Say hello to NudgeNotch, your eye-care reminder that lives in the MacBook notch! NudgeNotch helps you reduce eye strain by gently reminding you to blink and look away at regular intervals, right where you can’t miss it. The notch transforms into a dynamic visual cue, complete with a blinking eye animation, 20-20-20 rule look away reminders, water intake notifications, and a sleek settings panel for full customization. It’s the perfect companion for long hours at the screen, keeping your eyes refreshed and healthy without disrupting your workflow.
System Requirements:
- macOS 14 Sonoma or later
- Apple Silicon or Intel Mac
brew install --cask suryanshkushwaha/nudge-notch/nudge-notch --no-quarantine
Once downloaded, open the .dmg and move NudgeNotch to your /Applications folder.
Important
I don't have an Apple Developer account (yet 👀), so macOS will warn you that nudgeNotch is from an unidentified developer on first launch. This is expected behavior.
You'll need to bypass this before the app will open. You only need to do this once. Use one of the methods below.
This is the fastest and simplest method. It requires just one command and works reliably for all users, unlike System Settings, which occasionally doesn't.
After moving nudgeNotch to your Applications folder, run:
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/nudgeNotch.appThen open the app normally.
Note
This method doesn't work for all users. If this doesn't work, use the Terminal method above.
- Try to open the app — you'll see a security warning.
- Click OK to dismiss it.
- Open System Settings > Privacy & Security.
- Scroll to the bottom and click Open Anyway next to the nudgeNotch warning.
- Confirm if prompted.
- Launch the app. The notch will display a subtle eye icon and countdown timer.
- When it’s time to blink, look away, or drink water, the notch expands and shows a reminder popup.
- Water reminders are visually distinct and configurable (1h/2h intervals).
- Customize reminder intervals and behavior in the Settings panel.
- Access settings or quit the app via the menu bar icon or notch context menu.
- Blink reminder with animated eye
- Customizable interval and duration
- Notch expansion on hover
- Look Away breaks (20-20-20 rule)
- Water breaks
- macOS 14 or later: If you’re not on the latest macOS, we might need to send a search party.
- Xcode 16 or later: This is where the magic happens, so make sure it’s up-to-date.
- Clone the Repository:
git clone https://github.com/suryanshkushwaha/nudge.notch.git
cd nudge.notch- Open the Project in Xcode:
open nudgeNotch.xcodeproj- Build and Run:
- Click the "Run" button or press
Cmd + R. Watch the magic unfold!
- Click the "Run" button or press
We’re all about good vibes and awesome contributions! Read CONTRIBUTING.md to learn how you can join the fun!