# Anchored - Timed To Do List Anchored is a native macOS menu-bar app that keeps a single anchor task and a live countdown permanently in view - in the menu bar and on a desktop widget you can act on - so the day's priority does not have to be re-decided every hour. - URL: https://swiftfox.studio/apps/anchored - Price: Pay what you want (suggested $3.99) - Category: productivity (Task Timer) - Platform: macOS 14.0 or later, Apple Silicon and Intel - Version: 1.2.1 - Publisher: Swiftfox Studio (https://swiftfox.studio) ## One task. Always in sight. Anchored keeps the single task that matters today front and center - and runs a quiet focus timer beside it, right from the menu bar. No infinite to-do list, no nag windows, no account. It's keyboard-first, but everything works just as well with the mouse. ### How it works 1. Pick the one anchor task for today and give it a duration like "45m" - then line up whatever comes next. 2. Anchored keeps it front and center with a live countdown, right in the menu bar and out of your way. 3. When the timer ends, a notification offers a one-tap Done or a snooze on the interval you set yourself. 4. A desktop widget shows the same queue in three sizes, and its buttons act without bringing the app forward. ## Features - One anchor task front-and-center with a live countdown - A desktop widget in three sizes you can act on - Quick-add from anywhere with durations like "45m" - Plan by day; bring unfinished work forward to today - See what your estimates were actually worth - Timer-end notifications with one-tap Done or snooze - Notes, inline editing and a queue you can reorder - Rebindable hotkeys and a Siri & Shortcuts intent ## When to use it ### Your list is long and you keep re-reading it Keep the backlog wherever it already lives and promote one item here. Anchored is the layer between the list and the afternoon, not a replacement for either. ### Time-boxing a task you would otherwise stretch Give the task a duration when you pick it - "45m" - and the countdown makes the estimate visible while you work rather than after. ### You would rather not touch the mouse Quick-add opens from anywhere with a hotkey, durations are typed inline, and the whole queue can be reordered and edited without leaving the keyboard. ### Unfinished work that should not vanish Plan by day, and whatever an earlier day left unfinished is offered at the top of today - bring it forward or archive it. It stays a decision instead of sinking to the bottom of a list. ### Your estimates and the clock keep diverging Anchored records both numbers on every task, so the Review window can say by how much and where: short estimates usually land close, and the long ones are where the day goes. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is Anchored a to-do app? Not really. It holds a short queue, but its job is the one task you committed to today - the countdown in the menu bar is the whole point. What it does carry across days is unfinished work: whatever an earlier day left is offered at the top of today, to bring forward or archive. Keep your full backlog in whatever already holds it. ### Is there a desktop widget? Yes, in all three sizes. Small is the anchor and its clock, medium adds the queue behind it, and large is the whole day. The buttons act where you press them - Done, start and pause, and +N minutes - without bringing the app forward. With Anchored closed they open it instead, because nothing would be running to apply the press. ### How do I set a duration? Type it with the task: "45m" or "1h30". The countdown starts when you make the task your anchor, and the remaining time sits in the menu bar. ### What happens when the timer ends? A notification offers a one-tap Done, or a snooze between 5 and 30 minutes on the interval you set yourself. ### Does it tell me anything about my estimates? Yes. Anchored has always stored both halves - what you guessed when you typed "45m" and what the timer measured - and the Review window finally puts them together, over a week or a month: a one-sentence verdict, a day-by-day chart, a breakdown by estimate size, and the tasks you were furthest off on. ### Does it work with Shortcuts? Yes. Anchored ships a Siri and Shortcuts intent, and its hotkeys are rebindable, so it can be driven from an existing automation. ### Does it sync to my phone? No. There is no account and no cloud service - everything stays on your Mac. That is the trade for having no sign-up and no subscription. ### How much does Anchored cost? It is pay what you want with a suggested price of $3.99, which includes setting the price to zero. Whatever you pay, the app is yours with future updates.