Awareness Timer 4+

simple and great sounds

Great. App. I really like simple apps like this that work right from the Menu Bar / Status Menus.

I'm not sure if it's still in development. The website no longer works. Would be happy to pay for this app or contribute voluntarily if you continue to develop and support. Thanks!

Awesome App!

I love this app! I spend most hours of my day recently studying to prepare for state board exams; which lead to less healthy/ effective habits such as sitting for extended periods of time, losing concentration/focus due to not recognizing how long I had been working, decreased memory retention from not taking adequate breaks throughout my work.
This app has REALLY improved my awareness to when I am starting to overdo it & should take a short break. The repetition has also improved my awareness in general as well. It has helped me concentrate, and refocus; which helps memory retention as my mind is less overworked.

The only downside; which was very annoying at first, is that you can only access the app from the apple toolbar. You cant open the app by clicking on its icon in launchpad on a Mac, or in your Mac's preferences. I had been trying to adjust the sound of the bell for days and was becoming frustrated when I was unable to open/ access the app.

Notifications not working

Could use a lot of improvement. If you select "Notifications only" (and no sounds), Alert and Banner notifications do not pop up. If you select "Sounds and Notifications" then the Alert and Banner notifications work. But the sound is very disruptive because the sound file lasts for several seconds and there is no way to mute or turn off the sound besides closing the app. So if you're in a meeting and the sound goes off, you just have to let sound play for several seconds while everyone in the meeting listens to it or close the app.

Developer Response ,

I'm sorry to hear that! Please check if you've given the app permissions to show notifications; this is an explicit setting now in Mac's Notifications preferences pane. If you find the sound too intrusive, you can lower the volume. 

Unfortunately, I can't tap into the 'Do Not Disturb' settings for calls/meetings – the only way at the moment is to temporarily silence the app (click the app in the menu bar, choose 'Silent') or to choose 'Notifications only'. I'll make sure the 'Silent' setting will stop an already running sound – thanks for the idea!