Changelog

Here's a small but very useful update for those with Pro!

New
- A workspace/project summary is now available in the log — thanks Jacob, Kat, and Paul for suggesting this!

/ Alex

I hope you all have had a great start to the new year! This update includes some much-requested additions to the app, as well as other improvements and fixes. I hope you will enjoy it!

Happy to let you know that Balance now has over 500 ratings, and more than 90% of them are 5 stars! Thank you so, so much!

New
- Added an Owner‘s Manual for those who want to learn more about how Balance works — see https://trybalance.app/manual/ or find the link in the app
- There's now an option in the settings to make the focus timer count down instead of up — thanks to the many people who requested this!
- You can now change workspace/project(s) for a session using the menus — thanks, John and Anthony for requesting this!
- There's now the ability to quickly clock into a new session using Clock out → With new session — thanks, Bailey, Faris, and others for requesting this!
- Workspaces and projects are now sorted by last used — thanks, Jeff, Jacob, and Chris for the feedback!
- Added an option to not show any information (just the Balance icon) in the menu bar during a session — thanks, Chenye for the suggestion!

Changed
- Replaced the emojis in the menus with simpler icons — thanks, Bastián for the feedback!
- Focus and break menu items are now only shown when clocked in

Fixed
- Session notes should no longer feel sluggish when edited — thanks, Stanislav for reporting this!
- The focus timer duration text field should now work correctly on manual entry — thanks, Muhammed for reporting this!
- Some other UI and UX fixes and improvements

/ Alex

This version includes some smaller but long-awaited improvements, like being able to see the active duration (session duration excl. breaks) for past sessions, not just the active one. I added a few more work-life balance metrics as well. Would you like to see even more? Let me know which ones!

New
- Active session duration is now available for past sessions — thanks, Andy, Jose, Tianna, Christian, Konstantin, and Toon for requesting this!
- Some more work-life balance metrics have been added, like earliest clock-in and average focuses per hour
- You can now clock into a specific workspace/project from menus — thanks, John, Andrew, Anthony, and Jesse for requesting this!

Changed
- Clock in/out dates are now exported as YYYY-MM-dd HH:mm — thanks, Jeff for your feedback!

Fixed
- Using Balance on multiple devices no longer requires restoring purchases multiple times — thanks, Michael for reporting this!
- Some other UI and UX fixes and improvements

/ Alex

Here is another small update for you with some improvements. The Balance Pro sheet now highlights some of the very kind reviews you have given Balance. I always appreciate hearing from users, so thank you for those!

New
- Revamped Balance Pro sheet with highlighted reviews — thanks, Karl for the feedback!
- There is now a menu item to update Balance if a new version is available

Changed
- Improved some other menu items — thanks, Nico for the feedback!

Fixed
- The app should no longer close unexpectedly while in the background — thanks, John for the feedback!

/ Alex

I hope you're enjoying the new session notes. Please let me know if you have any feedback! Here's a small update for you with some bug fixes, improvements, and a few new things.

New
- Session exports are now based on the log filters — you can still export the whole log from the File menu in the menu bar
- Total focus time and session notes are now available in exports — thanks, Jeff for the feedback!
- Users without Balance Pro (and Pro users, actually) can now edit the previous session by right-clicking the clock back in-arrow — thanks, Brittany for requesting this!

Changed
- Session export durations are now in the format hh:mm — this should make it easier for everyone to use the data
- Some UI/UX improvements — thanks, Christian for the feedback!

Fixed
- Updating notes should no longer revert changes to the active session if the notes field was visible when updating the session
- The current workspace will no longer change when updating the workspace of a past session
- The Option-hold action is no longer available for the log filters or past sessions

/ Alex

Say hello to session notes! You can now write down what you've worked on, your thoughts, how it went, etc. during your sessions. Available with Balance Pro.

New
- Session notes — thank you to everyone who requested this!
- Active session duration (excl. breaks) is now listed in exports — thanks, John for requesting this!
- You can now quickly clock into a new workspace/project from the active session — hold Option in the workspace/project picker

Changed
- The clock-in/out shortcut has been changed from Cmd+C to Cmd+Shift+C — to not interfere with copying session note text
- You can now edit the clock-in time for a logged session without being restricted by the clock-out time — thanks, Bailey and Christian for the feedback!
- Exported session durations are now in minutes instead of hours and minutes — thanks, John for the feedback!
- Improved the contact modals — thanks, Manuel for the feedback!
- Clicking another session item in the log now closes the current one — thanks, Christian for the feedback!
- The active session is no longer pinned at the top of the log
- Some smaller UI/UX improvements

Fixed
- Left/right arrows no longer navigate the log while editing a logged session
- The weekly statistics for an active session are now filtered based on the active project(s) as well, not only the workspace

/ Alex

Here is another small update with some fixes and improvements for you!

New
- You can now extend a focus from the menu bar — thanks, Guy for requesting this!
- The workspace/project indicator in the menu bar app now opens the project picker in the Balance window when clicked — thanks, Bailey for the feedback!

Fixed
- The app should no longer crash when snoozing a break — sorry for the inconvenience, and thanks, Louis for reporting this!

/ Alex

I hope you're finding the new project management feature useful! This is just a small update with some fixes and improvements.

New
- You will now see an icon in the top right when a new version of Balance is available on the App Store

Changed
- Balance is now always opened in the background on quit, not only when clocked in — you can always quit Balance completely from the menu if you'd like
- Moved the 'Open Balance' menu item from the File menu to the Balance menu
- Made some minor UI/UX improvements

Fixed
- The menu bar and dock icon should now always be visible when the menu bar app is disabled
- Balance should now always open properly when clicking the dock icon
- Fixed breaks started by locking the screen sometimes not ending when the screen is unlocked again

/ Alex

I’m excited to announce the next Pro feature: Project Management. You can now log sessions and track time in different workspaces and projects.

