Atea
A minimalistic menu bar time tracker for macOS that stores tasks and tracked time in plain text files.
What is Atea?
Atea is a minimalistic menu bar application for macOS that combines task management and time tracking. It stores tasks in a plain text file and tracked times in a CSV, allowing users to quickly jot down tasks, organize them by project, and monitor time spent—all without leaving their desktop.
Mac users, especially developers or freelancers, who prefer a lightweight, keyboard‑friendly tool for tracking tasks and time locally without complex web interfaces.
It offers the speed and simplicity of editing a text file with the convenience of a menu bar app, making task entry and time tracking almost instantaneous while keeping data portable and analyzable.
Overview
A minimalistic menu bar time tracker for MacOS
Use Cases
Best For
- Freelancers needing a simple way to track billable hours per task
- Developers who prefer managing tasks in plain text with vim or Emacs
- Mac users wanting a menu‑bar‑based todo list with time tracking
- Individuals who sync tasks across machines via Dropbox
- Anyone avoiding heavyweight project management tools for personal use
- Tracking time against estimates for personal productivity analysis
Not Ideal For
- Teams requiring real-time collaboration or shared task boards
- Projects needing advanced features like recurring tasks, reminders, or third-party integrations
- Non-macOS users, as it's exclusively built for Apple's operating system
- Organizations that require audit trails, role-based access, or enterprise-level security
Pros & Cons
Pros
Tasks and times are stored in .txt and .csv files, enabling easy editing with any text editor and analysis using standard Unix tools like awk or sed, as highlighted in the README.
Allows fast task entry and time tracking directly from the macOS menu bar, minimizing friction for adding, prioritizing, and deleting tasks without leaving the desktop.
Supports syncing across machines by pointing the config to a Dropbox folder, making it seamless to backup and access tasks on multiple Macs, as described in the configuration section.
Enables grouping tasks by project using optional [Project] prefixes in the text file, providing straightforward categorization without added complexity.
Cons
The README admits it doesn't scale beyond a single person, lacking features for multi-user collaboration or conflict resolution, which restricts team use.
Built exclusively for macOS, it excludes Windows and Linux users, and relies on native APIs that prevent cross-platform compatibility.
Building from source requires Leiningen, Clojure tools, and manual steps like editing plist files, which can be intimidating for non-developers or those seeking quick setup.
Frequently Asked Questions
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