Aeon Timeline 3.2 beta is now live! This update includes major performance boosts, plus enhancements to make your workflow simpler, faster, and more enjoyable.

How to get the update

Sign up to join the beta on our website. You'll receive an email update when your submission has been approved, usually within one business day.

If you want to opt out, you can leave the beta at any time using this form.

You can help us make it happen

By participating in the beta program, you’ll be the first to receive new app updates.

You can help us:

  • More quickly identify and fix bugs.
  • Identify areas of the app that could be made more useful or easier to understand.
  • Better understand how you use timelines in your work and process.

All of which will help us build a better app, faster.

File format changes

Timelines edited in the 3.2 beta won't be backwards compatible with previous versions. However, the beta will create a backwards-compatible backup when it opens any existing file. If you leave the beta, your app will downgrade to the last public release, and you'll need to revert to using the backup to continue editing your timeline.

What's new in 3.2

Large Datasets

  • The app can now handle several thousand items with minimal lag, so you can work with larger timelines more efficiently.

Data Clarity

  • To help you keep track of your data, each view’s header now displays a count of the number of items in the view, as well as a count of the items that are being filtered out.
  • To make items more recognisable and meaningful, we've combined an item’s color with its type icon into a single coloured icon. E.g. Green item color + person type icon = green person icon.

Easier Editing

  • To reduce clutter on the screen, we've added an option to automatically show the inspector when an item is selected and hide it otherwise.
  • We've added quick-entry rows to the entity lists and the mobile app lists for faster data entry.
  • To make it easier to track moved items, we now indicate where the dropped item went in views where items can rearrange on drop.
  • Relationship View now indicates the hovered column and row, and Spreadsheet and Outline views indicate the column and row of the selected cell.

Onboarding

  • To help people get started planning their story, project, historical or legal timelines, we’ve redesigned the welcome screen and added new starter files that are populated with example content.
  • We've updated the example timelines to better showcase the most relevant features and use cases.

Clearer Interface

  • Selected items now appear in an active color (blue for most themes) for better visibility.
  • We've removed the active color from the active view’s header to reduce visual noise.
  • You can now navigate the Timeline context bar with a single click instead of a double-click.
  • Keyboard shortcuts have been added to increase, decrease, and reset the zoom level.
  • We've removed some unnecessary whitespace from the Grouped layout in Timeline View.
  • Spreadsheet and Outline Views now more clearly show items’ chronological and narrative positions in the first column.
  • The column settings for the Spreadsheet/Outline View are now more accessible by a + column or in the footer.
  • To improve readability, the Subway view now better adapts its layout to support different font sizes.