FlexTime Nearing 1.0
July 12th, 2006Over the past several months I have been putting a lot of work into FlexTime, the project I first announced here back in late December.
The product has been massively (and sometimes drastically) improved since that time, and I’m happy to announce that a new public beta is available for your download, critique, and hopefully enjoyment:
Download FlexTime 1.0b5 (expires two weeks from today)
Note: FlexTime requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later. FlexTime is a universal app.
What is FlexTime?
FlexTime is a generic timed routine scheduling application. Can you tell it’s hard for me to figure out how to summarize it in one sentence? Basically, it makes it easy for users to program complex time-sensitive scheduled activities, where it’s useful to be reminded at regular intervals that it’s time to “move along” to the next activity.
FlexTime turns your Mac into a hard-assed training coach for whatever it is that you do.
Examples of things you might use FlexTime for:
- Manage the work/play/break ratios for the time you spend at the computer.
- Practice a stretching or martial art regimen such as Yoga or Tai Chi.
- Set up a metronome for rhythmic exercises such as dance or music.
- Arrange for scripts to be run at regular intervals throughout the day.
- Just about anything that follows a schedule!
I’d love to get feedback about all aspects of the application. For the most part the UI is pretty fixed for the 1.0 release, but future enhancements will undoubtedly bring changes.
Most of all I’d love to hear about any uses of FlexTime you come up with that aren’t on my list! I think the success or failure of this product will be in finding specific uses that resonate with the market. It’s possible the market will reject it for its generic-ness. In other words, a customer who might buy “Yoga Stretcher” could just walk right past FlexTime. But I didn’t want to sell a yoga app at the expense of being useful for hundreds or thousands of other people with different interests.
Caveats
This is a beta release and therefore I have a list of caveats. These basically correspond to the “still needs to get done” list in my project. Hopefully mentioning these here will head off criticism of some of these shortcomings:
- Documentation is not written yet. Yeah – it should have been done incrementally. I’m bad!
- Scripting support is not complete. Most of FlexTime’s guts are accessible via AppleScript, but I’ve hit a stumbling block on implementing access to setting the cues via scripting. The difficulties lie in the generic, untyped nature of the cue type. It can be just about anything, depending on the type of cue handler.
- Per-document UI dimensions are not saved with document. This means if you set up a FlexTime routine’s window size and table columns to look just perfect, it will look crappy again when you reopen it.
- Document format still in flux. I’m still tweaking the document format, but I’m leaving in “upgrade” mechanisms for all beta releases. With the public 1.0 release, I will maintain all of those upgrade mechanisms, but afterward they will be stripped out. This is just advance warning that if you use FlexTime now, be sure to open and save any important documents once 1.0 comes out. That will be the “official format” from that point forward.
- Document icon is generic. For 1.0 I will make a “branded” document icon.
The Tough Love of 1.0
In whittling down the feature list of this 1.0 release, I had to make a lot of tough choices. Lots of “would be cool” things are not present, though planned for a future release (assuming anybody likes the product). So perhaps to tease you and perhaps to head off another category of feedback, here is a list of where I see the product going post-1.0:
- Multiple cues at once. I know it’s very frustrating that you can’t, for instance, both display a sound and show a message at the same instance. To some extent this can be “hacked” in 1.0 by using “0 seconds” long activities, but it’s definitely at the top of the list for future improvement. This is mainly blocked now by the disruption to the UI that such a feature would cause.
- Export to iTunes. I’d really like to be able to take FlexTime’s audio (and perhaps visual) cues “on the road,” by sending the output to a media file that iTunes can understand and pop onto your iPod.
- More cue types. FlexTime 1.0 supports a number of very useful cue types, but the possibilities here are endless.
- Growl integration. FlexTime includes a light-weight “show text message” functionality, but I’m sure some users will appreciate a feature that forwards such requests on to Growl.
- Printing support. By printing a pretty view of the entire routine schedule, FlexTime could be useful in scenarios where not everybody being cued has access to the video screen.
One Last Question
Before I leave you to try out the program, and open the floodgates for criticism, let me ask one question: What do you think of the word “cue?” Should it be something else instead, such as “action” or “event?” This word choice is a very tough one for me and I’m very open to feedback (reasoned, preferably!).
Thanks for trying FlexTime!
July 12th, 2006 at 10:49 am
Didn’t really understand “cue”, until I opened the app. Now I’m convinced it’s the right term, I really like it. Distinctive, descriptive, works for me.
