v0.10.2

What's new

Bug Fixes

• Fix crash during screen removal (04d1750)
• Allow meeting ends tomorrow for night owls (476cb49)

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Installation instructions:

macOS

Recommended installation method:

brew install allanchain/tap/sane-break

Alternatively, download sane-break-macos-x86_64.dmg if you are using an Intel Mac, or sane-break-macos-arm64.dmg if you are using Apple silicon. Open and install it. macOS 13 or newer are supported.

Windows

x86 version of Windows 10 or newer is supported. Older versions may be supported too.

• Portable version: Download the sane-break-windows.zip extract it. Put the .exe executable anywhere you like.
• Installer verions: Download the sane-break-windows.exe and run it.

Linux

For Debian-based distributions, there is a notoriously large number of derivatives, and many of them ship old versions of Qt and do not include the latest layer-shell-qt. It is impractical to create .deb packages for all of them, so we only provide support for Debian Bookworm and Trixie. (Unfortunately, Ubuntu LTS ships with a very old version of Qt and lacks layer-shell-qt.)
The difference between Bookworm build and Trixie build is the layer shell support. If you are using a Debian-based distro and a Wayland compositor with layer shell protocol support (e.g. KDE Neon), you probably need the Debian Trixie build. Otherwise, the Bookworm build is good to go.
For GNOME users, make sure to enable the GNOME shell extension with:

gnome-extensions enable sane-break@allanchain.github.io

AppImage version is experimental. It may or may not work on your machine.

v0.10.1

What's new

Features

• Add command-line control for Sane Break, including pause/resume, break-now, postpone, meeting mode, focus mode, and status queries (cbdf256, 93af4c2)

Bug Fixes

• Fix a divide-by-zero crash when flashing speed is set to 0 BPM (0f87e7c)
• Fix the tray icon disappearing after triggering Break Now (6b224c8)

Other Improvements

• Use the system locale's time format in break windows, meeting time pickers, and timeline labels (ea40987)
• Show clearer inline guidance when meeting or focus reasons are too short, and ignore whitespace-only input (bc4f759)
• Mark the GNOME extension as compatible with GNOME 50 (9594d73)

---

Installation instructions:

macOS

Download sane-break-macos-x86_64.dmg file if you are using Intel mac, or sane-break-macos-arm64.dmg if you are using ARM chip. Open and install it. macOS 13 or newer are supported.

Windows

x86 version of Windows 10 or newer is supported. Older versions may be supported too.

• Portable version: Download the sane-break-windows.zip extract it. Put the .exe executable anywhere you like.
• Installer verions: Download the sane-break-windows.exe and run it.

Linux

For Debian-based distributions, there is a notoriously large number of derivatives, and many of them ship old versions of Qt and do not include the latest layer-shell-qt. It is impractical to create .deb packages for all of them, so we only provide support for Debian Bookworm and Trixie. (Unfortunately, Ubuntu LTS ships with a very old version of Qt and lacks layer-shell-qt.)
The difference between Bookworm build and Trixie build is the layer shell support. If you are using a Debian-based distro and a Wayland compositor with layer shell protocol support (e.g. KDE Neon), you probably need the Debian Trixie build. Otherwise, the Bookworm build is good to go.
For GNOME users, make sure to enable the GNOME shell extension with:

gnome-extensions enable sane-break@allanchain.github.io

AppImage version is experimental. It may or may not work on your machine.

v0.10.0

What's new

Statistics Window (5013bfe, c2980c6, 4ff13b2)

Sane Break now records break sessions and related events in a local database, and surfaces them in a new Statistics window. You can browse previous weeks, review each day’s timeline, and inspect daily details such as break totals, postpones, and tracked time.

Meeting/Presentation Mode (e7564f8)

You can now pause break reminders until a chosen time with Meeting/Presentation Mode. It is designed for meetings, presentations, and screen sharing, and resumes more gracefully when that period ends.

