Squirrel Trap v1.8.1

What's New

• Fixed: iCloud sync could hang forever with no explanation. If macOS's Low Power Mode was on, syncing would spin indefinitely with zero feedback — not broken, just silently stuck. Sync now times out and shows a clear error if that happens, instead of spinning forever.
• New: a quick sync report. After syncing, Preferences → Sync now shows a one-line summary of what came in from your other devices — e.g. "2 added, 1 completed" — instead of leaving you guessing whether anything actually happened.
• New: Add Item and Snooze in the menu bar. Right-click the menu bar icon for two new shortcuts — Add Item opens the quick-add panel, and Snooze applies the same snooze as the in-panel button — without needing to open the panel first.
• Hardened: your to-do list is now more resilient to data loss. Three defensive fixes, none of which should ever come up in normal use, but all closing a real gap: a corrupted or unreadable save file no longer gets silently replaced with an empty one (the original is preserved); accidentally running two copies of the app at once no longer risks one silently overwriting the other's changes; and a long-expired iCloud sync token now recovers automatically instead of getting permanently stuck.

Installing (first time)

1. Download Squirrel Trap.zip below and unzip it.
2. Drag Squirrel Trap.app to your Applications folder (or anywhere you like).
3. Open it. It's signed and notarized by Apple, so it launches normally — no security warnings or workarounds needed.
4. On first launch, grant Input Monitoring permission when prompted — this is what lets it detect Cmd+Tab. It's passive and never records anything else you type.

Updating (already have it installed)

1. Quit Squirrel Trap (menu bar icon → Quit, or the Quit button in Preferences).
2. Download Squirrel Trap.zip below and unzip it.
3. Drag the new Squirrel Trap.app to Applications, replacing the old one.
4. Relaunch.

Your to-do history, favorites, and preferences are all stored separately and aren't touched by replacing the app.

Squirrel Trap also checks for updates automatically and will show a link in the app when a newer version is available — you'll still need to come back here to download it, per the above.

Full Changelog: v1.8.0...v1.8.1

Squirrel Trap v1.8.0

What's New

• New: 8 selectable panel themes. Pick a color that suits you from Preferences → Appearance — Blue (the original look), Purple, Green, Crimson, Amber, Teal, Rose, or Graphite. The desktop widget automatically matches whatever theme you choose.
• New: optional, anonymous usage analytics. Squirrel Trap can now share anonymous product-usage data (which features get used — never your to-do text) to help guide future development. Off by default; you're asked once, and can change your answer anytime via the "Share Usage Data" toggle in Preferences → Appearance.
• New: a Show Tips setting. Turn off the rotating contextual tips entirely from Preferences → Activity if you'd rather not see them, without losing your place in them if you turn it back on.
• Fixed: Preferences tooltips doing nothing. The (?) icons throughout Preferences now show their explanation on click — previously they relied on a native hover tooltip that didn't reliably work in a menu-bar-only app like this one.
• Fixed: misaligned rows in Preferences (General, Appearance, and Sync tabs) — labels no longer float above taller controls like dropdowns.
• Fixed: the first-run permission screen could get stranded. Clicking elsewhere while "Input Monitoring Needed" was showing could dismiss it with no way back, forcing a force-quit to recover. It's now sticky until you actually respond to it.
• Fixed: turning on Reminders sync for the first time now creates and uses a private "Squirrel Trap" list by default, instead of leaving no list selected — so it never accidentally defaults onto an existing list you might share with other people. You can still pick a different list yourself.
• Hardened: the update-check link now verifies it actually points at github.com before ever offering it as a download.
• Added a SECURITY.md explaining exactly what the Input Monitoring permission is used for, and how to report a security issue privately.

Installing (first time)

1. Download Squirrel Trap.zip below and unzip it.
2. Drag Squirrel Trap.app to your Applications folder (or anywhere you like).
3. Open it. It's signed and notarized by Apple, so it launches normally — no security warnings or workarounds needed.
4. On first launch, grant Input Monitoring permission when prompted — this is what lets it detect Cmd+Tab. It's passive and never records anything else you type.

