Sixty

Free break reminder for macOS

Sixty stands you up once an hour.

After 60 minutes of work, Sixty locks every screen for 60 seconds and shows two short exercises. There is no Skip button, so you can't dismiss it on autopilot. It never locks during a call.

Download for macOS View on GitHub
brew install --cask leplik/tap/sixty
  • Free
  • Open source (MIT)
  • macOS 14+
  • No permissions
  • No tracking
The warning, two exercises, back to work, sped up. A real break lasts 60 seconds.

How it works

One fixed cycle. Nothing to set up, nothing to configure.

  1. 60 min

    Work

    Sixty counts only active time at the computer.

  2. 60 s

    Warning

    A small panel in the top-right corner counts down. It has no buttons and clicks pass through it.

  3. 60 s

    Break

    Every screen locks. An animated figure shows two standing exercises, 30 seconds each: first one for the spine and the lower back (standing cat-cow, back bends, pelvic tilts, hip hinges), then another.

  4. Repeat

    Back to work

    The screens unlock and focus returns to the app you were using.

If you are away for 5 minutes or more, the work counter goes back to 0. You already took a break. A Mac that sleeps for 5 minutes or more also resets it.

Never during a call

Sixty waits until the call is over, plus 2 minutes. It does not ask you to tell it about your meetings.

How it knows

Sixty reads the “device is in use” flags that macOS already keeps. If any app uses a camera, or a known call app records from the microphone, a call is active. A few meeting apps (Teams, Zoom, Webex, FaceTime, phone calls) also count while they play audio, so listening with your microphone muted still counts as a call.

What happens

If a call is active when the hour is up, the break waits. When the call ends, Sixty waits 2 more minutes and then shows the normal 60-second warning. The menu bar always says why a break is waiting.

What does not count

Dictation tools such as Handy or Superwhisper and recorders such as OBS also use the microphone. They are not call apps, so they do not postpone a break. Sixty never reads audio data.

Call apps it recognises (also inside a browser tab)

  • Google Chrome
  • Arc
  • Dia
  • Safari
  • Edge
  • Brave
  • Firefox
  • Vivaldi
  • Opera
  • Microsoft Teams
  • Zoom
  • Webex
  • FaceTime
  • Slack
  • Telegram
  • WhatsApp
  • Discord
  • Signal
  • Viber
  • Skype
  • Granola

No way to skip on autopilot

Break reminders with a Skip or Postpone button get skipped without thinking. Sixty has neither.

  • Skip
  • Postpone
  • Quit
  • Settings

The emergency phrase

The only way out of a break is a phrase of 4 random words, for example river candle orbit maple. It is new for every break, so you cannot learn it and type it without reading. You get 2 emergency exits per day.

Turning Sixty off on purpose

There is no Quit item, because Quit can be clicked on autopilot too. To turn Sixty off, run this in Terminal, or switch it off in System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions. Open Sixty.app to turn it on again.

/Applications/Sixty.app/Contents/MacOS/Sixty --disable

Private by design

Sixty does not need to know anything about you.

One network request

Twice a day Sixty asks GitHub whether a new version exists. It sends nothing about you and installs only updates signed by its developer.

No telemetry

No analytics, no accounts, no tracking. This page loads nothing from third parties either.

No audio capture

It reads only whether a device is in use, never the sound or the picture.

No permission prompts

No microphone, camera or Accessibility access is requested.

The code is open under the MIT licence, so you can check all of this yourself. Source on GitHub.

Questions and answers

What is Sixty?

Sixty is a free, open-source macOS menu-bar app that makes you stand up once an hour. After 60 minutes of work it locks all screens for 60 seconds and shows two short exercises.

Is there a free break reminder for Mac that can't be skipped?

Yes. Sixty is free and open source (MIT). Many break reminders let you skip or postpone a break. Sixty has no Skip, Postpone or Quit button and no settings. The only way out is a random 4-word emergency phrase, 2 times per day.

Will Sixty lock my screen during a Zoom, Meet or Teams call?

No. Sixty detects that a call app uses the microphone or the camera, and waits until 2 minutes after the call ends. It works with Zoom, Google Meet in a browser, Microsoft Teams, FaceTime, Telegram, Slack and other call apps.

Does Sixty need microphone access?

No. Sixty reads only the “device is in use” flags, never audio. It asks for no microphone, camera or Accessibility permission.

How do I turn Sixty off?

Run /Applications/Sixty.app/Contents/MacOS/Sixty --disable in Terminal, or switch Sixty off in System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions. There is no Quit item on purpose.

What if I really must leave a break early?

Type the emergency phrase of 4 random words shown on the main screen. The break ends at once. You have 2 emergency exits per day, and the phrase changes every time.

Does it work with multiple monitors?

Yes. Sixty locks every screen. The emergency phrase field shows on the main screen only. If you connect a screen during a break, it is locked too.

What if I am away from the computer?

If you have no keyboard or mouse input for 5 minutes outside a call, or the Mac sleeps for 5 minutes, the work counter goes back to 0. You already took a break. Listening to a meeting without touching the keyboard does not count as away.

Which macOS versions does Sixty support?

macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later. It is a native Swift app with no third-party dependencies.

Is Sixty free?

Yes. It is free and open source under the MIT licence. It has no telemetry; its only network request is the update check on GitHub.