Focus Mode (d8962b8)

Focus Mode lets you temporarily switch to a separate break schedule for planned deep work. Configure the focus schedule in Settings, then start a focus session from the tray when you want a more intentional, shorter-cycle workflow.

Heads-Up Before Breaks (33421c6)

Breaks can now begin with a small heads-up pill before the actual break starts. It gives you a clearer early signal and lets you start the break immediately if you have already reached a good stopping point.

Reworked Postpone Flow (e7564f8)

Postponing has been redesigned to feel less punitive. Instead of pushing the cost into a big break, postponing now extends the upcoming break and shortens the following work session. This keeps the overall rhythm more regular while still giving you flexibility when you need a little more time.

More Break Window Customization (b063114, 2246c4e, 22f40ce, ac99030)

Break windows are much more configurable in this release. You can use background images, pick colors with a built-in color dialog, and choose how long the tray icon flashes before a break. The flashing pattern has also been reworked to feel more dynamic and noticeable.

Smarter Pause Behavior (a054e70)

Sane Break can now pause automatically when an unknown monitor is connected. This is especially useful for presentations or other situations where you plug into a display you have not marked as trusted yet.

Other Improvements

• Allow disabling big breaks and having small breaks only (9886efc).
• Added Ctrl+W support for closing the Preferences and Statistics windows (91e6c8c).
• Added Italian and Swedish translations, along with broader translation updates (5d4fb6b, c2aa0d4).
• Updated the project to Qt 6.11 (56c2c6a).

Fixes

• Fixed a crash in WrappedCheckBox::minimumSizeHint (cc7206c).
• Improved GNOME-specific window behavior so break overlays appear more reliably (dfc78a0, 5aaf45b).

---

Installation instructions:

macOS

Download sane-break-macos-x86_64.dmg file if you are using Intel mac, or sane-break-macos-arm64.dmg if you are using ARM chip. Open and install it. macOS 13 or newer are supported.

Windows

x86 version of Windows 10 or newer is supported. Older versions may be supported too.

• Portable version: Download the sane-break-windows.zip extract it. Put the .exe executable anywhere you like.
• Installer verions: Download the sane-break-windows.exe and run it.

Linux

For Debian-based distributions, there is a notoriously large number of derivatives, and many of them ship old versions of Qt and do not include the latest layer-shell-qt. It is impractical to create .deb packages for all of them, so we only provide support for Debian Bookworm and Trixie. (Unfortunately, Ubuntu LTS ships with a very old version of Qt and lacks layer-shell-qt.)
The difference between Bookworm build and Trixie build is the layer shell support. If you are using a Debian-based distro and a Wayland compositor with layer shell protocol support (e.g. KDE Neon), you probably need the Debian Trixie build. Otherwise, the Bookworm build is good to go.
For GNOME users, make sure to enable the GNOME shell extension with:

gnome-extensions enable sane-break@allanchain.github.io

AppImage version is experimental. It may or may not work on your machine.

v0.9.5

What's new

Bug fixes

• fix prefix and X11 plugin on Debian build (389e315, b723624)
• fix preference window theme (9ed0571)
• try wait for tray before starting (6dbf03d)
• display window above menubars on macOS (aed393d)

Changes

• include cmd args in Linux and Windows program list (ccb8658)
• flash tray icon 10 seconds before breaks (ddace32)

Misc

• support macOS liquid glass icons (a0cd678)
• adopt Qt 6.10 (dab1e31, c24df61)
• translation update and add German translations

---

Installation instructions:

macOS

Download sane-break-macos-x86_64.dmg file if you are using Intel mac, or sane-break-macos-arm64.dmg if you are using ARM chip. Open and install it. macOS 13 or newer are supported.

Windows

x86 version of Windows 10 or newer is supported. Older versions may be supported too.

• Portable version: Download the sane-break-windows.zip extract it. Put the .exe executable anywhere you like.
• Installer verions: Download the sane-break-windows.exe and run it.