App looks nice at first glance, I’ll have to see if I can come up with useful ways to use it in the coming weeks.
July 12th, 2006 at 10:59 am
I’m glad you are going forward with this. I remember finding out about this a while back and being surprised because it seemed like an original idea AND I had the same exact idea in my “Project Ideas” folder:
Play – Allow play / pause operations on a timeline of tasks
I’m glad your going forward with this so that I don’t have to, and I like the implementation so far. My one suggestion is that you might want to add a few food recipe examples when you get a chance. That was the original problem that I was trying to solve and I think your app will solve it well. The basic idea is that when cooking multiple items you’ll have a bunch of different timelines playing at the same time.
Good luck with this app.
July 12th, 2006 at 11:18 am
Is the ‘show text’ on screen action supposed to ever take the text off the screen? It sits there on my machine for at least a minute.
July 12th, 2006 at 11:36 am
This doesn’t look like I have any use for it (TeaTimer pretty much covers my simple timing needs, and for the more complex ones like developing films where several intervals of different lengths are needed, the fuss would be just too big with your app).
I feel you’re right about the ‘cue’ problem. Of all the meanings of that word, I think of all the other ones first. To me your ‘cues’ simply look like alarms. I mean, they play a sound when the time has come, your icon looks like an alarm clock… any reason why you didn’t use that obvious word? Not hip enough?
July 12th, 2006 at 11:39 am
Will: thanks for the feedback. I think I’m happy with “cue,” too. I was just getting some late differing opinions so I thought I’d check in with the public :)
Jesse: I’m really glad you found it! And the cooking idea is a great one that somebody else had mentioned to me but I forgot to list it above. I think your vision of multiple routines at once obviously begs for future document type that encompasses many routines at once… a “production”?
Jacob: you’ve identified one of the less intuitive aspects of the app. “Show text” cues stay on screen until the activity or interval they’re associated with is over. In the special case of an ending cue, they stay on screen for 2 seconds and then disappear. At any time you can click them to make them disappear early.
The problem is essentially that “Show Text” cues should have an associated parameter for setting the duration. For some types of activities you will want to be able to look up at any time and be reminded of what “part of the activity” you’re in right now … I think that’s why I don’t auto-close all of them after 2 seconds.
So for the future I anticipate giving the user better control over that, but for the time being I’m open to suggestions for better defaults.
July 12th, 2006 at 11:43 am
ssp: I think the word “alarm” is too loaded. The cues ultimately can be subtle, such as changing the background music (though it’s not super obvious how to do that in 1.0 – you just put a long song in your Library/Sounds directory and then pick it from “Play Sound”). So I think it’s better to stick with a more neutral word choice.
July 12th, 2006 at 1:35 pm
Awesome, this looks like exactly what I’ve been wanting. I’ve been juggling a set of Applescripts and iCal alarms to set defined intervals in my day for different tasks (checking email, personal web, work, brainstorming, etc.) and while that works okay, FlexTime sounds great.
Will try it out for a day or two and report back.
July 13th, 2006 at 1:03 pm
I’ve been wanting something just like this. I need to remind myself to take breaks at the keyboard so I’m not in agony at the end of the day from RSI/bad posture. And it looks useful for other things, like task management.
One thing I’d suggest, selfishly, is to have a more forceful cue available – something like locking the screen and all user input for 10 seconds. A pop-up window and a jingle is not enough to jar me into stopping some days.
July 13th, 2006 at 1:17 pm
Mithras: glad to hear the product is resonating with you so far. Keep us posted about your thoughts!
Jim: that lockout idea is great, and I’ll put it on the list for a future revision. The only question I have, I guess … is should there be *some* way to unlock it? Wouldn’t want somebody to accidentally set up a 3 hour cue to not use their computer and then have to restart…
July 13th, 2006 at 2:52 pm
Daniel,
It took me about two minutes to figure out how to use this app. It’s very well designed in terms of usability. From an aesthetic standpoint, though, I must admit I’m not crazy about the look of the buttons. The lack of volume and/or depth and the somewhat severe color seem a bit out of place to me in a Mac app. This is just a minor nitpicky personal preference. FWIW.
I like that the “Run Script” action can do more than run scripts, i.e. it seems to be capable of opening applications and documents (which is not evident given the language used, but cool nonetheless). For some reason, though, in my tests FlexTime was unable to run shell scripts. In fact, it couldn’t even open simple text (.txt) files, though it could open the TextEdit application and the Terminal application, and it opened rtf files just fine. Not sure if this was intended, but I think the ability to run shell scripts would be nice. (A SysAdmin’s perspective, mind you.)
