Meet Keito for Mac: A Time Tracking Desktop App for Client Work

Keito for Mac is a time tracking desktop app that lets professional services teams start and stop client timers without keeping a browser tab open. Every entry stays connected to the projects, tasks, reports, approvals, and invoices in the full Keito platform.

The short version: capture time quickly from your Mac menu bar, then use Keito on the web to manage the wider client workflow.

Why Build a Time Tracking Desktop App?

A browser is the right place to review project budgets, approve a team’s timesheets, analyse reports, and prepare invoices. It is not always the fastest place to start a timer.

Opening another tab, finding the right workspace, and navigating back to a timer creates friction at exactly the moment you need to begin work. That friction is small, but it repeats whenever you switch between client projects, calls, research, implementation, and internal work.

Keito for Mac moves the everyday timer closer to the work. It lives in the menu bar, where you can:

• choose a client project and task;
• add a useful note before starting;
• start, stop, discard, or resume a timer;
• log time manually when you forgot to start one;
• review and edit your recent entries; and
• return to recent project and task combinations quickly.

The desktop app is deliberately focused. It makes time capture faster while the Keito web platform remains the shared place for managing the business around that time.

How Does the Keito Desktop Time Tracker Work?

The first time you open Keito for Mac, sign in with the same account you use at app.keito.ai. The app then loads the clients, projects, and tasks available to your account.

1. Choose the work

Select the project and task you are about to work on. Keito remembers recent combinations, which makes repeated client work quicker to restart.

2. Start the timer

Start the timer from the desktop app. The elapsed time remains visible while you work, and Keito allows only one running timer across your account so two tasks cannot accidentally overlap.

3. Stop and review

Stop the timer when the work is complete. The entry is saved with its project, task, duration, notes, and billable status. If something needs correcting, edit the entry before it moves further through your team’s workflow.

That same record can then appear in team timesheets, approval views, reports, and invoice preparation. See how time entries work in Keito for the full record structure.

Saved entries live in your Keito workspace rather than only on the device, so a crashed app or a reinstalled Mac does not take your history with it. If you are rebuilding hours that an older tool kept locally, our guide to recovering lost time tracking data after a crash shows how to reconstruct them from git history and calendar events.

Mac App Versus Web App: What Happens Where?

Keito for Mac is a companion to the web platform, not a smaller replacement for it.

Keito for Mac	Keito on the web
Start, stop, discard, and resume timers	Create and manage clients, projects, and tasks
Choose project and task context	Submit, review, and approve timesheets
Add client-facing and internal notes	Manage expenses and receipts
Log missed time manually	Analyse time, budgets, utilisation, and profitability
Review and edit recent entries	Create invoices from tracked time and expenses
Launch automatically when you sign in to your Mac	Configure workspace settings, roles, and integrations

This split keeps the desktop experience quick. The controls needed during focused work stay close; the larger operational workflows keep the space and context they need on the web.

A Menu-Bar Timer for Client Work, Not Employee Surveillance

Some desktop time trackers record screenshots, keystrokes, application names, websites, or activity levels. Keito for Mac does not.

The app is a deliberate start-and-stop timer. It records the time-entry information your team needs for client delivery and billing: the project, task, duration, notes, and billable status. It does not try to infer productivity by watching a person’s screen.

That distinction matters for consultancies, agencies, accountants, developers, and other professional services teams. These teams need an accurate record of client work, but accuracy does not require surveillance. It requires low-friction capture, clear context, and a review process before the record reaches a report or invoice.

For a broader look at the trade-offs, read our guide to automatic versus manual time tracking.

Who Is the Keito Time Tracking Desktop App For?

Keito for Mac is designed for people who work across client projects and need their captured time to become useful business data.

Consultancies can switch between engagements, add context while it is fresh, and send the resulting entries through manager approval.

Agencies can keep retainers, project work, meetings, and internal activity assigned correctly before month-end reporting.

Accountancy and advisory teams can record client work without installing screen-monitoring software on professional staff.

Developers and technical teams can keep a visible timer close to their editor while Keito combines human time with other project and agent activity in the web platform.

If you only need a disposable stopwatch, a simple timer may be enough. Keito is most useful when the time must remain connected to a client, a project, a team review, and eventually a commercial outcome.

Is the Keito Mac App Safe to Install?

Keito for Mac is distributed as a universal DMG for Apple silicon and Intel Macs. The app is signed by OSO DevOps Limited, notarised by Apple, and configured to receive signed updates after installation.

Because the app is downloaded directly rather than through the Mac App Store, macOS shows its standard first-launch confirmation. That confirmation should say Apple checked the app for malicious software. Our illustrated Keito for Mac installation guide shows the complete download, drag-to-Applications, first-open, sign-in, update, and uninstall process.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a time tracking desktop app?

A time tracking desktop app is software installed on your computer that records work time without requiring an open browser tab. Keito for Mac adds project, task, note, and billable context to that timer, then synchronises the resulting entry with the Keito web platform.

Does Keito have a desktop app?

Yes. Keito for Mac is a desktop menu-bar time tracker for Apple silicon and Intel Macs. It uses the same account, projects, and tasks as your Keito workspace.

Can I use the desktop app to track billable client work?

Yes. Choose a project and task, add notes, and record time with the appropriate billable status. The entry becomes part of the same Keito record used for timesheets, reports, approvals, and invoicing.

Does Keito take screenshots or monitor applications?

No. Keito for Mac does not record screenshots, keystrokes, application names, websites, or activity levels. It is a user-controlled timer for creating contextual time entries.

Is Keito for Mac available through the Mac App Store?

The current release is a direct download from Keito. It is signed, notarised by Apple, and delivered as a standard drag-to-Applications DMG.

Is there a Windows version of the Keito desktop app?

This release is for macOS. A Windows download is not included in the current launch.

Start Tracking from Your Mac

The best time tracking desktop app is the one that removes friction without separating time from the work it needs to explain. Keito for Mac puts the timer within reach and keeps every entry connected to the wider client workflow.

Download Keito for Mac, or explore our complete guide to time tracking software before choosing the right approach for your team.