Pausebar is a privacy-first screen-break reminder for macOS that lives quietly in your menu bar. Instead of firing on a fixed timer, it reads the moment — using small, local macOS signals to hold breaks during calls, fullscreen presentations, screen shares, video playback, and even active builds or AI-agent runs.
Key Features
- Right-Moment Timing: Breaks slip in at natural pauses, not mid-thought. When you run long past a break, the next rest quietly tops itself up.
- Smart Pause: Automatically holds breaks during detected activity — on a call, camera on, fullscreen, presenting, screen-sharing, watching video, taking screenshots, dictating, or when you've stepped away.
- Developer-Aware: Opt in to hold breaks while builds, tests, deploys, or AI-agent commands are running. Curated patterns know the difference between
next buildandnext dev. - Customizable Breaks: Choose strictness from Casual to Hardcore, set custom backgrounds and break messages, and configure honest snooze and skip limits.
- Gentle Reminders: Posture checks, blink reminders, and custom wellness nudges on intervals you set.
- Tasks by the Notch: A small + by the Dynamic Island lets you add timed tasks and reminders that live at the top of your screen.
- On-Device Only: 100% of break history and work-context checks stay on your Mac. No account, no trackers, no analytics.
Pausebar is a one-time purchase — $9.99 for founding members ($14.99 after) — with a free 7-day trial.