Linux

For Debian-based distributions, there is a notoriously large number of derivatives, and many of them ship old versions of Qt and do not include the latest layer-shell-qt. It is impractical to create .deb packages for all of them, so we only provide support for Debian Bookworm and Trixie. (Unfortunately, Ubuntu LTS ships with a very old version of Qt and lacks layer-shell-qt.)
The difference between Bookworm build and Trixie build is the layer shell support. If you are using a Debian-based distro and a Wayland compositor with layer shell protocol support (e.g. KDE Neon), you probably need the Debian Trixie build. Otherwise, the Bookworm build is good to go.
For GNOME users, make sure to enable the GNOME shell extension with:

gnome-extensions enable sane-break@allanchain.github.io

AppImage version is experimental. It may or may not work on your machine.

v0.9.4

What's new

Bug fixes

• fix clock update after break ends (02ea8e8)
• update preference button color after theme change (38ff6fe)
• defer GNOME extension actions to improve stability (3aef760)
• mark GNOME shell 49 as supported in extension (9b60548)

Misc

• also build for Window on ARM (5a97fd7)
• Windows Store builds (4b644ff, ea9fae8, 4108405, be83cda, 650e46a, 82812d3, cc3361d, 90c261f)
• add Polish translation (e5e353d, 127264a)

---

Installation instructions:

macOS

Download sane-break-macos-x86_64.dmg file if you are using Intel mac, or sane-break-macos-arm64.dmg if you are using ARM chip. Open and install it. macOS 13 or newer are supported.

Windows

x86 version of Windows 10 or newer is supported. Older versions may be supported too.

• Portable version: Download the sane-break-windows.zip extract it. Put the .exe executable anywhere you like.
• Installer verions: Download the sane-break-windows.exe and run it.

Linux

For Debian-based distributions, there is a notoriously large number of derivatives, and many of them ship old versions of Qt and do not include the latest layer-shell-qt. It is impractical to create .deb packages for all of them, so we only provide support for Debian Bookworm and Trixie. (Unfortunately, Ubuntu LTS ships with a very old version of Qt and lacks layer-shell-qt.)
The difference between Bookworm build and Trixie build is the layer shell support. If you are using a Debian-based distro and a Wayland compositor with layer shell protocol support (e.g. KDE Neon), you probably need the Debian Trixie build. Otherwise, the Bookworm build is good to go.
For GNOME users, make sure to enable the GNOME shell extension with:

gnome-extensions enable sane-break@allanchain.github.io

AppImage version is experimental. It may or may not work on your machine.

v0.9.3

What's new

Features

• ship Windows installer executable using NSIS (4423a32)

Bug fixes

• improve sleep handling and avoid exiting pauses (c9c885b)
• fix false positive postpone confirm after pause (0d1081f)
• fix incorrect initial time on break window when user is idle (0d10040)
• fix exit force break button remains after clicking (cfa9887)
• show buttons when previewing break windows (a2f2faa)
• fix save button not shown in general tab (d76571f)
• hide buttons on BreakPhasePost since can't click (a169c0f)
• fix qt_add_plugin for x11 with old Qt versions (05f23d8)
• fix preference window icon (ad1e335)
• do not make window transparent for inputs on X11 (f4d5606)
• smaller clock size with countdown and remove seconds (393dacb)

---

Installation instructions:

macOS

Download sane-break-macos-x86_64.dmg file if you are using Intel mac, or sane-break-macos-arm64.dmg if you are using ARM chip. Open and install it. macOS 13 or newer are supported.

Windows

x86 version of Windows 10 or newer is supported. Older versions may be supported too.

• Portable version: Download the sane-break-windows.zip extract it. Put the .exe executable anywhere you like.
• Installer verions: Download the sane-break-windows.exe and run it.

