Service counterSupport for the Pomo Pomodoro timer

On iPhone and iPad the bell arrives as a notification. Open Settings, then Notifications, then Pomo, and check that notifications are allowed and that a Focus mode is not holding them back. On the Mac the same switch is in System Settings under Notifications. The app has a switch of its own as well: open the adjustments with the gear and look for Bell when an interval ends. If you prefer silence during work but still want the bell, leave the metronome tick off and the bell on.

Open the little door marked Durations. Behind it are four faders: the focus session, the short break, the long break, and the number of sessions that make a cycle. Any whole number of minutes will do. The standard setting is 25, 5 and 15, with a long break after the fourth session. The faders can be set differently on each device; the record is shared, the durations are not.

Yes. On the Mac the countdown lives in the menu bar and keeps counting with the window closed. On iPhone the countdown stays on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, with a pause button, and the bell rings at the end whether the app is open or not. One exception: on iPhone and iPad the metronome tick plays only while the app is in front. On Apple Watch you can start, pause and skip from the wrist, and the Watch taps you when an interval ends.

Commitment mode locks pause and reset until the session is done. It is meant for the days when you know you will reach for the pause button at minute twelve. The switch is in the adjustments under Commitment mode. Turn it off before you start a session you may need to interrupt; a session already under way runs to the end.

One finished pomodoro every three days keeps the streak alive. Miss more than two days in a row and it starts again from one. The daily use stamp only grows on days you complete a session, so a rest day keeps the streak without adding to it.

The record travels through your own iCloud. Three things have to be true on every device: it is signed in to the same Apple Account, iCloud is turned on for it, and the switch Sync statistics with iCloud is on in Pomo's adjustments. Sync is not instant; give it a few minutes and open the record again. If a session is still missing, check the three points above on the device that recorded it, since a session can only travel from a device that is allowed to send it. There is no account with us, so there is nothing to reset on our side.

Open the record with the chart icon and press Export. Choose a calendar, and the sessions appear in it as events with the session title. The first time, macOS or iOS asks whether Pomo may use your calendars; this is the only time the app asks. If you declined, the permission can be granted again in System Settings or Settings under Privacy & Security, then Calendars.

To have every finished session added by itself, turn on Add finished sessions to Calendar in the adjustments. It uses the calendar you last exported to, so export once by hand first.

One line per session, with five columns: date,start,end,minutes,title. The same Export button also saves a plain text version of the record. Both open in Numbers, Excel or any spreadsheet, and the CSV sits comfortably beside one from another timer.

Yes. Open the record with the chart icon and press Import, next to Export. Pomo reads its own CSV and JSON, Pomofocus reports, Session exports in CSV or JSON, Toggl Track detailed CSV, calendar files (.ics, one session per timed event) and any spreadsheet with a date, a start and an end or a duration column. A slip shows what was found before anything is entered; sessions already in the record are passed over, so a file may be read twice without harm. Forest and Focus Keeper offer no export, so their histories stay where they are.

Out of the box Pomo runs menu bar only. Look for the tomato glyph and the countdown at the top right of the screen. Click it for a menu that starts, pauses, skips and resets the timer, and opens the timer window, the distractions list, the record and the adjustments. If you would rather have a Dock icon, open the adjustments and turn off Menu bar only, no Dock icon.

The shield opens the distractions list. Apps on the list are hidden while a session runs. Websites on the list are turned away in Safari, Chrome, Arc, Brave, Edge, Vivaldi and Opera: Pomo asks the front browser for the address of its current tab every two seconds and sends a listed host to about:blank. For that, macOS asks you once whether Pomo may control the browser, the first time a session runs with a website on the list. Pomo reads the address and nothing else, and nothing from your browsing is stored or sent anywhere. If you declined the request, it can be granted again in System Settings under Privacy & Security, then Automation. The blocker leaflet has the long version.

The bell rings, a notification appears, and the next lamp comes on. Hidden apps may be brought back and listed websites open again, since the blocker only works while a session runs. The break begins, and if Fullscreen break is on in the adjustments it takes over the screen until the break is over. After the fourth session the break is the long one.

There is no account to make. The app works the moment it is installed, and sync uses the iCloud you already have.

The app contains no analytics. Its only use of the network is iCloud sync of your own record, and only when you have switched it on. Your sessions live on your devices and in your iCloud, where we cannot see them. This website sets no cookies. The full text is in the privacy policy.