I honestly didn’t think I’d have that much to say about this app. It’s not something I will probably ever have need for. But it was so remarkably easy to understand and use that it was a breeze to test, so I thought I’d chime in. Nice job.
Oh, and I don’t have a problem with the term “cue”. Makes perfect sense to me.
-systemsboy
July 13th, 2006 at 2:55 pm
Oh, meant to say, my shell script used a .command suffix (I also tried .sh) and when opened should launch and run in Terminal by default (which it does when double-clicked in the Finder).
-systemsboy
July 13th, 2006 at 3:04 pm
systemsboy: Thanks for giving it a spin, and thanks for your helpful feedback. You’re not alone in your opinion that the UI is lacking something. I’m not deaf to this complaint, but I admit I’ll probably let it slide for the 1.0 release. Just too many other things to care of, first :)
I’m glad you noticed that the “Run Script” verb is more powerful than it lets on. It’s a side effect of its reusing the very flexible mechanism I wrote for FastScripts. I considered artificially splitting the functionality out into separate action types, but I thought it might get too cluttered. That said, I think it might be worth splitting it at least into two: “Run Script” and “Open With Finder.”
Your observation that it didn’t work with a shell script is surprising, because they are definitely among the supported types. I’m eager to get to the bottom of it because it probably represents a bug in both FlexTime and FastScripts. I just tested with FlexTime against a very simple shell script in a file called “Test.command”:
This seemed to work fine. Perhaps there is something more nuanced about your example that is causing a failure? If you could peek in the system console log, it might reveal some error message that got spewed out in the process :)
Thanks again for your feedback!
July 13th, 2006 at 3:09 pm
Some sort override would be good. But maybe not available right at the start of the lockout? Right now I set a loud egg timer across the room so I have to physically get up and go shut it off. I’d be looking for that sort of an effect, and instantly overriding would defeat the purpose. The failings of my one track mind. Which is why I’m really digging this app.
Is it possible to preorder? I tried to use the builtin function to order and it looks like it’s not set up yet.
July 13th, 2006 at 3:18 pm
Jim: I think that’s a great compromise. Just a minute lockout or something would be enough to get you to “break the workaholic habit,” without risking drastic results.
I didn’t really expect anybody to try the built-in purchase function yet, but I’m glad you did. I would expect it to work and if it’s not I’d like to get to the bottom of it. Can you email me at support at red-sweater dot com with some more details about how it failed? Specfiically I’d love to know whether the Kagi window came up and let you enter all your information, or if you didn’t even get that far.
July 13th, 2006 at 3:56 pm
Daniel,
Yes, my script was very subtly nuanced :)
#!/bin/bash
echo “Hello.”
exit 0
Console shows the output “Hello” numerous times. (I had checked the system.log but not the console. Duh.)
What I didn’t realize was that FlexTime will execute the script in the background, which is actually quite cool. I was expecting it to open a Terminal window, as if the script had been opened from the Finder. I actually like your way better, for the most part, though it might be nice to have the option, say, in the case of interactive shell scripts (which, admittedly, I may be the only person still actually using). Not a big deal, and I think I definitely prefer your default. It just threw me a bit. Sorry for the false alarm.
Also, I just played a bit and figured out that if you do happen to be one of the seven people left that need to run interactive shell scripts, and you want them to be triggered from FlexTIme, you can wrap them in a .term file that calls your script, and have FT launch that. A bit of a pain, but it works. So maybe that’s the answer.
If “Open with Finder” would do the trick, though, that’d be swell and might help clear up the functionality. Would “Open with Finder” behave differently than “Run Script”? If so, I’d agree it might be worthwhile to create an additional menu item some day. If not, I’d leave it all in one menu item and change the language (Maybe just “Open” or “Run”) to reflect the fact that you can open/run anything.
-systemsboy
July 13th, 2006 at 4:05 pm
I have ADHD and look forward to examining the support that this program may provide.
“Systems and cues” are the lingo from this end. I find alarm a little harsh.
July 13th, 2006 at 4:33 pm
Daniel, looking back my mate was using bittorrent at the time on his computer and my connection was probably swamped. I just didn’t give the Kagi window enough time to load. Sorry, my mistake.