Linux

For Debian-based distributions, there is a notoriously large number of derivatives, and many of them ship old versions of Qt and do not include the latest layer-shell-qt. It is impractical to create .deb packages for all of them, so we only provide support for Debian Bookworm and Trixie. (Unfortunately, Ubuntu LTS ships with a very old version of Qt and lacks layer-shell-qt.)
The difference between Bookworm build and Trixie build is the layer shell support. If you are using a Debian-based distro and a Wayland compositor with layer shell protocol support (e.g. KDE Neon), you probably need the Debian Trixie build. Otherwise, the Bookworm build is good to go.
For GNOME users, make sure to enable the GNOME shell extension with:

gnome-extensions enable sane-break@allanchain.github.io

AppImage version is experimental. It may or may not work on your machine.

v0.9.2

What's new

Bug fixes

• fix break window not shown on macOS (6264819)
• load lib from LIBDIR instead of hard code lib (some distros uses lib64 instead of lib) (402a7b2)
• just prevent any new instances to start up to avoid confusion (3026f30)

---

Installation instructions:

macOS

Download sane-break-macos-x86_64.dmg file if you are using Intel mac, or sane-break-macos-arm64.dmg if you are using ARM chip. Open and install it. macOS 13 or newer are supported.

Windows

Download the sane-break-windows.zip extract it. Put the .exe executable anywhere you like. x86 version of Windows 10 or newer is supported. Older versions may be supported too.

Linux

For Debian-based distributions, there is a notoriously large number of derivatives, and many of them ship old versions of Qt and do not include the latest layer-shell-qt. It is impractical to create .deb packages for all of them, so we only provide support for Debian Bookworm and Trixie. (Unfortunately, Ubuntu LTS ships with a very old version of Qt and lacks layer-shell-qt.)
The difference between Bookworm build and Trixie build is the layer shell support. If you are using a Debian-based distro and a Wayland compositor with layer shell protocol support (e.g. KDE Neon), you probably need the Debian Trixie build. Otherwise, the Bookworm build is good to go.
For GNOME users, make sure to enable the GNOME shell extension with:

gnome-extensions enable sane-break@allanchain.github.io

AppImage version is experimental. It may or may not work on your machine.

v0.9.1

What's new

Bug fixes

• fix show components for small break windows (3bd9f35)
• fix pause reason not cleared on sleep end (3c14cbb)
• fix auto close window for small and big breaks (ff7356d)
• fix break window auto close after closing preference window (ceb283a)

---

Installation instructions:

macOS

Download sane-break-macos-x86_64.dmg file if you are using Intel mac, or sane-break-macos-arm64.dmg if you are using ARM chip. Open and install it. macOS 13 or newer are supported.

Windows

Download the sane-break-windows.zip extract it. Put the .exe executable anywhere you like. x86 version of Windows 10 or newer is supported. Older versions may be supported too.

Linux

For Debian-based distributions, there is a notoriously large number of derivatives, and many of them ship old versions of Qt and do not include the latest layer-shell-qt. It is impractical to create .deb packages for all of them, so we only provide support for Debian Bookworm and Trixie. (Unfortunately, Ubuntu LTS ships with a very old version of Qt and lacks layer-shell-qt.)
The difference between Bookworm build and Trixie build is the layer shell support. If you are using a Debian-based distro and a Wayland compositor with layer shell protocol support (e.g. KDE Neon), you probably need the Debian Trixie build. Otherwise, the Bookworm build is good to go.
For GNOME users, make sure to enable the GNOME shell extension with:

gnome-extensions enable sane-break@allanchain.github.io

AppImage version is experimental. It may or may not work on your machine.

v0.9.0

What's new

Breaking changes

Change unit of flash speed to bpm (beats per minute)

Previously, the flash speed was not quantized and was displayed only as "slow," "fast," etc. To help users better understand how fast the flash is, we now use BPM (beats per minute) as the unit for flash speed. The default is 120 BPM. If you have previously adjusted the setting, you may need to re-calibrate it, as the old internal unit was approximately 20% faster than the new unit.

