Show HN: Away from Keyboard (AFK): Reduce eye strain with reminder to take break

akshaykadam.me

14 points·deadcoder0904··3 comments

I am the maker of Away From Keyboard (AFK). Away From Keyboard is an app that reduces eye strain with reminders to take a break.

AFK tracks movements on the mouse & keystrokes on the keyboard. After a certain interval, it notifies you to take a break & tells you to do some other activity to reduce eye strain. It takes care of your eyes for you without getting in the way.

I was inspired by Aware but I needed more features which is why I built Away From Keyboard (AFK). Also it was a great way to learn some Swift.

This app has helped me immensely & my eyes & head are more relaxed now thanks to AFK. Happy to answer any questions you have :)

What do mouse and keystrokes have to do with eyestrain, though? I guess it could be an indicator on how active you are using your computer, but I could imagine plenty activities that involve using your computer without actually interacting with it.

Ohh yeah like reading. But other than that I don't think there can be other indicators to know how much active you are on your Mac.

Can you provide any other examples which does not include mouse & keyboard?

I think mostly Developers, Designers & Gamers spend their time the most in front of the computer & need breaks.

For me, this app worked immensely well because I for the past couple of weeks I've been coding for 9+ hours without a lot of break (not more than 5 minutes) & it hurt my eyes & also there is a lot of headache too. Now I don't have to consciously remind myself to take breaks. AFK takes care of that for me :)

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