Show HN: macOS app to reduce eye strain (open-source)

#1

Post by Remy42 » Tue, Mar 25, 2025, 12:43 PM UTC

my first app, a Mac menu bar utility to remind you to blink more. any feedback would be much appreciated. or make it your own and share :)

Show HN: macOS app to reduce eye strain (open-source)
github.com

Re: Show HN: macOS app to reduce eye strain (open-source)

#2

Post by MichaelTheGeek » Tue, Mar 25, 2025, 5:08 PM UTC

Good idea.

Re: Show HN: macOS app to reduce eye strain (open-source)

#3

Post by pcdoodle » Tue, Mar 25, 2025, 5:46 PM UTC

Very cool idea. This would also be kind of cool to have a timer that would remind you to look at something in the distance every 5 to 10 minutes to keep your focus range exercise while using computer.

Re: Show HN: macOS app to reduce eye strain (open-source)

#4

Post by Remy42 » Tue, Mar 25, 2025, 6:27 PM UTC

pcdoodle wrote: post #3

Very cool idea. This would also be kind of cool to have a timer that would remind you to look at something in the distance every 5 to 10 minutes to keep your focus range exercise while using computer.

Thanks for the feedback. I am working on this feature!

Re: Show HN: macOS app to reduce eye strain (open-source)

#5

Post by thisislife2 » Tue, Mar 25, 2025, 11:11 PM UTC

1. Good move to protect yourself as a developer and making the app easily available outside the App Store. 2. Consider supporting older macOS versions. 3. Have a look at https://workrave.org/ and https://www.dejal.com/timeout/ for additional feature consideration (competition research). (Tip: Workrave is better, even if TimeOut looks nicer - focus more on that).

Re: Show HN: macOS app to reduce eye strain (open-source)

#6

Post by Remy42 » Tue, Mar 25, 2025, 11:23 PM UTC

thisislife2 wrote: post #5

1. Good move to protect yourself as a developer and making the app easily available outside the App Store. 2. Consider supporting older macOS versions. 3. Have a look at https://workrave.org/ and https://www.dejal.com/timeout/ for additional feature consideration (competition research). (Tip: Workrave is better, even if TimeOut looks nicer - focus more on that).

wow thank you for all the feedback, appreciate you!! I’m on it

Re: Show HN: macOS app to reduce eye strain (open-source)

#7

Post by cududa » Wed, Mar 26, 2025, 3:19 AM UTC

Really neat -- going to poke around with this!

Re: Show HN: macOS app to reduce eye strain (open-source)

#8

Post by pimlottc » Wed, Mar 26, 2025, 3:41 AM UTC

Is this based on any existing research? I would think your body already blinks enough as needed to keep your eyes from drying out.

Re: Show HN: macOS app to reduce eye strain (open-source)

#9

Post by MelodyUwU » Wed, Mar 26, 2025, 7:11 AM UTC

macos sonoma is a very high requirement...

Re: Show HN: macOS app to reduce eye strain (open-source)

#10

Post by thisislife2 » Wed, Mar 26, 2025, 7:42 AM UTC

pimlottc wrote: post #8

Is this based on any existing research? I would think your body already blinks enough as needed to keep your eyes from drying out.

Not OP, but apparently apart from reduced blinking (when watching a screen), there is also something called as incomplete blinking happening ( https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31152804/ ). More here - https://theconversation.com/screen-time-can-seriously-harm-y... .