Your eyes need a break.
Blinkr makes sure they get one.
The 20-20-20 rule as a polished menu-bar app: every 20 minutes your screen gently dims for a 20-second look-away break — with a soft countdown, a calm suggestion, and an Esc key that always works. And it never, ever interrupts a call.
How it works
You don't run Blinkr so much as forget it's there. It sits in the menu bar, counts quietly, and asks for twenty seconds at a time.
Keep working
Blinkr lives in your menu bar and counts down your next break. The menu always knows: "Next eye break in 12 min."
Get a gentle heads-up
Fifteen seconds out, a small pill appears under the menu bar. Not ready? Postpone five minutes or skip — one click, no guilt.
Let the screen rest
Every display fades to a soft dim. An amber ring counts twenty seconds while a calm line suggests where to look. Esc leaves instantly.
Pick up where you left off
The dim lifts, your windows are untouched, and your keyboard never locked. A soft chime — if you want one — says you're done.
Polite by design
Most break apps get deleted the first time they dim a presentation. Blinkr's whole personality is knowing when not to speak.
On a call? It waits.
While your camera or microphone is in use, a due break is held, silently. It arrives the moment the call ends — held, never skipped.
Presenting? It waits.
Full-screen apps — a slideshow, a movie, a game — hold breaks the same way. Even the heads-up pill stays away while you're on stage.
Away? Already counted.
Step away from the Mac and Blinkr credits the rest on its own, then starts you fresh when you're back. Short pauses bank your remaining time instead of resetting it.
Behind? It remembers.
A break that had to wait shows up in the menu as "ready — waiting for your call to end," and VoiceOver says so too. Nothing vanishes silently.
The rest of it
Stretch breaks
Every third break — roughly hourly — is a longer stand-and-stretch. Tune the cadence and length, or turn it off.
Every display
All screens dim together, so a second monitor never stays glaring while the first one rests. Displays can come and go mid-break.
A gentle tally
The menu counts today's breaks and keeps a day streak — one that a quiet morning doesn't break. Skips are counted honestly, never scolded.
Thirteen languages
Every surface — break screen, menu, VoiceOver — in 13 languages, with a picker that switches live. No relaunch.
Accessible for real
VoiceOver announces warnings, holds, and how to leave a break. Keyboard works everywhere. Reduce Motion is honored. Every color is generated to WCAG AA.
Updates, in-app
A weekly check offers new versions right in the app — with a visible off switch, because optional should mean optional.
Private by construction
Blinkr has no idea what you look at all day, and it likes it that way.
Four tiny signals
Seconds since your last keypress (never which keys), whether a camera or mic is in use (never any recording), whether a window fills a display (never its contents), and whether the screen is locked. That's the entire sensorium.
Zero permission prompts
Blinkr never asks for a single macOS permission — no Screen Recording, no Accessibility, no camera. Nothing to grant is the proof.
Two requests, both optional
About once a week it asks twoplus11.com whether a newer version exists, sending the app version and nothing else — flip that off in Settings. The only other call is the daily re-check of a business license key, which never happens until you enter one. On a personal install with updates off, Blinkr makes no network connections at all.
The long version is short too: the Blinkr privacy page.
Pricing
Personal use is free forever — the same app, nothing held back. If Blinkr looks after your eyes at work, a one-time business license keeps the lights on.
- Every feature, no trial, no nagging
- All thirteen languages
- Signed, notarized, universal
- Updates included, in-app
- No account, ever
- Everything in Personal
- Use commercially at work
- Roll it out to a team, one seat per Mac
- One-time payment — no subscription
- Free updates forever
- Supports solo indie development
The personal tier is the full app — buy a business license only if you use Blinkr at work. One seat per device, paid once, yours for life. Secure checkout via Stripe; your license key is emailed instantly.
Questions, answered
Does Blinkr interrupt video calls?
No — that's the point. While your camera or microphone is in use, or anything is running full screen, a due break is held, not shown. It arrives the moment your call or presentation ends. Held breaks are never lost.
What is the 20-20-20 rule?
A comfort guideline optometrists widely share for screen fatigue: every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet (about six meters) away for 20 seconds. Blinkr turns it into a habit you don't have to think about.
Can I skip a break?
Always. Esc skips any break instantly, there's a Skip button on the break screen and on the heads-up pill, and you can postpone five minutes or pause breaks for an hour, until tomorrow, or until you say so. Blinkr nudges; it never nags.
Does Blinkr watch what I'm doing?
No. It reads four tiny local signals — how long since you last touched the keyboard or mouse, whether a camera or microphone is in use, whether a window covers a whole display, and whether the screen is locked. Never what you type, never window contents, never any recording. It needs no macOS permissions at all, which you can treat as the proof.
What happens if I walk away from my Mac?
Blinkr notices the quiet, parks the timer, and credits the rest on its own — a coffee run is a break, no overlay needed. Lock the screen mid-break and the break counts as taken.
Does it work with more than one display?
Yes. Every display dims together during a break, so a second monitor never stays glaring while the first one rests. Plug or unplug displays mid-break and the overlay follows.
Is Blinkr really free?
For personal use, yes — free forever, every feature included. Using it at work on a company machine takes a one-time $5 business license per device; the key arrives by email and goes into Blinkr's own License window.
Where do I enter my license key?
In Blinkr: open the menu-bar menu, choose Settings, and click the key button in the footer — then paste the key from your purchase email and click Activate. Personal use needs no key at all; nothing is locked behind one.
What languages does Blinkr speak?
Thirteen: English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, and Simplified Chinese — including the break screen, the menu, and the VoiceOver announcements. Pick a language in Settings; it switches live.
How do updates work?
Blinkr checks twoplus11.com about once a week for a newer version — sending the app version and nothing else. If there is one, it downloads and installs it in the background, and the new version takes effect the next time you open Blinkr; every build is cryptographically signed and one that does not verify is refused. Turning the automatic check off in Settings stops all of it — check, download and install — and you can still check by hand whenever you like.
Like what I make?
All my apps are free for personal use. If they save you time or make your day a little easier, a tip keeps me going — it goes straight to development, no middleman.
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