Topline is a Pomodoro timer for Mac that lives on a thin bar across the top of the screen, next to your Spotify or Apple Music controls. Click it, the bar colors in, green to red as time runs down, and the session runs.
The timer does not touch your music. Starting focus does not start a playlist, and the break does not pause anything. Whatever is playing keeps playing. The timer only keeps time: the red bar, the chimes, the 5-minute break, and the stats.
For sound without words, use Undertone. Click the waveform button next to the timer. A picker of glowing orbs opens in two groups: Music (Deep, Drift, Glow, Rain) and Places (Coffee Shop, Waterfall, Jungle, Ocean, Fireplace, Storm). Pick one and it plays, and Spotify or Music pauses. The bar takes the sound's colors. Press play in Spotify or Music and Undertone stops. Otherwise it plays until you stop it.
Undertone ships with the app. No account, no extra subscription.
Right-click the bar and open Focus Stats. You get minutes today, how many sessions you finished today, a streak of days with a finished session, the hour you focus most, and a chart of the last 7 days. The best hour shows up once there are at least three sessions.
If a timer is all you wanted, other apps fit better. The comparison names PoroTimer, Session, Flow, Be Focused, and TomatoBar, and it says when to skip Topline.
A session under a minute is treated as a mis-click and is not saved. The log is a file on your Mac. Topline has no account, and the stats are not uploaded.
The streak counts consecutive days with a completed session, through today, or through yesterday if you have not finished one yet today.
The docked bar runs full width under the menu bar, including when you change Spaces. If a window slides under it, Topline shrinks to a thin line so that window's buttons stay reachable. The countdown moves to the menu bar, in red, while you are focusing. Click it and the full bar comes back.
If you want the red strip to stay up anyway, right-click the bar and turn on Always Show Bar. Hide the bar entirely with Control-Option-Command-S.
People who want this for ADHD usually want the clock in sight and the music controls on the same surface. That page is here: a focus timer for when attention wanders.
Click the timer on the left of the bar. The bar turns green and the session runs, shifting to yellow and red as time runs down. Click again to pause, and click again to resume. The timer does not start, stop, or pause any music. It only keeps time.
Yes. Drag the timer sideways, or scroll while the pointer is over it. Lengths run from 5 to 90 minutes in steps of 5. Topline remembers the length you set.
A chime plays, and a 5-minute break starts. The red glow is only for the focus session, so the bar goes back to the colors of the album art while the break counts down. Whatever is playing keeps playing through the break. Another chime plays when the break is over.
No. The timer leaves your music alone. Start a playlist in Spotify or Music before you click the timer, or pick Undertone from the waveform button whenever you want it. Whatever is playing keeps playing, and the bar still controls it.
On your Mac. The Focus window shows minutes today, finished sessions, a streak of days with a completed session, your most focused hour after a few sessions, and a chart of the last 7 days. Sessions under a minute are not saved. Nothing is uploaded, and there is no Topline account.