alyssaxuu / later

Save all your Mac apps for later with one click 🖱️

Later

videoplayback.mp4

Save all your Mac apps for later with one click 🖱️

Later is a Mac menu bar app that clears and restores your workspace with ease. Switch off from work, tidy up your desktop before screen sharing, schedule apps for later, and more.

You can support this project (and many others) through GitHub Sponsors! ❤️

Made by Alyssa X

Note: I am not maintaining this project any longer, I have open sourced it so anyone can make changes and improvements, or build their own version of it.

Table of contents

• Features
• Installing Later
• Source code

Features

👻 Hide or close all your apps
⚡️ Restore your session with just one click
👀 View metadata and a preview of your saved sessions
⏱ Schedule apps to reopen after some time to get back in the flow
🔋 Save battery by closing your apps instead of leaving them open
⌨️ Keyboard shortcuts to save and restore your session
⚙️ Advanced settings to ignore apps, terminate instead of hiding, etc.

Installing Later

You can install Later on macOS 11.6 or later.

1. Click here to download the latest version. You can also download the Later.dmg file from this repo.
2. Drag the Later app into the Applications folder.
3. Right click while holding the Control key on the Later app, and select "Open" from the context menu.
4. You will be prompted with an alert saying that the app can't be opened because Apple cannot check it for malicious software (it's not signed). You can open it anyway by clicking "Open".
5. Later will open as an item on your menu bar.

You can read the FAQ if you have any questions.

Source code

You can open Later in Xcode if you'd like to make any changes, or develop it further.

1. Download the Xcode folder in the repo.
2. Open Xcode, and choose the option to "Open a project or file"
3. Select the Xcode folder you downloaded
4. You might be prompted with a warning, select "Trust and open" to proceed.

later's Issues

Feature Request: App Position Restoration Across Virtual Desktops

Dear Later Developer(s),

I'm a big fan of Later App and appreciate the impact it has on productivity. I have a suggestion that I believe could greatly enhance its utility: enabling apps to restore to their original positions across different spaces or virtual desktops, without needing to keep them open in the background.

Feature Summary:

Goal: Allow closed apps to reopen in the same position on any virtual desktop.
Benefit: Saves time and RAM, improving user experience and performance.

Implementing this could make Later an indispensable tool for many more users, myself included. I'm excited about its potential and would gladly support its development further, even financially.

Thanks for considering my suggestion and for your ongoing work on Later.

Best,
Jairo

Ability to assign/change keyboard shortcuts

Would need to be able to assign/change keyboard shortcuts to use this. Possibility of adding?

Feature request | Save Windows single desktop instead of all

It would be great if the app allowed to save individual desktops, allowing to have multiple windows open from f.x. a browser/code editor and being able hide/reveal a desktop on demand to avoid cluttering up the app switching menu's

Later asking to record and capture sound from my mac

why does it ask for this?

Is anyone using this, or is there a maintained alternative?

As a chronic forgetter, I keep a ton of apps open in order to avoid overwhelming my TODO.txt - I'll notice the app eventually, which is fine. Later was doing a great job helping me here.

An Issue

Later is not working well, and I uninstalled it; not saying it's broken, as I didn't give a lot of time to debugging. Given that Alyssa isn't maintaining it anymore, is anyone aware of another app that meets the "Read it later" use case for apps? ("Facebook but for woodchucks!")

full screen windows are not closed

I have many screens using mission control
Most of the time I have all applications in full screen mode

Getlater doesn't seem to work for applications in full screen mode?!

brew cask?

Can anyone give me Later app dmg :( @alyssaxuu please release

https://getlater.app/

Screenshots added to folder unexpectedly when saving session

Steps to recreate issue:

1. Click "Save windows for later"
2. Check Users/[user]/Documents/screenshot.jpg

Not sure if this is a built-in feature, if it is, hopefully there is a toggle to turn off :)

Cheers!

“Later.app” can’t be opened because Apple cannot check it for malicious software.

“Later.app” can’t be opened because Apple cannot check it for malicious software.

The issue is facing in mac book pro-2020 - M1 Version. Ventura OS 13

Requests Audio and Bluetooth permissions

Why does it ask for these permissions?
What are they used for in this app?

M1 Compatability?

Is there M1 compatability?

Does it support multiple displays?

Does it survice a reboot?

Hey :)

Naive question maybe but can later restore a saved "session" after a reboot?

Thanks
-a-

Feature Request. Ignore Minimized Windows

Thanks for creating Later! I really like this app. 💖

Can you add an enhancement feature for ignoring windows that are minimized?

Ignore ❌:

"Later.app" can't be opened because Apple cannot check it for malicious software

Reopenning session doesn't restore browser tabs

Is it possible to reopen all tabs open in a session when reopening a session? Or if not, to exclude closing a browser like firefox or chrome from closing when saving a session.

Mac OS Sonoma update

1. The "Start at login" checkbox consistently remains enabled upon app restart.
2. Unable to restore system windows during "restore session". Encountering an error: "System Settings quit unexpectedly."

Feature request | Toggle DND

Love the app. Adding toggle for DND mode would be awesome.

Version (or alternative) for Windows?

Hey :)

Do you know if any similar alternative exist for Windows?

If not, do you plan to make a Win version of later?

Thanks a lot.

Best,
-a-

Ability to save multiple sessions

Hello,

Love the app. Works like charm.

I have a feature request for it to be able to separate multiple sessions. Like having a session for work and one for personal use.