QA test: Orbit 0.2.19: full flow — 2026-09-18

Orbit is a small Mac menu-bar app that reads your Messages on your Mac (locally, nothing leaves your computer) and helps you keep up with friends you have not replied to. You need: a Mac with Apple silicon on macOS 14 or newer, Apple Messages set up on that Mac with real conversations, and permission to record your screen. Download Orbit.dmg from the page above, open it, drag Orbit to Applications, and open it from Applications. It is signed and notarized by Apple, so macOS will not block it. Record your screen with narration the whole time and say out loud what you expect versus what happens. Privacy: you may blur or skip showing message contents; we only need to see how Orbit behaves. When done, quit Orbit from its Settings and drag it to the Trash if you like.

THIS RUN: the full flow, start to finish, about 30 to 40 minutes. You have 6 hours from accepting, so start only when you have the time.

1. Install and launch. Walk through every setup screen. On the Full Disk Access step, click the button that opens System Settings and switch Orbit on; if macOS offers Quit & Reopen, choose Later. Does the setup window come back on its own?
2. Allow Contacts, Send through Messages (Automation), Notifications and Calendar when asked. After each Apple dialog closes, does the Orbit window come straight back? Note any step where Orbit seemed to disappear.
3. On 'Who do you want to keep up with?': read the ring legend (Inner, Close, Wider, New). In your own words, what does each ring do? Pick 5 to 15 people and give each a ring.
4. On 'Pick your notification times': read 'How a batch works' and tell us in your own words who gets a card and when. Set one time about 10 minutes from now.
5. Finish setup. IMPORTANT: when the setup window closes, does the Orbit popup open by itself from the menu bar? Yes or no, and what you saw.
6. On a card, type a short real reply in the box and press Send. You get 1.5 seconds to undo. Did the message really send (check Messages)? Did the next card come up right away? Any freeze or spinning wheel?
7. On another card press 'No reply needed'. Does the card's bottom button turn into Next, and does the card move on by itself after about a second? Try 'Later' on a third card.
8. If someone you replied to had an unread blue dot in Messages, open Messages afterwards: is the dot gone?
9. Open Orbit's Settings. Press 'Check for updates now' at the top: what does it say? Switch Appearance between System, Light and Dark: does everything change at once and stay readable?
10. Wait for the notification at your chosen time. Did a banner arrive, and does clicking it open Orbit on today's cards? Report: a yes/no answer to every numbered item, a bug list with steps to reproduce, and the three most confusing sentences you saw, quoted, with how you would rewrite each.