Support

Count Downcula isn't notarized by Apple yet, so Gatekeeper blocks the first launch. Right-click the app in Applications, choose Open, then choose Open again in the dialog. You only need to do this once.

You can also clear the quarantine flag in Terminal: xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Countdownula.app

Count Downcula is a menu bar app, so it has no Dock icon and no main window. Look for the fanged timer near the clock at the top right of your screen and click it.

If your menu bar is crowded, macOS may hide items behind the notch. Quitting a few other menu bar apps, or holding Command and dragging icons to rearrange them, will bring it back into view.

Open System Settings, then Notifications, then Count Downcula, and make sure Allow notifications is on. On iPhone it's Settings, then Notifications, then Count Downcula. Focus modes such as Do Not Disturb can also hold notifications until later.

Open a countdown from the list and choose Pin. It gets its own menu bar item with its photo, title and time left. Choose Unpin in the same place to remove it.

On each device, and in your private iCloud storage if you're signed in to iCloud. On a Mac the local copy is in ~/Library/Application Support/Countdownula/, and Time Machine backs it up with the rest of your Library.

With iCloud on, setting up a new Mac is just a matter of installing Count Downcula and signing in to the same Apple Account. Countdowns from version 1.0 are brought across automatically the first time you open 1.1.

Check that your Mac, iPhone and watch are signed in to the same Apple Account, that iCloud is turned on for Count Downcula, and that there's free iCloud storage. Sync usually takes a few seconds, though photos can take longer on a slow connection.

iCloud sync needs Count Downcula 1.1 or later on every device.

Yes, in public beta. Join the beta on your iPhone: it installs Apple's free TestFlight app, then Count Downcula. It runs on iPhone and iPad with iOS 17 or later, brings the Apple Watch app with it, and syncs with your Mac and watch through iCloud.

To add a widget, touch and hold your Home Screen or Lock Screen, choose Edit or Customize, then add a widget and pick Count Downcula. The Countdown widget can follow a countdown you choose, or Next Up.

Pin it. Once a pinned countdown is inside its last eight hours, opening the app puts it on your Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island as a Live Activity. New timers go live straight away, and any countdown inside that window has a Show on Lock Screen button on its detail screen.

iOS ends Live Activities after about eight hours, which is why longer countdowns wait. If nothing shows up, check that Live Activities are on in Settings, then Count Downcula.

The watch app arrives with Count Downcula 1.1 and needs watchOS 10 or later. It works on its own, without the iPhone app, and syncs with your Mac and iPhone through iCloud.

To add a complication, touch and hold your watch face, choose Edit, swipe to the complications, and pick Count Downcula. Each one can follow a countdown you choose, or Next Up.

Any Mac running macOS 14 Sonoma or later. It's a universal app, so it runs natively on both Apple silicon and Intel. The iPhone app needs iOS 17 or later, and the Apple Watch app needs watchOS 10 or later.

Click the fang, choose Quit, then drag Countdownula from Applications to the Trash. To remove your countdowns from the Mac too, delete ~/Library/Application Support/Countdownula/.

On iPhone, touch and hold the app icon and choose Remove App. If you used iCloud sync, a copy stays in your iCloud storage and on your other devices. Delete it under Manage Storage in your iCloud settings.

No. Count Downcula is free, with no ads, accounts or in-app purchases.