The closed Poni
Even closed, Poni shows what's going on: the song playing, timers, events about to start, tasks and short alerts. When nothing is going on, it shows the time and the extras you pick on its left and right.
Settings → Live Activities, and Settings → General → Closed Poni
Live activities
A live activity is something shown in the closed Poni while it's going on. Poni grows to the left and right to make room. For example, while a song plays, the album art shows on the left and a visualizer on the right.
| Source | What you see |
|---|---|
| Music | Album art on the left, a visualizer on the right. Shows while a song is playing. A paused song only shows while the hover buttons do (see below). The visualizer style is in Settings → Media (see Home). |
| Pomodoro timer | A progress ring, Focus or Break, and the time left. |
| Events starting within 15 minutes | The event title and a countdown, like in 12m, then Now. All-day events don't count. |
| Bluetooth connect / disconnect / low battery | The device name and its battery when it connects, Disconnected when it drops, and a warning when its battery falls to the level set in Settings → Bluetooth & Wi-Fi. |
| Todo deadlines | Tasks due within the hour, with a countdown. Late tasks stay, in red (like 5m late), for up to 12 hours or until you finish them. With several tasks, Poni shows how many (3 tasks) and lists them under the notch. |
The countdown before each prayer shows here too when Prayer Times is on. Set it up in Prayer Times.
If Open on hover is off, click Poni while tasks are showing. It opens straight on the Todo tab.
Taking turns
When several things are going on at once, say a song is playing and a Pomodoro is running, Poni shows them in turn, every 6 seconds. While the mouse is on Poni, it doesn't switch, so Poni doesn't change size under your cursor.
Short alerts
Besides live activities, there are alerts that show for a moment and then go away. For example: volume and brightness (HUD), plugging in or unplugging the charger, low battery, meeting reminders (Calendar), tasks coming due (Todo), prayer time, a finished Pomodoro, break reminders (Health) and Drop Actions results.
These alerts show on top of live activities, and they still appear when Live activities while Poni is closed is off. Alerts always show at full strength, even when Opacity when closed is lowered.
Sneak peek
When the song changes while Poni is closed, the new title and artist show under Poni for about 3 seconds. You see what's playing without opening Poni.
Media controls on hover
This one is for when Open on hover is off. While a song is playing or paused, move the mouse onto the closed Poni: previous, play/pause and next buttons appear on the right. Click them to pause, play again or skip without opening Poni. Click anywhere else on Poni to open it.
Live Activities options
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Live activities while Poni is closed | The main switch for all the live activities above, including the prayer countdown. Default: on. |
| Rotate between activities | Take turns every 6 seconds. When it's off, Poni stays on one activity. Default: on. |
| Music | Album art and visualizer while a song plays. Default: on. |
| Pomodoro timer | A running Pomodoro timer. Default: on. |
| Events starting within 15 minutes | Calendar events starting in the next 15 minutes. Default: on. |
| Bluetooth connect / disconnect / low battery | Bluetooth device alerts. Default: on. |
| Todo deadlines | A countdown for tasks due within the hour. Default: on. |
| Sneak peek on song change | The new song title shows briefly under Poni. Default: on. |
| Hover-reveal ⏮︎ ⏯︎ ⏭︎ while Poni is closed | Media buttons appear while the mouse is on the closed Poni. Only works when Open on hover is off, and needs Music above to be on. Default: on. |
Left and right side New
When there's no live activity or alert, the closed Poni can show small extras on its left and right. Pick them in Settings → General → Closed Poni → Left side and Right side. As soon as music, a timer or an alert comes along, they make way, and they come back afterwards.
| Option | What you see |
|---|---|
| Nothing | Empty. Default for both sides. |
| Weather | The weather icon and current temperature (see Weather). |
| Battery | The battery percentage and icon. Green while charging, red below the low battery level. Empty on a PC without a battery. |
| Date | A short day and date, like Fri 23. The format follows your Windows language. |
| Next prayer | The name and time of the next prayer. Needs Prayer Times to be on. |
| Next event | The next event, or the one going on now, within the next 12 hours, with its start time. All-day events don't count. |
| Next task | Your next open task. Tasks with the nearest due time come first, with their time. |
| Time | The current time. |
For example, pick Weather for the left side and Battery for the right side. The closed Poni then shows the weather icon and temperature on the left, the battery percentage on the right, and the time in the middle.
Both sides get the same width, so Poni stays centred. If a side has nothing to show, like when there's no event coming up, it stays empty.
Clock
When nothing is going on, the middle of the closed Poni shows the time. The open Poni shows the time and date in the middle of its top bar, on every tab.
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Middle | What the middle of the closed Poni shows: Time, Day and time, or Nothing. In Settings → General → Closed Poni. Default: Time. |
| Time and date at the top of the open Poni | The time and date in the middle of the open Poni's top bar, on every tab. In Settings → General → Clock. Default: on. |
| 24-hour time | 24-hour (14:30) or 12-hour (2:30 PM) times. Applies to every time in Poni: the clock, events, tasks and prayer times. In Settings → General → Clock. Default: the same as Windows. |