I built a free menu bar Pomodoro for macOS because every other one felt like too much
Hey, I'm Gjin. I spent a few months building Breaks, a Pomodoro timer that lives in your macOS menu bar.
The reason I built it is pretty simple. Every app I tried was either bloated with features I didn't need, ugly, or wanted me to create an account just to run a 25 minute timer. I wanted something that just sat in the menu bar, stayed quiet, and did its job
So that's what Breaks is. It cycles through work sessions and breaks, keeps a focus journal, tracks your streak, fires local notifications, and supports global hotkeys so you never have to open a window mid-flow. No account, no cloud, no telemetry. Everything stays on your Mac.
It's free and open source under MIT.
Would love to hear from anyone who's been frustrated with the existing options or has been running a DIY focus system. What's working, what isn't?
Download and source at gjinprelvukaj.github.io/Breaks
Replies
@gjinprelvukaj This is exactly the kind of tool that wins by doing less, not more
Most apps in this space try to add features instead of removing friction, so the no account and menu bar only approach makes a lot of sense
Curious if you’ve thought about how people stick with it long term vs dropping off after a few days
Breaks
@vishal7017 Thats actually a good question. I think most people drop off because apps get too annoying or demanding. My approach is: make it simple and unobtrusive that you dont have to "stick with it" , its there when you need it (when you cant focus and just need balance).
But the streak and focus journal are there for the days when a little nudge helps. Dont want users to feel guilty that they missed a streak because of a day or two off.