Updating (already have it installed)

1. Quit Squirrel Trap (menu bar icon → Quit, or the Quit button in Preferences).
2. Download Squirrel Trap.zip below and unzip it.
3. Drag the new Squirrel Trap.app to Applications, replacing the old one.
4. Relaunch.

Your to-do history, favorites, and preferences are all stored separately and aren't touched by replacing the app.

Squirrel Trap also checks for updates automatically and will show a link in the app when a newer version is available — you'll still need to come back here to download it, per the above.

Full Changelog: v1.7.0...v1.8.0

Squirrel Trap v1.7.0

What's New

• New: a macOS desktop widget. Add Squirrel Trap to your desktop or Notification Center (small, medium, or large) to see your pending to-dos at a glance, styled to match the app's own dark glass look. It updates automatically as you add, complete, or clear items — no need to open the app.
• New: a first-run onboarding wizard. New installs now get a quick guided walkthrough of General, Appearance, and Sync settings instead of landing straight in the app with no orientation.
• New: contextual tips. As you use the app, occasional small tips point out features that are easy to miss (Snooze, per-item reminders, Default Alarm, Launch at Login, and more) — each can be dismissed individually, or reset all at once from Preferences → Activity.
• New: a Default Color preference — set a default color tag for new to-dos instead of picking one every time (Preferences → Appearance).
• New: a Show Streak setting — hide the 🔥 streak counter entirely if you'd rather the panel just show today's count (Preferences → Appearance).
• Fixed: Escape not always closing the panel. This was the known issue called out in v1.6.0 — it's resolved now.
• Fixed: Preferences occasionally getting stuck and not closing after a contextual tip had been shown on the gear or Snooze button.
• Fixed: keyboard focus sometimes landing on the wrong control (e.g. the favorites star) instead of the text field when the panel reopened.

Installing (first time)

1. Download Squirrel Trap.zip below and unzip it.
2. Drag Squirrel Trap.app to your Applications folder (or anywhere you like).
3. Open it. It's signed and notarized by Apple, so it launches normally — no security warnings or workarounds needed.
4. On first launch, grant Input Monitoring permission when prompted — this is what lets it detect Cmd+Tab. It's passive and never records anything else you type.

Updating (already have it installed)

1. Quit Squirrel Trap (menu bar icon → Quit, or the Quit button in Preferences).
2. Download Squirrel Trap.zip below and unzip it.
3. Drag the new Squirrel Trap.app to Applications, replacing the old one.
4. Relaunch.

Your to-do history, favorites, and preferences are all stored separately and aren't touched by replacing the app. To add the new desktop widget, right-click your desktop (or open Notification Center) → Edit Widgets → search for Squirrel Trap.

Squirrel Trap also checks for updates automatically and will show a link in the app when a newer version is available — you'll still need to come back here to download it, per the above.

Full Changelog: v1.6.0...v1.7.0

Squirrel Trap v1.6.0

What's New

• New: color tags for to-dos. Tag any pending item with one of 16 preset colors from a small palette icon on the row — a lightweight way to categorize at a glance (Trello-style), independent of favorites or reminders. This one's for you, JT!
• New: streaks and a daily activity graph. A quiet "🔥 N days" counter plus today's completed count now sits on the main panel. Preferences has a new Activity tab with a 7-day bar chart, your best single-day count, and your average tasks per day.
• Fixed an iCloud sync bug: if a sync push failed partway through, the affected items could be silently and permanently excluded from ever syncing again. Failed pushes are now retried normally like everything else.
• Fixed the text field sometimes not regaining focus when returning to the main panel from Preferences.

Known issue

Escape doesn't always close the panel in this release — click the X or use the menu bar icon to dismiss it instead. A fix is in progress and will ship in a quick follow-up (v1.6.1).

