News & Updates

Version 4.0 for Mac and 2.0 for iPad/iPhone are now out!

We’ve refreshed the UI, rethinking some controls to remove modes and taps, and taken advantage of some of new Apple OS features.

On iPadOS 26, Apple added support for Mac-style main menu bars at the top and easily resizable and movable multiple windows, and TimeStory for iPad now leans into this. We took care to fill in the main menu, provide quick ways to create new windows, and support any window size. (These features were probably our favorites of all of Apple’s 2025 OS announcements.)

On macOS, we’ve pulled some controls out of the crowded toolbar, moving them into clearer, simpler, dedicated controls floating at the bottom of the document. (On macOS 26, they use a form of the new Liquid Glass material.) We also updated the look of the Inspector, tweaked a number of menus and controls, and more.

On both platforms, there’s a new, often-requested “Event Lock” feature, for when you want to avoid accidentally moving events around while working on other things. There are also some bug fixes and smaller changes picked up during the several months this version has been under development. Check the full release notes for details!

Version 3.10 (Mac) and 1.7 (iPad/iPhone) are now out. On Mac, get a new vertical hover line to help point out dates (kind of like the Stocks app). On both platforms, push your prehistoric timelines back to 1 million BC, with improved date formatting, and your exports will handle gridlines better. Plus other improvements and bugfixes; full details in the release notes.

Version 3.9.3 is now out. This small update takes care of a couple of problems that appeared when running TimeStory on the latest update of macOS, 15.5, in the app’s toolbar.

Versions 3.9 (Mac) and 1.6 (iPad/iPhone) are now out, focused on making better-looking and more navigable timelines! Collapse any section to a thin strip; expand it with a click. Set highlight and background opacities, to see what’s behind them. Apply new striped patterns to event bars. Bookmark events to quickly scroll them into view from the new Bookmarks menu. Plus some updates to printing (on Mac) and some bug fixes (on iPad/iPhone); check out the release notes for details and screenshots!

Bring your timelines with you anywhere! The app formerly known as “TimeStory iPad Edition” is now TimeStory for iPad and iPhone.

It’s still one app, the existing in-app purchases now unlock both platforms, and every feature on iPad now appears on iPhone (except hardware-specific ones like Apple Pencil support). I re-examined the entire user interface to make it not only fit, but adapt smartly all the way from iPhone mini in portrait mode up to the biggest Pro Max in landscape mode.

Check out the release notes for full details!

It was a wonderful holiday surprise to find TimeStory included in “Got an Apple computer for Christmas? Here are 6 apps and games to try with that new Mac” on Fast Company! Michael Grothaus, the author, called it “one of the best Mac apps I’ve discovered in years” in the review. (And it’s incredible to be in the same list as apps like Pixelmator Pro!)

This quick update fixes one bug introduced in 3.8 and 1.4. For people using certain language and region settings on their Mac or iPad, picking a date in the Inspector could actually crash or hang the app. Apologies for missing this in my code and testing, and thanks to the customer who emailed me with the bug report!

TimeStory 3.8 and TimeStory iPad Edition 1.4 are now out! There are improvements across the apps, including a new light theme for iPad, a new dark icon for iPadOS 18, and small bug fixes throughout. People making timelines of ancient history or prehistory will find the biggest change in capabilities, with a vastly expanded date range and improvements to the entry and display of dates. Check out the full (and rather long) release notes for full details.

This update to both apps adds file-level password protection for sensitive timelines. Just choose File > Set Password, give the file a password, and it will encrypt your file’s contents on disk and require that password to open that file in the future. This can be useful when sending sensitive or personal information to others, or storing it on a computer or cloud service that others might have access to. (Take care not to lose your passwords though; there’s no way to recover one!)

It also fixes a few bugs on each platform. Have a look at the release notes for details!