I spend more hours hunched over my laptop or staring at an unusually large monitor than I can admit. Between work, play, and passion projects, my daily screen time is abysmally unhealthy. And to make matters worse, ergonomics are not a luxury for me due to my almost permanent work situation.
All of this has taken a visible toll. I wear prescription lenses to compensate for vision problems and to protect against blue light. Because of the forward neck situation, I often resort to using hot water bags or vests to help me sit upright. And I ignored regular water intake or work breaks for years.
There are solutions, but most involve looking at the reminder on another screen, such as my iPhone or Apple Watch. There are Mac utilities too, but most of them are a one-trick pony. Plus, I don’t want to pay $10 for an app that just reminds me to drink some water every hour. But I think I’ve finally found the perfect solution.
Oh look, it’s loook
Loook is a Mac app that handles four core tasks. It reminds you to keep yourself hydrated. You will be asked to look away from the screen for a moment. It encourages you to give your pixel-scorched eyes some relief by blinking. More importantly, there is a regular nudge to correct your posture.
Is that easy? Sounds barebones, right? Well, there’s more to this minimalist beauty than meets the eye. First, it doesn’t take up space in your Mac’s dock. In my case, it’s a crowded space and that’s why I switched to alternatives like Loopty that keep things organized and accessible.
Loook runs entirely as a menu bar utility. And it is extremely well designed. You don’t have to search through pages to find controls, and all the essential tools you need are just a click or two away. The best part? You can use it without paying a cent. The app’s basic functionality is free, but if you want something more aesthetic, you can pay for themes.
It just works
Loook displays a small icon on the screen asking you to drink some fluids, stand up, look away, or just blink. Well, here’s the nice part. When the animated icon appears on the screen, you might miss it, especially if you’re working on a large digital canvas with multiple app windows. The app has a subtle solution for this.
You can either have the animated reminder appear on the screen naturally. Or you can set a slight fade effect that gives the screen a subtle grayed out dimming effect. Or you can give the entire screen a blank, cloudy look for maximum visual impact.
On the more functional side, you can set the interval for each reminder. For example, you can start the blink reminder at 1 minute and increase the duration up to 10 minutes. The posture reminder has a range of 5 to 30 minutes, while the drinking window can be between 30 minutes and 2 hours.
There is an added level of flexibility for looking away from the screen. With six equal stops, you can trigger it after 5 minutes or after a 30 minute working spell. And when the warning appears on the screen, you can also choose how long you want to keep your eyes away from the display.
The amount of time the screen goes blank or blank can range from 20 seconds to a full minute. I love this thoughtful approach, especially when the app does everything without requesting intrusive permissions or sensor access.
Backed by science
There is a scientific basis for Loook’s approach. Digital eye strain is a well-known problem and, according to research, can manifest as dry eyes, itching, foreign body sensation, tearing, blurred vision and headaches.
It is also associated with neck stiffness, general fatigue, headaches and back pain. According to a study published in the journal Ophthalmology and Therapy, taking regular breaks from screens, occasionally focusing on distant objects, and following the 20-20-20 rule can help reduce eye strain.
Another study published in the journal Contact Lens and Anterior Eye looks at the benefits of taking breaks for eyestrain. After analyzing 29 symptomatic computer users, experts concluded that the “20-20-20 rule is an effective strategy for reducing DES and dry eye symptoms.”
In case you’re not aware, this rule broadly requires that after 20 minutes of continuous work, you look away from your screen for 20 seconds and focus on something at least 20 feet (6 m) away. With Loook you can follow the rule exactly as required.
Another handy aspect of Loook is that you don’t have to manually activate or set it up every time you turn on your computer. You can set it to start automatically and it also remembers all your timing settings.
Well, Loook is not the complete solution to your body computer problems. In particular, it can’t tell you exactly where your posture is wrong and how to fix the problem. It doesn’t give you a detailed breakdown of, for example, your water intake during an eight-hour work period. There is also no built-in logging system.
Pose Nudge, on the other hand, uses the built-in camera to track your neck and shoulder position. It sends regular alerts when you lie down and also provides a detailed breakdown of your posture score and progress while running locally on your Mac.
I wish Loook could add similar functionality to improve posture tracking. But at the same time the concept can be a bit too aggressive. If you’re just starting a healthy routine, Loook is the most convenient and minimalist approach to getting started and I highly recommend it.
Download Lookok from the App Store.