You can now separate work sessions from personal time by using different workspaces. If you’d like to break it down even further to track time spent on certain activities or clients, for instance, you can do this with projects.

Workspaces are integrated with Focus filters, allowing you to show/hide certain workspaces. For instance, you might want to hide a Work workspace on evenings and weekends.

I would be very happy to hear from you what you think about this new feature and any questions or ideas you might have!

New
- (Pro) Added Project Management with workspaces and projects (mentioned above)
- There is now a Recommendation item in the Balance menu to make it easier for you to spread the word — thanks, Rich for suggesting this (and recommending Balance to others)!
- You can now mute the clock-in reminder until tomorrow or next week — thanks, Louis for the feedback!

Changed
- Manually started breaks no longer end automatically when unlocking the screen
- Notifications of the same kind no longer stack, so your notification center should be a bit cleaner — thanks, Anna for suggesting this!
- Changed some navigational shortcuts — for instance, you can now access the log with CMD+2 instead of CMD+L
- Made a bunch of UI/UX improvements throughout the app

Fixed
- CMD+F should no longer incorrectly start a break instead of a focus — thanks, Brittany for reporting this!
- A session’s last break is now properly removed when clocking out “before last break” — the total break time was always correctly calculated though
- Added a guard to prevent multiple focuses from starting at the same time

/ Alex

This is just a patch version with some smaller improvements, but I've started working on a new feature that I think you will like! More on that later.

Changed
- Removed the delete button from the active session's details in the log — clock out first if you want to delete the active session

Fixed
- Break reminders and snoozes are now cleared when adding a 5-, 10-, or 15-minute break from the menu
- Fixed some UI issues

/ Alex

Thank you for your continued support! I love hearing about how Balance is helping you improve your work routines.

This version is very focused on improving Balance's UI and UX. Most notably, the session details experience is now way better. I hope you will like it!

New
- Complete revamp of the session details
- Many UI/UX improvements across the app
- Added a break button to the active session interface — you can right-click this for more options
- Session actions are now also available in the dock icon menu — thanks, Aadharsh for requesting this!
- You can now see the active session duration (excl. breaks) for the active session — I will add this data for logged sessions soon as well; thanks, Andrey for suggesting this!

Changed
- The weekly session list in the log is now grouped into days, and the active session is pinned to the top of the list
- Session reminders are now opened in a popover instead of a sheet
- If you hold Command while clicking the back/forward arrows in the log you will now be taken all the way back or forward in the logs
- Improved the behavior of time/date pickers — the UX should be a bit better now
- Updated some onboarding copy

Fixed
- Fixed the break duration on the active break view stuck at 0 minutes
- You can now hover over some weekly stats again to see which session the stat is from (e.g. latest clock-out)

/ Alex

I hope Balance is helping you make a positive change in your life. Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or feedback. I always reply!

New
- You can now start breaks without locking your screen (stepping away from the computer is still encouraged though) — thanks, Jesse for requesting this!
- Added the option to display the total active session duration (excl. breaks) for the whole day in the menu bar — thanks, Jesse for requesting this too!
- You will now be presented with some app settings you might want to consider adjusting during the onboarding — thanks, Michel for inspiring this change!
- There is now an icon in the top-right if Balance doesn't have permission to send you notifications — if you're missing notifications, make sure these are authorized

Changed
- Focus and breaks over an hour will now display the hour instead of only minutes — thanks, Louis for the suggestion!
- You can now adjust the clock-in time for an active session by clicking the clock-in time below the session duration — instead of in the session details sheet
- The clock-out reminder will now mention the clock-out time you set
- Clock-in reminders are now enabled by default — you can turn these off in the app settings if you want
- Break reminders are now enabled by default — you can adjust this in the app settings as well
- Delivered session notifications are now cleared from the Notification Center when clocking out
- Cmd+B will now start or end a break instead of opening the "Add new break" sheet
- Improved the app settings — you can now adjust your break reminders there
- The total focus time statistic will now only be populated if a focus has been started
- The clock in/out action is now removed from the dock icon's menu — let me know if you miss this
- The current weekday will now be selected on clock-in, to show you today's stats — you can click the 'X' to show the whole week
- Made some smaller UI improvements

Fixed
- The introductory price information in the Balance Pro sheet is now properly displayed when hovering over the question marks
- Clock-in reminders should no longer be triggered before the onboarding is completed
- Pressing Esc in the log with a weekday filter selected should now clear the selection instead of leaving the log
- Fixed the last added session being displayed instead of the latest one in the clocked-out home view

/ Alex

Thank you so much for all the nice reviews! I always enjoy reading them, and reply to each one.

New
- Added the ability to set a clock-out reminder — in case you want a reminder to clock out at a certain time
- There is now an option to display the total session duration for the whole day in the menu bar — thanks, Dieter for requesting this!

Changed
- Made some smaller UI improvements

Fixed
- Clock-in reminders are no longer sent when your screen is locked
- You will no longer receive break reminders if you disabled them — thanks, Dieter for reporting this!

I wish you all a Happy New Year. 2023 is going to be great!

/ Alex

I hope you're enjoying Balance! I'm blown away by all the praise and support for the app. You guys are awesome!

If you want to support the development, please consider leaving a review in the App Store—it helps a lot! :)

New
- There is now a shortcut in the menu bar menu to rate Balance on the App Store

Fixed
- Some missing icons are now back — thank you to everyone who reported this!

Happy Holidays!

/ Alex