Free, and staying that way
No trial, no Pro tier, no licence key. Every feature is in the one download.
Free forever
v0.2A whole new look
Step back from the screen.
Step back from the screen.
Come back sharper.
A free, open-source break reminder for Mac. Gentle eye breaks, posture and blink nudges, and it stays quiet while you're busy.
Download for MacFewer dry, tired eyes
by the end of the day
Pauses that wait
for a good moment
Good screen habits,
on autopilot
MIT licensed
Read every line, fork it, change it, ship your own version. The whole project lives on GitHub.
Open sourceNothing phones home
No account and no analytics. The only request it ever makes is a check for new releases on GitHub.
No trackingNative Swift
Built with Apple's own frameworks, so it sits in the menu bar using next to no CPU or memory.
No ElectronSmall on purpose
A lean menu bar app that does one job well. No bundled browser, no helper daemons, no clutter.
Tiny footprintRest without losing your place
OpenLookAway gives you a little warning before each break and lets you push it back when you're mid-thought, so pausing never feels like being interrupted.
Heads-up card
A small card drops in before each break. Start it now or snooze by a minute or more.
Menu bar control
Time left at a glance, plus pause, skip or start a break in one click.
Countdown at your cursor
The final seconds ride along with your pointer, so no break arrives out of nowhere.
Holds off automatically during
Meetings & calls
Video playback
Fullscreen apps
Stepping away
Sit tall. Blink often.
Optional nudges float onto the screen for a couple of seconds, a quiet cue to straighten up or rest your eyes, then fade away by themselves.
Posture nudge
Blink nudge
Tuned to how
you actually work
Click the mascot in the menu bar for the countdown, quick controls, and today's Screen Score.
Choose the sounds, backdrop and words
that make a break feel like your own
Play sound when the break begins
Play sound when the break ends
SoundGlass
Volume
Pick a chime for the start and end of every break
Blurred wallpaper
Gradient
Drop image
Blur your own wallpaper, pick a gradient, or bring a photo
Show my own break messages
Unclench your jaw and drop your shoulders
Refill your water glass
Find a window and look outside for a bit
+−A random message is shown on each break
Write the reminders you actually want to read
Built natively for
macOS
Written in Swift with Apple's own frameworks. It follows dark mode, launches at login, updates itself from inside the app, and stays tiny. No Electron, no web view, nothing running that doesn't need to.
Download for MacUp and running in a minute
No account, no App Store, no licence key. Pick whichever route you like.
curl -fsSL https://lookaway.yoelgal.com/install.sh | bash- Open Terminal. Press ⌘ Space, type Terminal, and hit Return.
- Paste and run. Paste the command with ⌘ V and press Return.
- Look up. The mascot appears in your menu bar. That's your break timer.
Why Terminal? The app isn't notarised by Apple, and files fetched with curl aren't quarantined, so it opens without a Gatekeeper warning. Read install.sh before you run it.
brew install --cask yoelgal/tap/openlookawayInstalls from the yoelgal/homebrew-tap cask. Update later with brew upgrade --cask openlookaway.
Download OpenLookAway.zip
Unzip it and drag OpenLookAway into Applications. Because the app isn't notarised, macOS stops it the first time:
- Open the app once and dismiss the warning.
- Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security.
- Scroll down and click Open Anyway, then confirm.
Rather skip those steps? The Terminal route avoids the warning entirely.
Questions, answered
Why a Terminal command instead of a normal download?
Apple charges a yearly fee to notarise apps. Without notarisation, anything downloaded through a browser is flagged by Gatekeeper and needs a detour through System Settings. Files fetched with curl aren't flagged, so the one-liner installs and opens the app with no warning. The app is still code-signed (ad hoc), so macOS notices if it's been tampered with.
Is piping a script into bash safe?
It's a fair thing to ask. Read the script first; it's short. It downloads the latest release from GitHub, moves it into Applications, and opens it. It never uses sudo and installs nothing else. Everything is open source and releases are built by GitHub Actions straight from the code.
Does it collect any data?
No. There's no account, no analytics, and no tracking. The only network request it makes is checking GitHub for new versions. Your stats stay on your Mac.
How do I update or uninstall it?
To update, use Check for Updates… in the app, run the install command again, or brew upgrade --cask openlookaway. To uninstall, quit it from the menu bar panel and drag OpenLookAway from Applications to the Bin (or brew uninstall --cask openlookaway).
Which Macs does it run on?
Any Mac on macOS 14 Sonoma or later, Apple silicon or Intel.
Is this the official LookAway?
No. OpenLookAway is an independent open-source project inspired by LookAway, a polished paid app with extras such as iPhone sync and automations. If you want those, support the original.