July 14th, 2006 at 6:46 am
[…] When Daniel over at Red Sweater posted about FlexTime the other day, I immediately thought about automating something for the code for 50 minutes – break for 10 minutes thing I always read about on productivity sites but have never tried. Of course, he already thought of that and included a sample routine for this purpose. […]
July 14th, 2006 at 5:04 pm
I’m using it to learn to jog using the system described here: http://www.wikihow.com/Begin-Running
It means I have to record the sound from my script to make a 25 minute audio file which I listen to on one of those little teeny gumpack-size no-UI ipods which tells me when to start walking and start jogging and even reminds me to stretch at the end. So the automated export to iTunes would have have save me a lot of time!
July 15th, 2006 at 3:14 pm
Just a few more thoughts:
– It’d be nice to see the time remaining for the current activity, and even better without switching to the app. Maybe in the menu bar? The little pie chart showing time remaining takes a little bit of thought to work through mentally. Not easy to decipher at a glance.
– Also, it’d nice to have a forum or wiki where users can exchange scripts and the like.
July 17th, 2006 at 3:53 am
My two cents…
The word “cue” is perfect. It describes something that happens to mark a point in time. It has slight theatrical connotations, but it’s neutral enough to be appropriate for all kinds of contexts.
I like the idea of generating audio that I can put on my iPod. (Ben, you could use Audio Hijack, but of course it would be much nicer to have it built in to FlexTime.) It would be especially nice if the FlexTime-generated audio could be dubbed over a sequence of songs. And if the voice could tell me how much time I’ve used or how much I have left. Near the end of a run, it would be neat to have the intervals grow shorter, as in “5 minutes left … 1 minute … 30 seconds … 10, 9, 8…”
July 17th, 2006 at 3:59 am
Another possible usage example.
A few weeks ago I started a new job, working on a system that involves multiple processes talking to each other at various regular intervals. When I first started and was struggling to understand all the moving parts, I could have used a tool like FlexTime to model the processes and see what happens when I play with timing parameters.
July 17th, 2006 at 4:04 pm
Exactly what I was looking for.
I will use this for music practice. Basically I have about an hour each night after work and dealing with kids to run through a practice regimen. This is exactly what I need to make sure the daily routines are covered.
I figured out pretty quick how to get it to work like a metronome. I had been looking for something that I could program in timed tasks and was even going about writing my own app for myself just to get it done before I found this.
It would be neat if instead of having to figure out how many beats per minute would fit into a timed exercise if instead there was an embedded metronome function. But that’s just a nice-to-have since it’s pretty easy to figure out bpm * minutes.
More important – it would be better if the Show Text message would hang around longer. It’s barely on screen long enough to read a sentence. I’d like to see it hang out there for at least ten seconds, or more if possible.
July 18th, 2006 at 3:50 pm
Whoops – I could have sworn I had replied to some of these comments already – sorry for the delay, I was having some site problems.
systemsboy: I’m glad you got the knack of the shell script operations. Yeah it’s sort of a “power user” thing so I guess that’s my only excuse for the fairly poor explanation of what should/does happen there for the moment. Hopefully as things evolve it will get more clear.
Kurt: I’m quite pleased to hear that you might be able to use it to help with ADHD. I think I have some attention challenges, myself, which makes me wonder if in part the application was created as a way of expressing my desire to overcome that.
Ben: I hear you loud and clear about the iPod export feature. Boy that will be cool when it happens. I am also a runner so I could really see myself using it a lot for that kind of thing, especially if I can come up with a cool way of “mixing down” a routine with music + cues.
Andy: thanks a lot for the feedback both here and via email. See the comments above about the running. I’ll be on top of that functionality for sure :)
Joe: I’m thinking of some kind of “advanced settings” sheet or somethign that could be pulled down for a document. In it you would be able to configure things like “routine speed,” which I would probably express in terms of “redefining the number of ‘seconds’ in a real minute.” This would allow it to be roughly “faster or slower” while at the same time expressing a number that would be synonomous with BPM (assuming a second is the basic unit of beats in the routine).
July 19th, 2006 at 6:13 am
That reminds me! I sometimes have a really bad problem where I’ll drift off into side activities, and next thing I know it’s too late to catch the movie I was just about to go see, or the laundromat just closed and I really needed to do my laundry tonight, or worst of all, I’ve forgotten to go to bed and I’ll be sleep-deprived tomorrow (I must not be a real geek — sleep deprivation seriously hurts my job performance).
