Recess

Look up from the screen.

Recess is a break reminder for your Mac. When it's time to rest your eyes, stretch or get up, it gently dims the screen, and steps back the moment you return.

Download for Mac Take a 20-second break

Free and open source. macOS 14 Sonoma or later, on Apple Silicon and Intel.

0:20

Look at something far away.

Small breaks, on a rhythm.

Out of the box there are two: a few seconds every quarter of an hour to unclench and look across the room, and ten minutes each hour to properly get up. Change either, or add your own.

  1. A heads-up

    A minute before a longer break, a notification gives you time to finish your sentence.

  2. The screen dims

    A countdown, a calm theme and a suggestion. Postpone or skip if you really have to.

  3. Back to work

    The screen comes back by itself. Already stepped away, or closed the lid? That counted as a break.

Twenty seconds is enough.

Rest your eyes on something far away. Try it now; the page will wait for you.

Small details that make it stick.

Fits around your day

  • Start on time, wait until you stop typing, or ask first.
  • Only in work hours, only on weekdays, or timed from your calendar.
  • Holds off during video calls, presentations and fullscreen apps.
  • Time away from the keyboard, and sleep, count as rest.

Keeps you honest

  • Cap how many times a day you can postpone or skip.
  • Lock the buttons for the first few seconds of a break.
  • Optionally block Cmd-Tab and Force Quit during a break.
  • A chart of breaks taken, postponed and skipped.

Yours to shape

  • Break screens with a breathing guide, clocks, eye and desk stretches, or your own photos, text or video.
  • Sounds, spoken reminders, and your own AppleScript or shell scripts.
  • A countdown in the menu bar, and global keyboard shortcuts.
  • recess:// links for Shortcuts and automation.

Installing takes a minute.

Recess isn't notarized by Apple yet, so the first time you open it macOS asks you to confirm. You only do this once.

  1. Open Recess.dmg and drag Recess into Applications.
  2. Open Recess. When macOS says it can't verify the app, click Done.
  3. In System Settings › Privacy & Security, scroll to Security and click Open Anyway.
  4. Confirm with Touch ID or your password, then click Open.
Rather use Terminal? 
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Recess.app
open /Applications/Recess.app

Security

“Recess” was blocked to protect your Mac. Open Anyway
The prompt appears because Recess is signed by its author rather than through Apple's paid programme. Every line of code is on GitHub, and each release lists the download's SHA-256 checksum.

Nothing leaves your Mac.

No account, no analytics, and no network requests of its own. Your settings are plain files in your Library folder. Recess is MIT licensed, so you can read every line, or build it yourself: 

git clone https://github.com/NeelkanthTandel/recess.git
cd recess && make install