Recess 4+

Simple, lightweight, does what it’s supposed to

We all know sitting is the new smoking. If you need a reminder to get up every so often, this app will do it (but it’s still up to you to actually pay attention to the reminder and MOVE!!!). This app is simple, lightweight, lives in my task bar and does what it is intended to do. I wouldn’t change a thing about it. I work remotely and am also a yoga teacher. My day is partially sedentary and partially active. During the sedentary periods, which can span 4-8 hours, I have Recess set to give me a 7 minute break after every 33 minutes of seated work. During my 7 minutes, I stretch, clean something, do a small domestic chore, pet my dog, whatever so long as I am not sitting. 7 minutes is actually a good amount of time. I was able to put all my laundry away and clean a few plates in 7 minutes. There is also research about how frequent breaks are necessary. This unstructured time is necessary for your mind to process. Think of the short breaks during the day as data defragging. Your mind will be better structured and run more effeciently with frequent breaks without work.

Ok, Ok, I’ll finally leave a review, you deserve it.

So here’s the deal. I’ve used Recess for quite a while now. It is an INTEGRAL part of my day. I have some back problems because of an injury years ago and this app is a lifesaver in helping to remind me to move around. I have an Autonomous motorized desk and I raise and lower it ever 30 min or so. This keeps me moving and not sedentary which is huge for my health and well-being. It is the simplest of apps and it works perfectly. There is absolutely nothing that I would change about it.

As a UX designer, I don’t say that about a lot of things. This is a simple app that solves a problem perfectly and I highly recommend it.

Lightweight, efficient

This is a good, lightweight app at reminding one to take a break. I say “lightweight” because one just sees its icon in the title bar, and at a glance one can see how long it is until the next break.
My only complaint is that when it’s almost time to start a break, it warns the user of that 10 seconds before, and it steals my cursor focus. That does have the good effect of forcing me to notice that a break is coming. However, I can’t finish typing the sentence I’m typing without taking a hand off the keyboard to use the mouse to get the focus back onto the window I’m working in — that’s annoying. The user can change the length of time between breaks and the length of the break, but I wish the user could also change the time between the warning and the actual break from 10 seconds to, say, 30 seconds. I usually like to note (on my computer) that I’m taking a break and save my work before I get up. 10 seconds (less because I have to use the mouse to get focus back) is just barely time for that.
But this is my favorite take-a-break app.

Developer Response ,

Hi, to avoid stealing the cursor focus, pls tick on option "Keep this popover on top".