Recently I experimented with running the Talking Moose, and having it simply tell me the time once in a while, on the theory that that would jog my brain into asking itself what it should be doing right this moment. I actually like it, but I think it might be nice, and better at the office where I have to be considerate of people next to me, to have a gray floating window pop up — just like the kind FlexTime uses. I’m running FlexTime right now with the gray window scheduled every ten minutes, to see if it keeps me from being late for work. :)
I know there are other occasional-reminder apps out there, but scanning through them in MacUpdate they seem too heavyweight (I don’t need the power of iCal for the kind of reminder I want), or too simple, or inelegant, or not quite right in some other way.
BTW, I do also have periods of intense focus, and an ability to digress and daydream is actually a quality I like, and that I associate with creativity. It’s just that the drifting thing happens way more than I’d like.
July 19th, 2006 at 6:50 am
Andy: If it makes you feel any better I think it’s very common. What you describe sounds very much like my own “intense concentration/easy distraction” combination. I think it’s especially common among programmers.
The more I use FlexTime for this kind of reminder, the more I’m inclined to add some kind of “1-off timer” functionality. I’m envisioning a window full of 1-off timers, identical to the activities in a routine document, but they are non-linear, and may all be paused or resumed independently. This way I could quickly add things like “move the laundry to the dryer.”
July 19th, 2006 at 7:28 am
Glad to know I’m not the only occasional space cadet.
The window full of 1-offs is a great idea.
P.S. Looks like I’m still going to be late for work. :) Well, there’s no fixed time I have to be in, but I’ve been trying to get in earlier so I can leave earlier.
July 19th, 2006 at 11:22 am
hello! Great app!
I imagine, also, that you know by now that you’ve been flagged by Merlin Mann at 43Folders…http://www.43folders.com/2006/07/19/new-mac-timers/#more-603
This is my question, it’s about sounds:
# Daniel Jalkut Says:
July 12th, 2006 at 11:43 am
>
I tried to do this very thing, and put a long .aif file in there…and it was shortened to just the first two seconds. Am I doing something wrong?
July 19th, 2006 at 11:28 am
sorry, i accidentally embedded part of my comment into html.
# Daniel Jalkut Says:
July 12th, 2006 at 11:43 am
“changing the background music (though it”™s not super obvious how to do that in 1.0 – you just put a long song in your Library/Sounds directory and then pick it from “Play Sound”).”
I tried to do this very thing, and put a long .aif file in there, but only the first two seconds were played. Am I doing something wrong?
Thanks! Excellent app!
July 19th, 2006 at 11:34 am
duus: thanks for trying it out! What you’re probably running up against with the “2 second” thing is that the activity you’re attaching the music to is expiring before the music is done. For now at least I treat cues as “only lasting as long as the activity.” So when the end of the activity is reached, or a new cue is started, the old cue stops.
So try setting an activity that is as long as the music to be played, or longer. You should then notice that the music keeps going while the activity is active in playback.
Thanks for the feedback!
July 19th, 2006 at 1:17 pm
Daniel Jalkut Says:
July 19th, 2006 at 11:34 am
“the activity you”™re attaching the music to is expiring before the music is done.”
Ah, yes, that’s exactly what was happening. Hmm. I probably could have figured that out.
I really like the app. I’ve set up a meditation routine with it that chimes part of the way through, and then plays the chime three times at the end, as well as implemented Merlin Mann’s (10+2)*5 hack.
Thanks again. An app I’ll be pleased to pay for when you are reach 1.0.
July 19th, 2006 at 1:19 pm
duus: Great news. glad to hear you like the app, and keep your eyes peeled for at least one more beta release before the big 1.0. When the betas expire they will point you at a web page where you can always download an updated version, up to and including the 1.0 official release.
July 19th, 2006 at 6:31 pm
[…] scheduling and time management are not muy strong suits. I have been in this constant pursuit for scheduling and time management tools, resources and how to’s. The astute and creative folks at 43 Folders always have good stuff. Since I acquired a Black Macbook recently (and started the Windows to Macintosh migration) I have wanted a good timer, and my Macbook has become my personal assistant. Merlin constantly has good stuff and “reviews” a couple of timers. Meridian is cool, but FlexTime seems to have more of an open concept in usage and appears to be more streamlined in workflow. […]
July 20th, 2006 at 6:06 pm
[…] After reading Merlin Mann’s recent post on timer apps for the Mac, I’ve been trying out the (10+2)*5 procrastination hack with a new shareware application called FlexTime. FlexTime allows you set “routines” of different “activities” than can repeat indefinitely. […]
July 21st, 2006 at 11:46 am
[…] BTW- Some kudos goes out to the creators of FlexTime. A promising young application for more advanced and easily created alarms. I use it to feed my 10+2×5, or 10-minute dash hack (see my previous procrastination posts). (Add applescript ability [both in and out], multiple triggers for a single alarm event- along with scripting triggers, or perhaps shell-script triggers- and you’ll have a very interesting program there! As well, a minimization or transparent running clock window which floats above all applications so we can see events if we want, would allow me to hide it and still keep track of my time.) […]
July 21st, 2006 at 2:09 pm
I like the idea of an advanced settings sheet.
