Header & Clock
The header row sits at the top of the board and shows you who sent the current message. From left to right, you'll see the sender avatar, sender name, indicator lamp, and clock.
Sender avatar¶
The small image on the far left of the header. It gives you a quick visual cue about where the current message came from.
| Source type | What you'll see |
|---|---|
| Social feeds (Mastodon, Bluesky, Threads) | The profile picture of the person who posted |
| Weather | A weather icon (sun, clouds, rain, etc.) |
| Other sources (RSS, MQTT, Calendar, API, etc.) | An icon representing the source type |
Tap the avatar to open the author's profile in your browser. This is especially handy for social posts.
The avatar is display-only on Apple TV.
Sender name¶
The name shown next to the avatar -- a Mastodon display name, a Bluesky handle, an RSS feed title, and so on. If the name is too long to fit, it's shortened with an ellipsis (...).
Tap the sender name to open the author's profile, same as tapping the avatar.
The sender name is display-only on Apple TV.
Indicator lamp¶
A small LED-style light between the sender name and the clock. It gives you a quick status update at a glance.
Lamp colors¶
| Color | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Off | Idle | Nothing special happening |
| :red_circle: Red | Urgent | Severe weather alerts, critical messages |
| :orange_circle: Amber | System activity | Boot sequence, processing |
| :green_circle: Green | Normal | Messages cycling, everything connected |
Custom lamp colors
You can set the lamp to any color using the REST API or Siri Shortcuts. For example, turn it blue to signal a custom state -- great for home automation scenarios.
Clock¶
The clock sits in the upper-right corner and shows the current time. It updates once per minute, flipping to the new time with the same satisfying animation as the rest of the board.
You can hide the clock entirely in Settings > Display using the Show Clock toggle. When hidden, the space is reclaimed by the message body.
Auto-hide on narrow boards
On very narrow boards, the clock hides automatically regardless of the Show Clock setting. This ensures the sender name and indicator lamp always have enough room.
The clock follows your iPad's time format by default (Settings > General > Date & Time). You can also override this in Arrivals' own display settings.
The clock follows your Apple TV's time format by default (Settings > General > Date and Time). You can also override this in Arrivals' own display settings.
Note
The clock doesn't display seconds, just like a real split-flap display.