Scheduling preferences
Use the scheduler to defefine when TripMode must activate by itself or turn itself off, optionally using a specific profile.
The scheduler can be used in multiple cases where you know in advance your usage pattern and want to automate TripMode’s status, for example:
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Using a satellite internet connection which is metered during the day but has a night time free period, you can set TripMode to automatically enable using a restricted application set for the day, then disable at night.
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Define a commute-specific profile which will enable on morning and evenings to keep background apps away, even if you switch between multiple different WiFi networks and hotspots.
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Keep focused on work by only allowing the apps you need, but restore full internet connectivity during breaks.
Defining and modifiying activation periods
Enable TripMode at a specific time | When this checkbox is enabled, the scheduler will automatically switch TripMode on and off based on your entries in the weekly schedule. When disabled, no scheduling happens. |
Weekly schedule | Shows all the defined activation periods. If a period is out of the visible range, it will be displayed as an edge on top or bottom of the view. |
Zoom control | Allows you to alter the zoom of the weekly schedule to see more or less activation periods at the same time. At maximum zoom out, the whole week is visible without any scrolling. |
Add button | Adds a new default activation period of 1 hour in the first free slot closest to the current time and day. |
Delete button | Deletes the currently selected activation period. This button will remain grayed out if no activation is selected. |
Adding an activation
A new activation can be defined by either:
- Clicking the add button. This inserts a default activation at the free instant closest to the current time and date, with a default 1 hour duration.
- Double clicking a free slot in the weekly schedule. A default 1 hour period is inserted at the clicked location.
- Clicking and dragging the mouse in a free slot in the weekly schedule. A period will be inserted at the initial click location and its length will be determined by how far the mouse is dragged.
Activation periods cannot overlap nor span multiple days. Overlapping would result in a undefined state which TripMode prevents during edition. To define an activation that spans two days, simply define two identical activations. You can use copy and paste for a faster result once you have defined the template period.
Activations are saved and applied when exiting the scheduler preferences, either by closing the preferences window or switching to another pane. Your edits to the weekly schedule won’t be reflected in TripMode’s state until then.
Editing an activation
Activation periods are directly editable using the mouse to modify their start and end times:
- Dragging the whole period changes its start time and day, keeping its length.
- Dragging the upper edge of a period will change the start time only, keeping the end time and adjusting the length accordingly. Start time cannot be set after end time.
- Dragging the lower edge of a period will change the end time only, keeping the start time and adjusting the length accordingly. End time cannot be set before start time.
Activation times (start and end) always snap to quarters of an hour. It is not possible to define a period with a finer granularity than 15 minutes. The minimum allowed length of a period is 15 minutes as well.
More options are available using the information popover for an activation period. This can be invoked by double-clicking the desired activation, or using the context menu by right-clicking the activation and selecting ‘Get information…’
The details popover enables you to edit the start and end times for an activation (as when using dragging) but also gives access to profile selection and repetition.
Day | Day of week when the activation takes place |
Begin | Selected activation start time. This is upper-bound by the end time and a minimum activation duration of 15 minutes |
End | Selected activation end time. This is lower-bound by the start time and a minimum activation duration of 15 minutes |
Profile | Profile that TripMode will use when this period is active. Use Automatic to let TripMode adjust to the networking conditions as it normally does. Specify a profile to override the automatic profile selection and use a specific one. |
Repeat | Enables repeating an activation period every day. Set this option to ‘Every day’ to have the period automatically copied to evey day of the week. Note that this may request the authorization to delete scheduled activations if they overlap with the repetition. The repeated instances are linked together and their start time, end time, and profile alway change together. |
Deleting an activation
To delete an activation, select it by clicking it once, then either:
- Click the delete button.
- Use the context menu and click ‘Delete’
- Or press the backspace key.
Advanced editing
Copy and paste
Copy, cut and paste are supported inside the weekly schedule. Once selected, an activation can be copied or cut and pasted at another place. If you use the context menu to do so, the activation will be pasted at the free slot that can contain if closest to the mouse click. If you use the keyboard shortcuts, the activation will be pasted at the free slot closest to its original location (which may be the same if using cut and paste).
Copying or cutting a repeated activation will only paste the selected instance and not the whole set. This behaviour is enforced to avoid potential editing pitfalls. Please note that cutting a repeated set will remove all instances.
Undo and redo
Most operations can be undone and redone using the keyboard shortcuts cmd+Z and cmd+shift+Z. If you apply the edits by exiting the scheduler preference pane, the undo history is lost.
Unlinking
Once a period has been set to repeat every day, all repeated copies are linked with it and follow its start time, end time and profile settings. Any repeated instance can be unlinked from the set so that it can be individually edited once again. This is accomplished by using the ‘Unlink’ context menu command which only appears on repeated instances. Note that there is no possibility to reattach an unlinked instance to a set apart from immediately undoing the unlink.
Scheduler button usage
The main window shows the scheduler button when scheduling is enabled. Its state gives information on what TripMode is actually following.
Idle
An activation period is pending, the button shows the start time.
Active
An activation perdiod is currently active, the button shows the end time.
Suspended
The scheduling has been suspended, TripMode is temporarily ignoring any scheduled activation and working normally.
You can suspend scheduling by either:
- Toggling the main switch when a defined period is active.
- Clicking the scheduler button.
You can resume scheduling by clicking again on the button which will return to aither one the first two states.