Timeline-O-Tron

Events

Create

Every event gets the detail it deserves. Year, specific date, description, notes, color, and tags. BCE dates? Of course. Julius Caesar was born in 100 BCE, and Timeline-O-Tron handles that without blinking.

Full graphical date picker syncs with year fields. Tags autocomplete from your existing vocabulary.

Canvas

Visualize

Your timeline draws itself on a scrollable, zoomable canvas. Zoom from 0.1× to 200× and watch month markers appear, then days. Events stack intelligently above and below the axis so nothing overlaps.

Smart collision detection tries up to 10 stacking levels per side. Animated zoom transitions keep everything smooth.

Filter

Organize

Ten colors. Unlimited tags. Filter by either, search by text. Color-code the Mercury program in red, Gemini in orange, Apollo in blue — then toggle any of them on or off to focus on what matters.

Sort by year (ascending or descending) or alphabetically. Filters apply to both the event list and the timeline view simultaneously.

Understand

Analyze

Tap two events and instantly see the time between them — down to the day. How long between Apollo 1 and Apollo 11? Six hundred and thirty days. Add notes to any event or to the timeline itself to capture context, sources, or color-coding schemes.

The Measure tool works in both years and days. Timeline-level notes let you document what your color coding means, cite your sources, or just tell the story behind the story.

AI

Generate

Type “History of jazz” and let AI do the research. You handle the curation. Or paste an entire article and watch it transform into a structured timeline. Works with OpenAI and Anthropic.

API keys stored in macOS Keychain. Typical cost: a few cents per timeline. Your keys, your account, your control.

Share

Export

Export to CSV and impress your spreadsheet-loving colleagues. Export to HTML and impress everyone else. The HTML export generates a fully interactive, standalone website — no server required, works offline.

JSON for portability. CSV for compatibility. HTML with zoom, pan, keyboard shortcuts, dark mode, and mobile support. All zero-dependency.

Everywhere

Cross-Platform

Native on Mac. Native on iPhone and iPad. Share your timelines across devices through iCloud. Research on your Mac, present from your iPad, check a date on your phone.

Built entirely in SwiftUI for genuine native performance. Not a web app in a wrapper.

Workflow

Keyboard-First

Full macOS menu bar. File, Edit, View, Timeline, AI — every action has its place. ⌘N to add, ⌘D to duplicate, ⌘0 to fit the timeline, ⌘⇧G to generate with AI.

Right-click context menus on the event table. Double-click to edit. It works the way Mac apps should work.

Explore

Built-in Examples

Three richly detailed timelines ship with the app. Track every Apollo crew member from Mercury-Redstone 3 to Apollo 17. Follow the Beatles from Please Please Me to Let It Be. Screen all 32 Hitchcock films in order.

"Hitchcock's personal favorite of his films." Every note is written with care, because the details matter.