Recess - Step Away
Eye breaks & meeting reminders
Only for Mac
Free
Mac
Protect your eyes and never miss a meeting. Recess lives in your menu bar — smart breaks, calendar sync, and one-click meeting join.
Recess is a quiet menu bar companion that protects your eyes and keeps you on top of every meeting.
Every 20 minutes, Recess dims your screen and prompts you to look into the distance for 20 seconds — the 20-20-20 rule, proven to reduce eye strain. The work interval is fully configurable from 5 to 90 minutes.
Recess syncs with Google Calendar and macOS Calendar to surface a beautiful full-screen heads-up before every meeting, complete with a one-click join button for Zoom, Meet, Teams, and Webex. No more scrambling for the link.
Breaks are calendar-aware: Recess detects when you're in a meeting and postpones the break automatically, resuming once the call ends. It also watches for typing and idle time, so it won't interrupt you mid-sentence or when you've stepped away.
When a break or meeting arrives, a frosted-glass overlay gently blurs your screen with a countdown and a calming prompt. Three snoozes are available per cycle, and a double-tap of Escape skips the break entirely — Recess respects your flow while still holding you accountable.
A leaf icon sits in your menu bar: green when active, outlined when paused. The popover shows your timer status, your next three meetings, Google Calendar connection, and a pause toggle for when you need to focus without interruption.
KEY FEATURES
• Configurable break timer (5–90 min) based on the 20-20-20 rule
• Google Calendar + macOS Calendar (EventKit) sync
• Full-screen pre-meeting reminders with one-click join
• Meeting-aware breaks that pause during calls and resume after
• Typing and idle detection — won't interrupt your focus
• Glassmorphism break overlay with countdown
• Keyboard shortcuts: ⌘S to snooze, Esc×2 to skip, ⌘↵ to join meetings
• Runs at login — set it and forget it
Built for developers, designers, writers, and remote workers whose eyes ache by 4pm and who are tired of walking into meetings late.
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The developer, Kester Atakere, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Kester Atakere
- Size
- 954.3 KB
- Category
- Productivity
- Compatibility
Requires macOS 13.5 or later.
- Mac
Requires macOS 13.5 or later.
- Mac
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
9+
- 9+
- Contains
Health or Wellness Topics
- Copyright
- © 2026 Kester Atakere