A LookAway Alternative for Mac

LookAway is a polished break reminder: 20-20-20 breaks, posture and blink nudges, automatic pauses during meetings, recordings, video and full-screen games, custom backgrounds and sounds, iPhone sync and Shortcuts support. It's $19 for one Mac, $29 for two or $99 for five, on macOS 13 and up. Notchy's break reminders live in the notch.

Looking for LookAway itself? It lives at lookaway.com.

Try Free for 7 Days Buy Notchy$24.99

LookAway price: $19 one-time (1 Mac)
LookAway requires: macOS 13 or later
Notchy price: $24.99 one-time, 7-day free trial

Why use Notchy instead of LookAway?

Eyes, stand, water
Three nudges on your own schedule. The eye reminder states the rule itself: 20 seconds, 20 feet away, every 20 minutes by default.
Quiet when it should be
Dropped — not queued — while the screen is locked, a Focus mode is on or your camera is live, so you never unlock to eight reminders at once.
Already took a break?
If you've been away longer than the interval, the timer simply restarts instead of nagging you on return.
Where LookAway is better
Posture and blink reminders, full-screen break overlays, smarter pausing for video and games, iPhone sync and automation. Notchy's reminders are gentle notch nudges.

At a glance

Everything Notchy does, in one app

Fluid Dynamic Island animations on the Mac notch
Command palette (⌃⌥K) — every action one keystroke away
Knock — double-tap a modifier key to open the notch
AI usage tracker (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot)
Detach any tab into a menu-bar popover
Now Playing music controls (Apple Music & Spotify)
Time-synced karaoke lyrics under the notch
Mac clipboard history shelf (password-manager safe)
Searchable clipboard — filter by text, file name, or OCR'd words
On-device OCR — copy a screenshot, get its text (Apple Vision)
Window snapping — drag a window to the notch to tile it
App Launcher — pin apps to the notch, open with one tap

Show all 51

Text snippets — TextExpander-style pastes from the ⌘K palette
One-tap screen capture to clipboard + shelf
Color eyedropper — sample any pixel, hex auto-copied
System-wide mic mute for every meeting app at once
Keystroke HUD for demos & screencasts (secure-input safe)
Keyboard cleaning lock with countdown island (⌘⎋ unlocks)
Menu-bar icon hiding — Bartender-style separator & chevron
Live CPU / memory / network stats flyout
Custom islands through the local developer API (off by default)
iPhone-style call island — Answer/Decline FaceTime on the notch
Notch Terminal — real VT100/xterm shell in a PTY, its own tab
Camera Guard — alert (or block) when any app opens your camera
Caps Lock HUD — brief island on every toggle
Full Charge island with adjustable threshold + low-battery sound
Alt HUD styles — edge-pinned bar or circular gauge off the notch
Audio-reactive Now Playing visualizer (real FFT of system audio)
Custom closed-notch idle animation — drop in your own Lottie JSON
Drag-and-drop file drop shelf — persists across relaunches
Zip & unzip files right from the shelf
Image converter (HEIC, PNG, JPEG, TIFF, PDF) + video → GIF
Run Apple Shortcuts with one tap
Screenshots auto-staged on the shelf, ready to drag
Download finished alerts with Reveal in Finder
USB drive mount island with one-tap Eject
Apple Reminders quick capture & due list
macOS Pomodoro notch timer & stopwatch — streaks + 7-day chart
Resizable expanded panel (width & height, live preview)
System HUDs (volume, brightness, battery)
Audio output switcher (speakers, AirPods, monitor)
AirPods connection manager & battery
Magic Mouse, Keyboard & Trackpad battery + low-battery alerts
Quick notes & Calendar widgets
Camera Mirror (check your appearance)
Keep Awake (caffeine toggle)
Teleprompter (Cuely) for Zoom calls
Focus-aware alerts & native haptic feedback
Lock screen widgets & hide-the-notch mode
134 languages, fully localized
Native SwiftUI, tuned for Apple silicon

The honest verdict on LookAway

LookAway is the complete eye-care app and fair value for $19. If gentle 20-20-20, stand and water nudges are enough, Notchy covers them alongside everything else in the notch.

LookAway alternative — FAQ

How much is LookAway?

$19 once for one device, $29 for two or $99 for five with lifetime updates. The smaller licences include a year of updates.

What is the 20-20-20 rule?

Every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. Notchy's eye reminder uses it by default.

Does Notchy pause reminders during meetings?

Yes — when the camera is on, a Focus mode is active or the screen is locked, reminders are skipped.

Can Notchy block the screen for a break?

No. Its reminders are nudges in the notch, not a full-screen overlay.

Is Notchy free?

No. Notchy is a one-time $24.99 purchase for one Mac, with a 7-day free trial and updates included — no subscription or in-app purchase.