Introducing the CPO desktop timer

Our push to move CPO beyond the browser continues. Today we're happy to announce our desktop app for Mac and PC! Now can log time to any of your active projects and tasks right from your desktop without ever having to open CPO in your browser.

What does it do?

For now, the desktop app can log time for multiple projects on a given day. It will also keep a history of time logged. Using the built in calendar widget, you can view time spend on projects in the past.

When the app is minimized, you will see a little icon in your tray indicating whether or not you have active timers running. You also get a small menu of options for logging out or getting help with the app.

One last nifty feature...if you want to start a new task that isn't already in your task list, you can add it right in the task combo box. You don't have to log in to your account in the browser, and add the task there - you can do it right from your desktop.

Where can I get it?

Check out our Extras page to find the download links for both Mac and PC.  Installation should be quick and painless on both platforms.

Any plans for updates?

Yes...and, it depends.  Some updates are certain. For example, we would love to add better keyboard shortcuts to the app along with some simple reporting features.  We've also thought about releasing this as a standalone app in the Mac App Store.  

Other features we see being useful are a task manager, file uploader and viewer, invoice viewer, expense manager, and maybe a contact list manager.  We're going to take a wait and see approach to these other features.  Our sense is that most users will be happier with a good and complete mobile app so that's where we will likely spend most of our resources.

However, if folks seem to really like the desktop app, then we'll give it some more love!

The geeky stuff.

We built the desktop app with Appcelerator Titanium using HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, and a sprinkling of Chico IU components. Figuring out all the little quirks in Titanium took some doing - the desktop API is a bit different from the Titanium Mobile API...and less supported.  

We're really pleased with the Chico UI components.  We didn't like the idea of including a huge UI library (like jQuery UI) just to get a calendar and a combo box. Chico UI fit the bill nicely.  It's a relatively new library on the scene but the devs are actively working on it and respond quickly to bugs and feature requests.  Check 'em out for your next project!