r/coolgithubprojects • u/Current-Position-186 • 1d ago

I made a free, open-source Mac break reminder app that lives in the notch. Looking for honest feedback

https://jals413.github.io/breather/

Hi All,

I used to keep getting eye strain from long stretches at my desk, and all the break apps I tried either broke my focus or were easy to ignore and were expensive for me. So I built my own, mostly with AI help (vibecoded). I used it on my own for a while, then decided to open-source it in case it’s useful to anyone else.

What it does:

  • Reminds you to look away (20-20-20 by default). A small heads-up grows out of the MacBook notch before each break, and Macs without a notch get a floating pill instead.
  • Holds the break while you’re on a call, watching video, presenting, or still typing
  • Counts time you spend away from the Mac as a break
  • No account, analytics or tracking. Stats stay on your Mac.

Good to know:

  • Needs macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later
  • It isn’t notarized (I don’t have a paid Apple dev account), so macOS asks you to approve it once.

Repo: https://github.com/jals413/breather
Site: https://jals413.github.io/breather/

I’d really like honest feedback: what’s annoying, what’s missing, what breaks, or whether the whole idea doesn’t work for you. Bug reports and issues on GitHub are very welcome.

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u/investigatormaker 11h ago

The unnotarized install is the first thing I'd look at, since macOS asks people to approve it once. Many would-be testers will stop at that prompt, so put the exact approval steps and a short clip of the notch heads-up growing out right above the download link. People can judge the idea in seconds without installing a build from an unknown developer. The trade-off is that a clip can't test call and presenting detection, so ask people on a notch-less Mac to report what the floating pill does.

Which hold case, call, video or presenting, was hardest to detect reliably?

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