Max, the $99 Desk Buddy, Comes Free With FavTray Pro
FavTray Pro and Lifetime just started including Max — a fully-rigged 3D character who lives on top of your Dock — at no extra cost. On his own, through My Dock Buddies, the same character is a $99 one-time purchase (currently discounted to $49.50 as a founding-launch price) on top of a $5.99/month or $69/year membership just to run the app. If you’re already on the FavTray Lifetime license ($4.99, one time), Max is just… there. One less thing to buy, one less app to manage.
Why bundle a desktop pet with a productivity app
The honest answer: because he was already being built for My Dock Buddies — a standalone character app — and it turned out he fit naturally as a FavTray Dock module too. But bundling him properly meant he couldn’t just be a copy-pasted pet running on his own clock. He had to actually know what FavTray already knows about your day:
- Wind-down aware — when FavTray’s Wind-down feature marks you done for today, Max sits down instead of continuing to patrol the Dock.
- Focus aware — start a Focus session and he switches to a typing animation instead of wandering.
- Battery aware — full-quality rendering costs around 5% CPU while he’s animating. On battery, FavTray asks — right when you unplug, and every 30 minutes after — whether to plug in or turn him off, instead of silently draining you.
- Two hours on his feet — he gets tired after two hours of activity and sits down until a click wakes him back up, energy restored.
None of that exists in a standalone pet app, because a standalone app has no visibility into your Focus sessions or your end-of-day routine. Wiring Max into FavTray’s Dock modules meant he could actually react to your workday instead of running in parallel to it.
What you get, and how to turn it off
Max is on by default the moment you’re on Pro or Lifetime — no toggle to hunt for on first install. He walks the Dock, reacts when you click him (wave, jump, celebrate, or a resigned headshake if you poke him too many times in a row), and turns to follow a sweep of your mouse anywhere on screen.
Don’t want him? Right-click him for an instant “Hide Max” — no digging through Settings. Change your mind later, and the Dock Modules list in Settings has the toggle. Either choice is remembered across restarts.
Licensed installs download him once; after that he runs entirely on your Mac, with no network calls and nothing rendered anywhere but your own screen. The only outbound link is the “Open My Dock Buddies…” item in his right-click menu, which only fires if you choose to click it.
The math
| Standalone (My Dock Buddies) | Included in FavTray | |
|---|---|---|
| Membership | $5.99/mo or $69/yr | $0 — already covered by Pro or Lifetime |
| Max himself | $99 one-time ($49.50 founding price) | $0 |
| Knows your workday | No — runs on his own clock | Yes — Wind-down, Focus, battery |
| Where he lives | His own separate app | One more module in the FavTray icon you already have |
If you’re evaluating FavTray Pro for the rest of FavTray — eye rest breaks, AI cost tracking, window snapping, and the rest — Max is effectively a $99 character thrown in on top, not a reason to upgrade by itself. But if you already run Pro or Lifetime, there’s no reason to leave him off.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Max the same character as the My Dock Buddies app?
Same character design, different product. My Dock Buddies is a standalone Mac app built just around the character — a monthly or annual membership plus a one-time $99 charge per buddy (currently a $49.50 founding-launch price). Max inside FavTray is one of FavTray's Dock modules instead: no separate app, no separate purchase, and he reacts to your actual workday rather than running on his own clock.
Do I have to pay extra for Max in FavTray?
No. Max is included with the FavTray Lifetime license ($4.99, pay once) at no additional cost. If you're already on Pro or Lifetime, he's on by default — right-click him and choose "Hide Max" if you'd rather not have him around.
What does Max actually do differently from a normal desktop pet?
He lives on top of your Dock and walks its length, but he's tied into FavTray's other features: he sits down when Wind-down says you're done for the day, switches to a typing animation while a Focus session is running, and asks before quietly draining your battery when you unplug. A standalone pet just runs on a timer.
Does Max cost anything in CPU or battery?
He renders at full quality whenever he's on screen, which costs roughly 5% CPU while animating. On battery power, FavTray proactively asks — right when you unplug, and every 30 minutes after — whether to plug back in or turn him off, so the cost is never silent.