Time Out 1.7 adds a couple of nice enhancements to the Sound break preferences, to change the volume and loop the start sound.

But the main reason for this update is to enhance Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8) support: to sign the app with an Apple-issued Developer ID for Gatekeeper support, move to the modern runtime, and related changes.

As with the recent BlogAssist release, Time Out 1.7 now requires Lion (OS X 10.7) or later and a 64-bit Intel machine. However Time Out is not sandboxed yet (and thus I can't update the Mac App Store edition); that will come in version 2.

Speaking of which, for those wondering about that great vaporware known as Time Out 2, it's still in the works — and the changes in this release are a great step towards that. I don't want to guess at when it'll be available, since various other projects keep getting in the way. It'll be ready when it's ready, but it's moving forward as time allows.

Here are the full release notes for version 1.7:

• Added a Volume slider to the Sound break preferences, enabling sounds to be played quieter if desired.
• Added a checkbox to enable repeating the start sound until the end of the break; useful to loop short sounds as an audio cue of the break.
• Reimplemented the auto-launch preference to work with Mountain Lion and sandboxing.
• Removed the quit confirmation preference.
• Removed the in-app purchase options, since not compatible with 64-bit, and rarely used. (Standard edition only)
• Fixed display of license entry date in the Licenses editor. (Standard edition only)
• Fixed drafting an email if a license couldn't be found. (Standard edition only)
• The standard edition of the app is now signed with a Developer ID to support Gatekeeper on Mountain Lion. (Standard edition only)
• Time Out now requires a 64-bit Mac and a minimum of OS X 10.7 (Lion).
• Many other behind-the-scenes improvements made possible by dropping older OS versions, PowerPC and 32-bit support.

Download Time Out 1.7 now!