I was thinking for practicing, I might try to AppleScript a third-party metronome app to just come to the foreground.
July 23rd, 2006 at 3:20 pm
Another couple of feature requests, since I seem to be making good use of this thing a lot now:
1. Add a field for Activty Notes. Allow RTF input.
2. In the Activity Details tray when a routine is running, show the activity name and time remaining, in a nice big font readable at a distance. Show the Activity Notes below that.
July 24th, 2006 at 7:35 am
I have two small usability suggestions after using FlexTime quite a bit.
1) After selecting ‘Speak Text’ or ‘Show Text’ from a dropdown menu, the text in the field to the right should be pre-selected and the field active, so i can just start typing the text.
2) It would be great to show the total time at the bottom of the activity Schedule window, sort fo the way a playlist in iTunes shows ou the total. That would make it easier to paste in cues until I’d filled up 25 minutes of play time for my run, for example.
Loving the app though, it’s added quality to my life. Thanks.
July 24th, 2006 at 8:01 am
Joe: Bringing another app to the foreground is an excellent example of a scripted cue. I have noticed that the AppleScript cues in 1.0b5 are a little messed up – I don’t think you can set the script on any but the first activity :( But a new beta is coming soon (probably today) with lots of improvements in this area.
As for the suggestions, I think those are great ideas to have a notes input and also some kind of runtime feedback as you suggest.
Ben: great ideas and I’m not sure I’ll get them in for 1.0 but I’ll put them on the list for a near-term update!
August 2nd, 2006 at 10:27 am
Hi,
I have tried many mac timer applications and I have to say that I am loving your FlexTime – so useful and simple to use.
A couple of requests:
1. While a routine is running would it be possible to display the time remaining in large format somewhere? The mini clock to the left of the activity name are nice but, at a glance, do not let the user have a very precise idea of where they are in a routine. Maybe where you currently display: “The routine is now running. Press the pause or reset button to edit activities.” Would be a good place to have a countdown or larger analog display.
2. This may be a feature and not a bug but, when a routine is running if you accidentally click on another activity in the routine the timer skips to the clicked on activity.
August 2nd, 2006 at 10:34 am
Hi Katerina – I’m glad you like FlexTime! I appreciate your feedback:
This has got to be the number 1 request, and I definitely see the potential value for this. I’m not going to tackle it for the 1.0 release, but it’s high on the list for a near-term update.
Yes – I did this on purpose, though I can see how it could be confusing. I thought it was a good compromise considering the “selection” follows the activity when you are running. Perhaps it would have been better to simply disallow mouse clicks in the table while the activity is running. This may see some refinement in future releases.
Thanks again for your feedback! Keep your eyes peeled for the 1.0 release within the next few weeks.
September 15th, 2006 at 7:43 am
I also came here via Merlin Mann”™s (10+2)*5 recommendation. Working alright so far…
One wish would be to be able to move the cue text windows out of the way. I like to have the cue visible but not in the middle of the screen (where I try to be working). Dragging does not work, as clicking it makes it disappear.
So making it draggable (and maybe a little box to click it away?) would be awesome for me. And also (has been mentioned above) to have a counter within that window that tells you how much time has passed and/or is left.
I’ll keep using it. Nice work!
September 16th, 2006 at 9:05 am
Thul – good idea – I will keep that suggestion in mind. Maybe something simple like dragging if the cmd key is held down would be a good workaround.
In an updated version of FlexTime, I’ll be adding more sophisticated controls for the text window position, so you’ll be able to specify for instance at what part of the screen you’d like the message to appear.
February 2nd, 2007 at 2:18 pm
[…] for scheduling alarms and timing specific tasks. Daniel Jalkut at Red Sweater Software created FlexTime for his Yoga routine but it can be used whenever you need to schedule alarms or reminders to […]