Your menu bar remembers what you sat down to do.
You blocked 2pm for the proposal and looked up at 3:40. Foreground reads your calendar and keeps the task you're on and the minutes left in the menu bar. Run over and it turns red and counts up.
How it works
It reads the calendar you already keep.
The day you planned becomes the task list, block by block. Apple and Google calendars work out of the box, Reclaim and Todoist with Pro. You never type a task twice.
Press Start. The bar counts down.
A soft chime marks the block starting. The bar runs green, then amber, then red as time gets short. Past zero it counts up.
Press Done. The real time goes on your calendar.
With Pro, the minutes you spent are written back onto the event. The day ends with a true record of where the hours went, and you never kept a log.
A closer look
The bar holds the thread.
What you're on and the minutes left stay in the same corner of the screen, all day. Option-click starts or stops it. Run over and it turns red and counts up (+4:12 and climbing) until you press Done. Twenty minutes can't pretend to be five.
Click, and there's the rest of your day.
The timer drops down under the bar item with a big countdown or a minute grid, one square per minute, draining. A "Later today" list shows what remains, and a Join button appears when the block has a call link. Control-Option-Space opens it from inside any app, for the moment you surface and need to know where you are.
Or let it float.
One click detaches the timer into a small window that stays on top of everything, with big digits or the minute grid. It shows on every Space and beside full-screen apps. Wherever the rabbit hole goes, the clock is already there.
Start anything.
Your calendar blocks are already there, each ready to run its own length. Grab a quick 15, 25 or 45, or type a new task straight into the list and press enter. When the day has gone sideways, this is where you get back in.
Next to the usual suspects
Most timers assume you'll notice when they end. Foreground assumes you're deep in something else, and plans for it.
| Foreground | A Pomodoro app | A menu bar calendar | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reads your calendar, nothing to set | Yes | You set each timer | Yes |
| Shows one task in the bar | Yes | Only if you typed it in | Shows the day |
| Time left, in the menu bar | Yes | Some do | Until the next meeting |
| Turns red and counts up when you run over | Yes | It just ends | It moves to the next event |
| Writes the time you spent to your calendar | Pro | No | No |
| Price | Free, or $49 once | Usually a subscription | $2 to $25 once |
Checked against 28 Mac timer and menu bar calendar apps, August 2026. None of them shows overtime in the menu bar.
What's in it
Free
- The task and the time left in your menu bar
- Or a floating window on top of everything, one click to switch
- Turns red in the bar when you run over, and keeps counting
- Reads one calendar
- Big pixel digits or a minute grid
- Green, amber, red as time runs low
- A task list stored on your Mac
- Start a new task from the timer
- Light and dark mode
- Opens when you log in
Pro PRO
- Writes the time you spent back to your calendar
- Reads several calendars at once
- Reclaim sync: Start, Stop and Done log there too
- Todoist sync: today's tasks in the picker, Done checks them off
- Priority support
Who made this
I plan my day on a calendar and then lose the block. A tab turns into four tabs, and the hour I scheduled is gone before I feel it go. Every timer I tried needed me to remember to set it, and remembering was the one part I couldn't do.
So I built the one I needed: a timer that reads the calendar and sits in the menu bar, where I'll see it. I've run my company on it every day since. If it helps you too, tell me what would make it better. I answer every email.
Chris Shon, maker of Foreground
Pricing
Install
Download the DMG.
One file, no account.
Drag Foreground into Applications.
The usual Mac install.
Right-click the app and choose Open.
Apple hasn't signed Foreground yet, so macOS warns you once. Then allow calendar access when it asks.
Privacy
Your calendar is read on your Mac and stays there.
Two things leave your Mac: your email address if you join the list, and your license key so the app can check it's valid. There are no analytics in the app.
FAQ
I have ADHD. Will this actually help?
I won't promise that, and a timer is not a treatment. What I can tell you is how it's built: the task and the time stay where you can see them instead of in your head, the timer is set by your calendar instead of your memory, and when time slips anyway the bar turns red and shows exactly how far. All of it came from how my own days go wrong. The free version is free for good, so the honest test is a week of real days.
Why does macOS warn me the first time I open it?
Apple hasn't checked and signed Foreground yet, so macOS is cautious with it. Right-click the app, choose Open, and macOS remembers. A signed build is coming.
Does it work with Google Calendar?
Yes. Add your Google account to macOS Calendar once and Foreground reads it from there.
Do I need Reclaim or Todoist?
No. Foreground runs on your calendar alone. If you already live in Reclaim or Todoist, Pro keeps them in step: Todoist's today list shows up in the picker, and pressing Done checks the task off there too.
What counts as a task?
Any timed event on the calendars you pick. Events with other people on them are skipped by default, so meetings don't take over the timer.
Does it show over full-screen apps?
Yes. The menu bar item is in every Space, and the floating window sits beside full-screen apps and stays where you put it as you switch desktops.
Intel or Apple silicon?
Apple silicon for now. If you need Intel, email me.
Refunds?
Full refund within 14 days of buying. The 14-day trial comes first, so you'll know before any money moves.
Get early access
You're on the list.
You'll get one email when there's something worth telling you. If you know someone who'd use this, send them tryforeground.com.