Hello!
Just wanted to write a little update on what’s new and what’s changed in this version.
Visually not much, but under the hood Otto had a complete rewrite for a lot of things. I’ve tried to address a lot of the bug reports and suggestions I’ve received.
Here’s what’s changed and what’s new
Timer
A complete rewrite of the timer functionality. The timer is accurate to the clock; previously, it drifted a lot, which might have been frustrating, but now it shouldn’t. It should also improve performance and memory.
The only visual thing that’s changed is the timer's visual badge. Instead of showing a mm:ss countdown, it just shows you the minutes. While I personally miss it, it had to go for a lot of reasons, including that of performance.
Blocker
Internally, the blocker uses a unified logic, which makes things much simpler. So now the blocking should also be way more accurate than before.
The blocker has 2 main features.
- Focus blocking (works with the timer)
- Scheduled blocks (blocks during certain hours)
Both of these blocking features support exact URL blocks now, which means you can block only specific URLs and not the whole website.
Example:
- certain subreddits on Reddit
- certain YouTube channels or YouTube Home, etc.
The blocker should also be able to handle complex URLs (as far as I have tested), but there are always edge cases to tackle.
Autoblock
Autoblock has been a unique feature on Otto. I have simplified it and merged it with the existing blocking feature, to enable it, just open any of the block list rules and click on the toggle Autoblock button. It should enable it for that specific rule.
To learn more about Autoblock, visit the help page.
Temporary Unblocking
This is a new addition to the feature set. This feature allows you to access a blocked site for a specified duration. Once that duration is complete, it blocks it again.
That’s it! As always, there’s going to be bugs here and there; I have tested it many times, for days on end. I have fixed most of the bugs I have found, but then again I’m only human :P
If you run into any, you know where to reach out. If you do run into bugs, my apologies for being a bad programmer!
What’s next?
I want to work on some more artworks!
And if you enjoy Otto, please do consider upgrading! :)
With regards,
Ben