Installing (first time)

1. Download Squirrel Trap.zip below and unzip it.
2. Drag Squirrel Trap.app to your Applications folder (or anywhere you like).
3. Open it. It's signed and notarized by Apple, so it launches normally — no security warnings or workarounds needed.
4. On first launch, grant Input Monitoring permission when prompted — this is what lets it detect Cmd+Tab. It's passive and never records anything else you type.

Updating (already have it installed)

1. Quit Squirrel Trap (menu bar icon → Quit, or the Quit button in Preferences).
2. Download Squirrel Trap.zip below and unzip it.
3. Drag the new Squirrel Trap.app to Applications, replacing the old one.
4. Relaunch.

Your to-do history, favorites, and preferences are all stored separately and aren't touched by replacing the app.

Squirrel Trap also checks for updates automatically and will show a link in the app when a newer version is available — you'll still need to come back here to download it, per the above.

Full Changelog: v1.5.0...v1.6.0

Squirrel Trap v1.5.0

What's New

• Preferences has been reorganized into three tabs — General, Appearance, and Sync — navigated from a sidebar, instead of one long scrolling list of settings.
• New setting: Auto-Snooze (General tab) — when enabled, logging a to-do also snoozes Cmd+Tab for your configured Snooze duration, exactly as if you'd clicked the Snooze button yourself.
• A round of layout and alignment fixes throughout Preferences (label wrapping, uneven spacing, button positioning).

Installing (first time)

1. Download Squirrel Trap.zip below and unzip it.
2. Drag Squirrel Trap.app to your Applications folder (or anywhere you like).
3. Open it. It's signed and notarized by Apple, so it launches normally — no security warnings or workarounds needed.
4. On first launch, grant Input Monitoring permission when prompted — this is what lets it detect Cmd+Tab. It's passive and never records anything else you type.

Updating (already have it installed)

1. Quit Squirrel Trap (menu bar icon → Quit, or the Quit button in Preferences).
2. Download Squirrel Trap.zip below and unzip it.
3. Drag the new Squirrel Trap.app to Applications, replacing the old one.
4. Relaunch.

Your to-do history, favorites, and preferences are all stored separately and aren't touched by replacing the app.

Squirrel Trap also checks for updates automatically and will show a link in the app when a newer version is available — you'll still need to come back here to download it, per the above.

Full Changelog: v1.4.2...v1.5.0

Squirrel Trap v1.4.2

What's New

• Added a manual "Check for Updates" button to Preferences, so you can check on demand instead of only relying on the automatic background check.

Full Changelog: v1.4.1...v1.4.2

Squirrel Trap v1.4.1

What's New

• Automatic update checking — Squirrel Trap now checks GitHub for newer releases and shows a link in the app when one's available.
• Fixed two iCloud sync bugs: items pulled in from another Mac could end up invisible in your list, and a failed one-time setup step could silently stop sync from ever working at all.
• Fixed: completing a to-do that had an active reminder now cancels that reminder, instead of letting it still fire.
• Preferences now shows the currently installed version number.

Full Changelog: v1.4.0...v1.4.1

Squirrel Trap v1.4.0

What's New

• iCloud sync across your Macs — keep your whole to-do list in sync everywhere you use Squirrel Trap, always two-way, powered by CloudKit.
• Snooze button now shows its duration — e.g. "Snooze (15m)" — so you know exactly how long Cmd+Tab will be suppressed before you click it.
• New setting: Default Alarm — optionally have every new to-do automatically get a reminder, without an extra tap.
• Turning iCloud Sync on now syncs right away, instead of waiting for the next few times the panel shows.
• Fixed a bug that could leave push notifications for iCloud sync silently broken in the notarized release build.

Full Changelog: v1.3.0...v1.4.0

Squirrel Trap v1.3.0

Full Changelog: v1.2.0...v1.3.0

Squirrel Trap v1.2.0

Full Changelog: v0.9.0...v1.2.0