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Show HN: LookAway, a Mac break reminder that knows when not to interrupt
A non-interruptive, context-aware break reminder designed to prevent eye strain and back pain for users who spend long hours in front of screens. It differentiates itself from other reminder apps by intelligently pausing during critical activities (meetings, video, screen recording, typing).
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AI Executive Synthesis
A non-interruptive, context-aware break reminder designed to prevent eye strain and back pain for users who spend long hours in front of screens. It differentiates itself from other reminder apps by intelligently pausing during critical activities (meetings, video, screen recording, typing).
This product addresses a common productivity and wellness pain point for remote workers and desk-bound professionals: the difficulty of maintaining regular breaks without disruptive reminders. The core innovation lies in its context-aware interruption management, a significant improvement over generic timers. This intelligent pausing mechanism enhances user experience, reducing friction that typically leads to abandonment of such tools. The iOS mirroring feature extends this benefit to a multi-device workflow, preventing users from simply shifting screen time. While a niche utility, its focus on seamless integration and user flow protection positions it as a superior solution in a crowded market of basic reminder applications, appealing to users prioritizing sustained focus and digital well-being.
Hello, I'm Kushagra and I am the indie developer behind LookAway (I've posted about it earlier but it has received quite a lot of updates since the last time so I am posting it again).LookAway is a native break reminder for macOS that doesn't interrupt. I built it because I work from home and I spend a lot of time in front of my screens. It's very easy for me to get lost in the flow and I can end up sitting for hours. Due to this, I started facing issues like eye strain and back pain by the end of the day.The solution to this was simply taking enough breaks throughout the day. But remembering to take breaks was difficult, especially when I was in the flow. I tried some reminder apps but the problem with those was that they always interrupted me at the worst moments. So I ended up not using them.LookAway is designed not to interrupt. It gives enough heads up before a break so that you're not caught off-guard. It's also context-aware and it automatically pauses when you go into a meeting, start watching a video, record screen, and much more. It even waits for you to finish typing or dictating when a break is due.One thing worth mentioning is the free iOS counterpart LookAway Mirror. When your Mac goes on a break, your iOS devices can also mirror the same break so you don't end up scrolling your phone screen during the Mac break.I've spent a lot of time in making LookAway the least annoying break reminder app and I would love to know your thoughts. It's a native Swift app so it doesn't take much resources (150MB RAM and
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Deep-Dive FAQs
What is LookAway, a Mac break reminder that knows when not to interrupt?
LookAway, a Mac break reminder that knows when not to interrupt is analyzed by our AI as: A non-interruptive, context-aware break reminder designed to prevent eye strain and back pain for users who spend long hours in front of screens. It differentiates itself from other reminder apps by intelligently pausing during critical activities (meetings, video, screen recording, typing).. It focuses on This product addresses a common productivity and wellness pain point for remote workers and desk-bound professionals: the difficulty of maintaining...
Where did LookAway, a Mac break reminder that knows when not to interrupt originate?
Data for LookAway, a Mac break reminder that knows when not to interrupt was aggregated directly from the Hacker News community ecosystem, representing raw developer and early-adopter sentiment.
When was LookAway, a Mac break reminder that knows when not to interrupt publicly launched?
The initial public indexing or launch date for LookAway, a Mac break reminder that knows when not to interrupt within our tracked developer communities was recorded on June 25, 2026.
How popular is LookAway, a Mac break reminder that knows when not to interrupt?
LookAway, a Mac break reminder that knows when not to interrupt has achieved measurable traction, logging over 54 traction score and facilitating 16 recorded discussions or engagements.
Which technical categories define LookAway, a Mac break reminder that knows when not to interrupt?
Based on metadata extraction, LookAway, a Mac break reminder that knows when not to interrupt is categorized under topics such as: native break reminder for macOS, context-aware, iOS counterpart LookAway Mirror, native Swift app.
What are some commercial alternatives to LookAway, a Mac break reminder that knows when not to interrupt?
Our semantic intelligence engine identifies potential commercial alternatives in the SaaS space, such as LookAway 2, which offers overlapping value propositions.
How does the creator describe LookAway, a Mac break reminder that knows when not to interrupt?
The original author or development team describes the product as follows: "Hello, I'm Kushagra and I am the indie developer behind LookAway (I've posted about it earlier but it has received quite a lot of updates since the last time so I am posting it again).LookAway is a..."
Community Voice & Feedback
Looks nice, but hate that pricing.
I've found the posture and blink reminders have been really helpful. I do find myself having to postpone the breaks because they like to pop up when I'm in deep focus. Thing is, I never really mark when I'm in deep focus because I honestly don't realize it when it happens, so it's hard to provide a constructive solution for this app around that.I haven't seen it in the settings but some "drink water" reminders or just customizing those would be great.
Curious to hear from anyone with long term success: do these kinds of apps actually work or do they more just make you feel like you’re doing something about it?
Few alts for other platformshttps://workrave.org/ (not mac)https://github.com/hovancik/stretchly (everywhere)Both are open source.Then there’s this https://www.dejal.com/timeout/ (only mac) - used this one as well.
The license scheme makes me sad. It reads like a subscription pretending to be a one-time purchase.
> knows when not to interruptI wish all forms of pop-up notifications knew this.If I log into a security camera interface after an event triggered, that's not the time to tell me about a software update.If I log into a news website because of a local crime, that's not the time to tell me about your fancy newsletter.If I log into a brokerage during trading hours, that's not the time to tell me about your new interface.I click all of these things away reflexively because they appear at the wrong time.
I've been using it as part of my Setapp subscription, and it's a love-hate relationship. On the one side I appreciate the posture hint and the app nudging me to take a break. But ever so often I am in deep focus and get really annoyed when the "long break starting in 1 minute" notification pops up. Most of the time I am in the middle of writing when the break starts, and I click it away fast to not loose my thoughts. A feature recognizing active writing to push the break a minute would be helpful I guess.
Two things regarding the website:- scrolling is so extremely laggy that the website is almost unusable on Firefox on macOS on an idle MacBook Pro (even if it seems smooth at first, scrolling up and down a few times slows it down significantly)- I assume the code editor screenshot should actually be some sort of animation, it doesn't seem to work (although right clicking shows options like Pause, Loop...).
Looks really clean!
Distilled, this would be a nice macOS or Raycast feature, but I don't see myself giving up either $29 or 150MB RAM.
Discovery Source
Hacker News Aggregated via automated community intelligence tracking.
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