LookAway and Toolnotch both remind you to look away from the screen, and both hold the break while you're in a call. The difference is scope. LookAway is a break reminder and nothing else, and it goes deeper: blink reminders, planned breaks, a stats dashboard, sync to your iPhone. Toolnotch is several tools in the MacBook notch for one price: Bodybreak for breaks, Pasteback for clipboard history, Wyndow for windows and Staywake to keep the Mac awake. If breaks are the only thing you want to fix, LookAway is the more complete app. If you'd otherwise buy a break reminder, a clipboard manager and a window manager separately, Toolnotch covers all three.
I make Toolnotch, so keep that in mind. LookAway's features and prices below come from lookaway.com and its Mac App Store listing, checked on 20 October 2026.
What each app does
| LookAway | Toolnotch (Bodybreak) | |
|---|---|---|
| Regular eye breaks, interval and length you choose | Yes | Yes, every 15 to 60 minutes, 10 to 60 seconds |
| Warning before a break | Yes, a pre-break reminder and a floating countdown | Yes, 30 seconds before, under the notch, with snooze |
| Pauses during calls and meetings | Yes | Yes (microphone or camera in use) |
| Pauses during video, screen recording, full-screen games | Yes | Yes |
| Pauses in deep-focus apps you pick | Yes | Yes |
| Time away from the Mac counts as a break | Yes | Yes |
| Waits until you stop typing | Not stated on its site | Yes, up to one minute |
| Long breaks | Yes, long-break schedules | Yes, a guided five-minute break every 90 minutes |
| Breaks at a fixed time (lunch, a walk) | Yes, Planned Breaks | No |
| Posture reminders | Yes | Yes, an optional « Sit tall » nudge |
| Blink reminders | Yes | No |
| Only during working hours | Yes, Office Hours | Yes |
| Stats | Dashboard and a Screen Score | Today's count and a weekly report in the notch |
| Lock the screen when a break starts | Optional | No |
| Shortcuts, AppleScript, scripts on break start/end | Yes | No |
| Sync with iPhone and iPad, Live Activities | Yes | No |
| Clipboard history, window manager, keep-awake | No | Yes |
Price and licence
| LookAway | Toolnotch | |
|---|---|---|
| One-time price | $19 (1 Mac), $29 (2 Macs), $99 (5 Macs) | $19.99 ($4.99 for the first 10 buyers, then $9.99 for the next 100) |
| Updates | One year with the $19 and $29 licences, then optional renewal; lifetime with the $99 licence | Every update, no renewal |
| Mac App Store | Free download; $4.99 a month, $14.99 a year or $49.99 lifetime in-app | Not on the App Store |
| Setapp | Included | No |
| Macs per licence | 1, 2 or 5 depending on the licence | 3 |
| Future tools | LookAway updates | Updates and every future Toolnotch tool |
| Free trial | Not stated on its pricing page | None. The demos on toolnotch.app run the real interface in your browser |
| Refund | Has a refund policy | 14 days, full, no questions |
| macOS | 13 Ventura or later | 15 Sequoia or later |
LookAway's renewal is fair and clearly explained: you keep the version you have forever, and renewing for another year of updates costs $10 for the first seat. With Toolnotch there's nothing to renew, and the licence also covers tools that don't exist yet.
How the breaks compare day to day
Both apps solve the problem that kills most break timers: a break that pops up during a call or a screen share. LookAway calls it Smart Pause. Bodybreak checks whether the microphone or a camera is in use, and holds the break; it doesn't listen or record. When the call ends, the break comes two minutes later, and after a long call the notch says « Call over » with how long you've gone without one.
Where Bodybreak is a little different:
- It waits for your hands. If the break comes due mid-sentence, it waits until the keyboard has been still for a couple of seconds. Reading and scrolling don't count, because they're good moments to stop.
- It lives in the notch. The warning, the break card and the « Break done · 3 today » confirmation all come from the notch, not from a window or a notification.
- Three levels of firmness. Gentle is a small card and your typing goes on. Moderate tints the screen's edges and counts the break once your hands are off. Strict puts a curtain on every display until the break ends.
LookAway is richer around the break itself: blink reminders for dry eyes, breaks scheduled at fixed times, a Screen Score, custom sounds and backgrounds, and automations that run when a break starts. If you track your screen habits closely, its dashboard does more than Bodybreak's weekly report.
What Toolnotch adds besides breaks
This is the reason to pick Toolnotch over a dedicated break app: the other tools come with the same licence.
Pasteback, clipboard history. ⇧⌘C opens your history under the notch. Search finds words inside screenshots and images, secrets are masked on screen, and the Paste Stack (⌃⌘C) pastes several copies in order. ⇧⌘2 copies the text of anything on screen.
Wyndow, windows. ⌃⌥ and the arrows snap windows to halves, then two-thirds and a third. ⌃⌥⌫ undoes. Unplug your external display and its windows land on the laptop in the same zones; plug it back and they return.
Staywake, keep-awake. A timer from the notch, and an automatic mode that keeps the Mac awake while a terminal command works.
What LookAway does that Toolnotch doesn't
Blink reminders, Planned Breaks at fixed times, locking the screen when a break starts, and automations with Shortcuts and AppleScript. It syncs breaks to your iPhone and iPad and shows the remaining time as a Live Activity. It runs on macOS 13 Ventura, two versions older than Toolnotch needs, and it's included in Setapp if you already pay for that. LookAway also says a Windows version is coming; Toolnotch is Mac only.
Can you run both?
You can, but you'd get two break reminders. If you keep LookAway for breaks, turn Bodybreak off in Toolnotch's settings and use the rest of the app. Nothing else overlaps.
Which one to choose
Choose LookAway if breaks are the only thing you want to fix and you want the most complete break app: blink and posture reminders, stats, iPhone sync.
Choose Toolnotch if you'd also use a clipboard history and a window manager, and want breaks that wait for calls and for your typing without paying for three apps. One licence covers three Macs and every tool Toolnotch adds later.
More on the subject: what a good break reminder does and the 20-20-20 rule. Try the break demo on toolnotch.app, or see pricing. Comparing notch apps instead? See Toolnotch vs NotchNook.
FAQ
Is there a free LookAway alternative?
Yes. Stretchly and BreakTimer are free and open source, and Time Out has free core features. They don't all pause during calls. Toolnotch is paid, with a 14-day refund.
Does Bodybreak follow the 20-20-20 rule?
By default, yes: every 20 minutes it asks you to look at something about 20 feet away for 20 seconds. You can change the interval and length.
Does Bodybreak record my calls to detect them?
No. It only checks whether the microphone or a camera is in use. Nothing is recorded or sent anywhere.
Does Toolnotch sync breaks to my iPhone?
No. Toolnotch is Mac only and keeps everything on the Mac.