Related commit:

• use bpm as unit for flash speed (b2b09f0)

Custom messages now only shows in full-screen mode

Custom messages can sometimes be too long for the small flashing prompt. To maintain a clean UI, we now show custom messages only in full-screen mode, while the prompt continues to use the default "Time for a small/big break" message.

Related commit:

• only show custom messages in full-screen (ce271c5)

Features

More controls over break UI

Sane Break v0.9.0 introduces even greater flexibility in the break UI. You can now choose which components to display in the break window and preview your custom layout with a single click:

In addition to the classic countdown and progress bar, you can create a more immersive experience by hiding the countdown and progress bar, and showing only the clock and the time when the break will end. You can also uncheck "Close window right after break ends" in the Reminder tab, so the break window stays open after the break. With these settings, the app gently encourages you to step away and return only when you're ready.

Related commits:

• enable immersive break experience (7973207)
• preview button for break window interface setting (6cc5324)

Other Features

• avoid starting more than one instance of the app (409f8cb, 659dffe)
• button to revert preferences to default values (bdc54b2)

Changes

• organize preference tabs and add "Interface" tab (9fe7eab)
• separate Wayland and X11 deps with plugins (be1b9cf)
• add AppImage build (e508d71, 39ba7f3)
• document Copr package (22a72bb)
• adopt state machine pattern for app logic (38435c7)

Bug fixes

• fix SIGSEGV in Wayland idle after quitting app (882dcc9)
• remove unused macOS permission hint (14b36ed)

---

Installation instructions:

macOS

Download sane-break-macos-x86_64.dmg file if you are using Intel mac, or sane-break-macos-arm64.dmg if you are using ARM chip. Open and install it. macOS 13 or newer are supported.

Windows

Download the sane-break-windows.zip extract it. Put the .exe executable anywhere you like. x86 version of Windows 10 or newer is supported. Older versions may be supported too.

Linux

For Debian-based distributions, there is a notoriously large number of derivatives, and many of them ship old versions of Qt and do not include the latest layer-shell-qt. It is impractical to create .deb packages for all of them, so we only provide support for Debian Bookworm and Trixie. (Unfortunately, Ubuntu LTS ships with a very old version of Qt and lacks layer-shell-qt.)
The difference between Bookworm build and Trixie build is the layer shell support. If you are using a Debian-based distro and a Wayland compositor with layer shell protocol support (e.g. KDE Neon), you probably need the Debian Trixie build. Otherwise, the Bookworm build is good to go.
For GNOME users, make sure to enable the GNOME shell extension with:

gnome-extensions enable sane-break@allanchain.github.io

AppImage version is experimental. It may or may not work on your machine.

v0.8.4

What's new

Features

• Limited number of exits of force-breaks (default 2)

Bug fixes

• Avoid resetting time to next break when postponing

---

Installation instructions:

macOS

Download sane-break-macos-x86_64.dmg file if you are using Intel mac, or sane-break-macos-arm64.dmg if you are using ARM chip. Open and install it. macOS 13 or newer are supported.

Windows

Download the sane-break-windows.zip extract it. Put the .exe executable anywhere you like. x86 version of Windows 10 or newer is supported. Older versions may be supported too.

Linux

If you are using X11, sane-break-x11.deb is for you.

If you are using Ubuntu 24.10 (and above) or Debian Trixie (and above), you can install the .deb package. For GNOME users, make sure to enable the GNOME shell extension with:

gnome-extensions enable sane-break@allanchain.github.io

The difference between Wayland Ubuntu Oracular build and Debian Trixie build is the layer shell support. If you are using a Debian-based distro and a Wayland compositor with layer shell protocol support (e.g. KDE Neon), you probably need the Debian Trixie build. Otherwise, the Ubuntu Oracular build is good to go.