How can we help?

Install

Tendling runs on macOS 14 Sonoma or later, on Macs with Apple silicon and on Intel Macs.

1. Download the disk image, Tendling-0.1.0.dmg. After a purchase, the link is in your receipt email.
2. Open the disk image from your Downloads folder.
3. Drag Tendling to Applications. Don’t run it straight from the disk image or from Downloads.
4. Open Tendling from your Applications folder. A small cat head appears in the menu bar, and the welcome tour starts.

If macOS says it can’t verify the developer

Early-access builds are signed by the developer but not yet notarized by Apple, so macOS stops them the first time. You only need to do this once for each version.

1. In the message, click Done.
2. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security and scroll down to Security.
3. Next to the line about Tendling, click Open Anyway. Confirm with your password or Touch ID, then click Open.

The button stays there for about an hour after you tried to open the app. On macOS 14 Sonoma you can also Control-click Tendling in Applications and choose Open. Please never turn off Gatekeeper for your whole Mac.

Permissions

Tendling asks for permissions only for Close mode, the one that closes a distracting tab or window. Company and Nudge, the timer, the expedition and the sounds need none.

Accessibility

With Accessibility, your companion can see the front window and press its own close button, so the app still asks “Save changes?” when there is unsaved work. It also lets Tendling notice when you’re typing in a browser, so it never closes a tab you’re writing in. It never reads your keystrokes, takes screenshots or looks at what’s on a page.

To allow it, follow the welcome tour, or open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility and switch on Tendling.

Automation

The first time your companion reads a tab in a browser, macOS asks whether Tendling may control that browser. Click OK to let it close tabs there. You can change this per browser in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Automation.

Without them

Everything else keeps working. Your companion simply nudges instead of closing. You can see the current state in Tendling’s Settings → Diagnostics, and take either permission back at any time in System Settings.

Hiding your companion

• ⌃⌥⌘H hides or shows your companion from any app. Sessions and rules keep running.
• Privacy mode (Privacy in the menu, or Settings → Privacy & Data) hides it and pauses everything it does, for 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours or until you end it.
• ⌃⌥⌘Z brings back the tab or window your companion closed last, up to 30 minutes later. The menu offers the same.
• ⌃⌥⌘T opens the Tendling menu from any app.

Tendling asks macOS to keep your companion out of screenshots and screen sharing, but some apps capture it anyway. Before a meeting or a screen share, press ⌃⌥⌘H or turn on privacy mode. That’s the reliable way.

Updating

1. Download the new disk image.
2. Quit Tendling: open the menu and choose Quit Tendling.
3. Drag the new version to Applications and choose Replace. Your data and settings stay.
4. Open it. You may need Open Anyway once more.

You’ll find your version in Settings → About. A Check for Updates command is planned; until then, updating is a new download.

If your companion stops closing things after an update, check Settings → Diagnostics. If Accessibility shows as not allowed, switch Tendling off and on again in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.

Uninstalling

1. If you want to keep your history, export it first: Settings → Privacy & Data → Export everything → Export…
2. Quit Tendling (Quit Tendling in the menu).
3. Move Tendling from Applications to the Trash.
4. To remove your data too, delete the folder ~/Library/Application Support/com.michalstrnadel.focuscompanion. In Finder, choose Go → Go to Folder… (⇧⌘G) and paste the path.
5. Optionally, remove its preferences in Terminal with defaults delete com.michalstrnadel.focuscompanion, and remove Tendling from Accessibility, Automation and Login Items in System Settings.

If you’d rather start fresh but keep the app, Settings → Privacy & Data → Delete All Data… erases everything and starts the welcome tour again. It offers to export first.

Reporting a bug

The quickest way is from the app: Settings → Diagnostics → Report a Bug…, or the same item in the menu. It opens an email to us with diagnostics already filled in. Read it before you send it, and remove anything you don’t want to share. It holds app and website names, never full addresses, file paths or what you typed.

You can also write to . It helps to include:

• what happened, what you expected, and what you were doing just before;
• your Tendling version (Settings → About) and macOS version;
• for a nudge or a close that surprised you, the explanation from Settings → Diagnostics → Why did this happen?, or the text from Copy Diagnostics;
• if Tendling crashed, the crash report: in Finder, choose Go → Go to Folder…, enter ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports, and attach the newest file whose name starts with “Tendling”.

Please don’t send screenshots with private content. If your companion ever closed something with unsaved work, tell us right away.

Refunds

Not what you hoped for? You can get your money back within 14 days of purchase, no questions asked. Reply to your receipt email or write to us. The details are in the terms.

Questions

Can I use it on more than one Mac?

Yes. One purchase covers you on all of your own Macs. Please don’t share the download with other people.

Is it a subscription?

No. You pay $5 once, and every 1.x update is included.

Does it need the internet?

No. Tendling works fully offline. The only thing that goes online is the optional weather on the expedition (Settings → Companion → Weather), which is off unless you switch it on. See Privacy.

Does it work with my browser?

Closing single tabs works in Safari and Dia; in Google Chrome, Brave, Microsoft Edge and Arc it’s still in testing. In Firefox, Opera, Vivaldi, Zen and other browsers, your companion asks instead of closing. It never closes a whole browser window, a pinned tab, a private window, or a tab you’re typing in.

Does it run on Intel Macs?

Yes. Tendling runs natively on Apple silicon and on Intel Macs with macOS 14 or later.

Is it available in other languages?

Tendling speaks English and Czech. It follows your Mac’s language, or you can pick one in Settings → General → Language.

Can I take my data with me?

Yes. Settings → Privacy & Data → Export everything → Export… saves all of it as one readable JSON file, wherever you choose.

Will others see my companion when I share my screen?

They might. Some screen-sharing apps capture it anyway. Hide it with ⌃⌥⌘H or turn on privacy mode before you share.

Contact

Write to . Tendling is made by one person, so a reply usually takes a few working days. Thanks for your patience.