries were accidentally omitted from the app’s regional availability. I’ve already fixed it, and it should be available in France soon

u/-TatosReply

Thanks, It is now available, but without any discount on the purchase price. And, is there an option to choose a sound for the timer end alarm?

u/app-store-review

TimeBarX — by Eduardo Tapia Ratings: 0 (no ratings yet) Average: n/a ★ Age: released 17 days ago · rated 4+ Overall score: 0 / 100