Skip to content
hourbrook
Join the waitlist

Install Hourbrook on your Mac

The beta isn't notarized by Apple yet, so macOS can't check it for malware and asks you to confirm once. Here is every step, for macOS 14 and 15, and how to check the file first.

No download yet: join the waitlist and get one email when it's ready.

Join the waitlist

Before you start

You need a Mac with Apple silicon (an M1 or later) on macOS 14 Sonoma or later. To check, open the Apple menu › About This Mac: it says Chip with an Apple M name, and the macOS version under it. An Intel Mac can't run this beta.

During the beta, Hourbrook asks you to sign in before it opens. What it records still stays on your Mac (what goes where).

Check the download

Optional, and worth it for an app that isn't notarized: compare the file's SHA-256 with ours. In Terminal:

shasum -a 256 ~/Downloads/Hourbrook.dmg

The checksum for the current download isn't listed here yet. Until it is, you can skip this step.

Open it on macOS 15 Sequoia and later

  1. Open the disk image from Downloads and drag Hourbrook into Applications. Then eject the disk image.
  2. Open Hourbrook from Applications. macOS says it couldn't verify that Hourbrook is free of malware, with two buttons: Done and Move to Trash. Click Done.
  3. Open System Settings › Privacy & Security and scroll down to Security. It says Hourbrook was blocked to protect your Mac. Click Open Anyway.
  4. Confirm. macOS asks once more; click Open Anyway, then enter your Mac's login password or use Touch ID. That's macOS asking, not Hourbrook: the password never reaches the app.

On macOS 15, Control-click (or right-click) › Open no longer gets you past the first message; use Privacy & Security. You only do this once. After that Hourbrook opens like any other app.

Open it on macOS 14 Sonoma

  1. Open the disk image and drag Hourbrook into Applications.
  2. Open Hourbrook. macOS says it can't be opened because Apple cannot check it for malicious software. Click OK.
  3. Open System Settings › Privacy & Security, scroll down to Security, and click Open Anyway beside the line about Hourbrook. Enter your password or use Touch ID if asked, then click Open.

On macOS 14 there's a shortcut: in Applications, Control-click (or right-click) Hourbrook, choose Open, then click Open in the message.

The words in these messages change a little between macOS updates. The buttons to look for stay the same: Done or OK first, then Open Anyway.

If macOS says Hourbrook “is damaged and can't be opened”

It shouldn't happen with a complete download. When it does, the file was usually cut short or changed on the way.

  1. Move Hourbrook to the Trash, delete the disk image, and download it again.
  2. Check the SHA-256 as above. If it doesn't match, don't open the file.
  3. If it matches and macOS still says it's damaged, clear the download flag macOS put on the app, then open it as above:
    xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Hourbrook.app
    Only do this for a copy whose checksum matches. Please tell us it happened, so we can fix it for everyone.

What it asks for

  • Accessibility, to read window titles. System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility, then turn on Hourbrook. Without it Hourbrook still sees which app is in front.
  • Each browser, once, so it can read the page address. macOS asks “Hourbrook wants access to control…” the first time you use that browser. You can say no; the time is still counted.
  • Calendar, only if you turn it on, so your meetings show in the day.

After an update

From version 0.1.2, Hourbrook updates itself: it checks about once a day (Settings › General, “Check for updates automatically”) and asks before installing. Each update is signed, and the app refuses one that isn't.

On 0.1.1? It has no automatic updates, so download 0.1.2 from this page once by hand: open the disk image and drag Hourbrook over the old one in Applications. Your entries and activity stay where they are, and from then on updates come by themselves.

Expect to allow Accessibility again. The beta isn't signed with an Apple Developer ID, so macOS can treat each new version as a new app and stop it reading window titles. If titles are missing after an update, open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility, select Hourbrook, remove it with the minus button, then add it again with plus (or just turn it off and on). It isn't a bug in your data; nothing was lost.

Removing it

Quit Hourbrook from the menu bar and drag it from Applications to the Trash. What it recorded stays in ~/Library/Application Support/Hourbrook until you delete that folder too. Signing out first keeps your synced entries on your account; delete your account in the web app's Settings to remove those.