Dashboard

Press ⌘Space and, before you type anything, a row of cards sits between the field and your recent items. Start typing and it is gone. There are four, and each one appears only when it has content, so most of the time you see one or two, and sometimes none.

The cards

Next event. The title, a countdown (“in 12m”, “now”, “1h 05m ago” while it is running) and the location. When the event has a Zoom, Meet, Teams or FaceTime link anywhere in it, a Join badge appears and clicking the card opens the call; otherwise it opens Calendar. Needs Calendar access.

Today. Up to three tasks that are flagged or due today, each with a circle that completes it in place. Clicking anywhere else on the card opens the task list.

Screen time. Today’s total and the app that had most of it, when tracking is on in Settings › Extras. Clicking opens the usage list.

Timer. A running timer with the seconds ticking down, or the next alarm with its time. Clicking opens the timer list.

Turning it off

Settings › Extras › Dashboard has one switch for the band and one per card, with up and down arrows that set the order of the chips from left to right. The band refreshes when the palette opens and every thirty seconds while it stays open, so a countdown is never more than half a minute stale.

Why not more

Cleat is a launcher. The cards are for the four things you would otherwise open another app to glance at, and nothing on them needs scrolling or a second click to read. A dashboard that grows past one row has become a different app.

Reminders on the Today card

Reminders due today or overdue appear on the Today card next to Cleat’s own tasks, with a small list icon to tell them apart. The tick completes the reminder in Reminders itself. Needs Reminders access.

One line, not a band

Since 1.0.15 the dashboard is a single row of chips under the field, 34 points tall instead of a 92-point band of cards: a running timer or Pomodoro with its countdown, the next event with its countdown and a Join badge, today’s tasks with the count and the first title, and screen time with the top app. Each chip opens its mode. The status line and the footer under the results are shorter too. Turn chips on and off in Settings › Extras › Dashboard.