Bubo

The calendar that lives in your menu bar and protects your focus.
_{Native macOS app · Requires macOS 13 Ventura or later}

---

The problem

You're deep in work. A meeting starts in 5 minutes. The tiny macOS notification pops up in the corner — you dismiss it without even reading. 15 minutes later you realize you missed the call.

Or this: you open Apple Calendar just to check what's next, and suddenly you're reorganizing your week instead of doing actual work. Context switch. Focus gone.

Bubo fixes both. It puts your schedule in the menu bar — one click, no app to launch, no window to manage. And when a meeting is approaching, it doesn't whisper — it takes over the screen so you can't accidentally ignore it.

_{Your full day in the menu bar — one click, no app to launch}

How Bubo solves it

Problem: "I keep missing meetings"

Most calendar apps send a small notification banner. You swipe it away out of habit. Bubo does something different: the entire screen goes dark with a countdown timer and meeting title. You physically cannot miss it.

_{Full-screen alert — you can't accidentally dismiss it}

Stack multiple reminder intervals — 30 min, 10 min, 1 min — so you get progressively more urgent alerts. Each event can have its own set.

_{Stack multiple reminders per event — 30 min, 10 min, 2 min}

_{Choose full-screen alerts or system notifications}

Problem: "Checking my calendar breaks my flow"

Opening a calendar app means switching contexts. Bubo lives in the menu bar — click the icon, see your whole day in a frosted-glass panel, click away. No app launch, no window management.

It sees every calendar your Mac already knows: iCloud, Google, Exchange, Outlook, CalDAV. Connect an account in System Settings once — Bubo picks it up automatically.

Problem: "I need focus blocks but don't want coworkers to see them"

Sometimes you need to block time for deep work without broadcasting it. Bubo lets you create local-only events — private time blocks stored only on your Mac, invisible to anyone else.

_{Create local-only events invisible to coworkers}

_{"Event will be stored locally in Bubo only" — completely private}

Create events in seconds: hit +, type a name, pick a time. Set up recurring events — daily, weekly on specific days, monthly ("second Tuesday"), yearly. Skip individual occurrences when plans change.

_{Flexible repeat: daily, weekly, monthly, yearly}

Problem: "I can't stay focused for long stretches"

Toggle Pomodoro mode on any event and Bubo splits it into focused work sessions with timed breaks. A ring timer appears in the menu bar.

_{Visual work/break blocks — see your focus session before it starts}

Rhythm	Work	Break	Rounds
Classic	25 min	5 min	4
Deep Work	50 min	10 min	2
Sprinter	15 min	3 min	4
52/17 Rule	52 min	17 min	3
Ultradian	90 min	20 min	1

When it's time to break, a full-screen overlay rises — not a notification you can swipe away, but a real signal to stop and rest.

Read the full Pomodoro Guide →

Settings that stay out of the way

  
_{All your calendars in one place · Launch at login · Badge count · Appearance}

• Launch at login — Bubo starts quietly with your Mac
• Badge count — see upcoming events on the menu bar icon
• Calendar picker — enable only the calendars you care about
• Reminder intervals — stack as many as you want, from 1 to 120 minutes
• Full-screen alerts or system notifications — your choice
• Light, Dark, or System appearance

---

Install

With Homebrew:

brew tap avpv/bubo https://github.com/avpv/bubo
brew install --cask bubo

Or download the DMG from Releases, drag to Applications, and run:

xattr -cr /Applications/Bubo.app

Or install from the command line:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/avpv/bubo/HEAD/scripts/install.sh | bash

Or build from source:

git clone https://github.com/avpv/bubo.git && cd bubo
open -a Xcode Package.swift   # Cmd+R to run

Connect your calendars

1. System Settings → Internet Accounts — add your Google, Outlook, or Exchange account and enable Calendars.
2. Launch Bubo → Settings → Calendars → enable Sync Apple Calendar Events.
3. Grant the privacy permission when prompted.

Every calendar your Mac can see, Bubo can see.

---

Bubo doesn't want your attention. It wants to protect it.