A widget is not one view. It is a face plus the entries ahead.

This bench draws both. AT END is the control — after the last entry the face goes STALE. AFTER DATE keeps a RELOAD chip so getTimeline can run again.

Filmstrip: playhead walks t+0h…t+3h; AT END goes STALE while AFTER DATE shows RELOAD then a new wave.

Entry 0 — same face, different futures

-mode e0

PLAYHEAD entry 0 wave 0. Both faces HARBOR build 400 t+0h. AT END strip ends END. AFTER DATE strip ends RELOAD.

Both faces show build 400 · t+0h. The strip already disagrees on what happens after t+3h: END vs RELOAD.

Entry 2 — playhead mid-strip

-mode e2

PLAYHEAD entry 2. Both faces build 410 t+2h. Strip highlights t+2h / 410. END vs RELOAD still waiting.

Slot	Builds
t+0h	400
t+1h	405
t+2h	410 ← playhead
t+3h	415

Policies still look identical on the face. The lie (or the freeze) is still ahead.

Past end — STALE vs RELOAD

-mode stale

PLAYHEAD past end wave 0. AT END face STALE build 415 t+3h, END STALE chip. AFTER DATE face RELOAD getTimeline, RELOAD NOW chip.

Policy	Face	Strip tail
AT END (control)	STALE · build 415 · t+3h	END STALE
AFTER DATE	RELOAD · `getTimeline`	RELOAD NOW

.atEnd keeps showing the last entry forever. .after(date) is a request for a new timeline.

Reload wave — provider asked again

-mode reload (wave 1)

wave 1 pinned past end. Entries 420 425 430 435. AT END STALE build 435. AFTER DATE RELOAD getTimeline.

New strip: 420 · 425 · 430 · 435. AT END is stale on 435. AFTER DATE is still the reload face — the policy that made wave 1 possible.

Filmstrip = getTimeline return value

WidgetKit asks for [TimelineEntry]. Drawing them as cells is the same array, photographed. The reload policy is not an entry — it is what happens when time walks off the end of that array.

Mini-exercise

Add a fifth entry at t+4h. Confirm AT END’s STALE moment moves one cell right.

Challenges

Wire a real WidgetKit extension that shares HarborTimeline.Entry with this bench.
Show .after(Date) with an absolute clock under the RELOAD chip.
Add a third column for TimelineReloadPolicy never / background refresh only.
Animate the playhead with TimelineView instead of asyncAfter.
XCUITest: assert STALE appears under -mode stale and not under -mode e2.

Key Points

Observed wave 0 entries: 400 / 405 / 410 / 415.
Observed mid playhead: build 410 · t+2h.
AT END past end: face STALE on 415 — the control.
AFTER DATE past end: RELOAD / getTimeline.
Wave 1 entries: 420…435 after a reload.
The filmstrip is the timeline; the policy is the cell after the last entry.

Next up: Sorting, visualised — three sorts racing on the same array with comparison counts.

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