Notch timer
A timer that lives in the notch, not on top of your work.
Build Mode is a one-button time tracker for people building something on a Mac. While a session runs, a small clock shows in the MacBook notch area at the top of the screen. It is always visible, costs you no working space, and starts or stops with one keystroke, ⌘⌥B.
Press ⌘⌥B
A short ceremony begins
The clock sits in the notch
Press again, jot a note
Why the notch
The clock went where the screen already had room.
Always in view
The clock sits in the MacBook notch area at the top of the screen. Whatever app you are in, one glance up tells you the session is running and how long you have been at it.
Takes no space
The notch area is already part of your display. Build Mode borrows it instead of adding a floating window, a widget, or one more thing to arrange on your desktop.
A quiet reminder
The clock just sits there, quiet and out of the way, a small signal that you are mid-session, which makes it easier to settle back in when something pulls you away.
One keystroke
Press ⌘⌥B and a short full-screen ceremony starts the session. Press ⌘⌥B again to stop and jot a one-line note about what you did. That is the whole interface.
The menu bar app
Lives in the menu bar, works from anywhere.
Build Mode is a menu bar app. There is no big window to keep open and nothing to switch to. Start or stop with one press of ⌘⌥B and let the notch clock carry the session while you write, design, or code. The product page covers the rest of the app.
Honest timing
The clock counts active time, nothing else.
Step away and the session pauses. Let the display sleep and it pauses too. The number you glance at in the notch is time actually spent working, so it is a number you can trust and feel good about.
Sorted as you work
Hours land in the right category on their own.
Auto Mode, on by default, reads the name of the frontmost app and files the time under the matching skill, right on your Mac. Browsers stay unassigned by default. Prefer control? Pick the category yourself or switch Auto Mode off in Settings.
After you stop
Every session becomes visible progress.
The dashboard shows daily, weekly, and all-time totals. Every completed active hour becomes a dot on the hour wall, and long-term goals mark milestones at 100, 500, 1,000, and 10,000 hours. Each week ends in Wrapped, a shareable visual recap of your hours, sessions, categories, and consistency. If long unbroken blocks are what you are after, the deep work tracker guide goes deeper on sessions.
Private by structure
A timer with no way to phone home.
Build Mode contains no networking code at all. That is not a policy promise, it is a property of the app itself: search it for networking symbols and you find none. It also asks for zero macOS permissions, so there is nothing to grant and nothing to revoke.
No account, no cloud, no screen recording, no keystroke logging, no browser history, no website tracking. The clock in your notch reports to you and to no one else, and everything it records stays on the Mac.
Notch timer FAQ
The short answers.
Is the clock in the notch all the time?
No. The clock appears while a session runs and goes away when you stop. Between sessions, Build Mode waits quietly in the menu bar.
Does the timer keep running when I step away?
No. Build Mode counts active time only. It pauses when you step away or when the display sleeps, and resumes when you are back at work.
Do I have to label every session myself?
Only if you want to. Auto Mode sorts hours into categories from the name of the frontmost app, browsers stay unassigned by default, and you can pick the category yourself or turn Auto Mode off in Settings.
How much does it cost?
The download is free, and the app unlocks with a $9 license, paid once. Founder pricing rises as batches sell out: $9 for the first 50 buyers, $12 for the next 50, $19 after that. No subscription and no free tier. Details on the pricing page.
What Macs does it run on?
Any Mac on macOS 14 or later, Apple Silicon or Intel. One universal app, activated with a license key that is verified on your Mac and never sent anywhere.
See it in your own notch