Academic Research

Humans normally blink around 15 times each minute. When staring at screens, this number decreases generally to half that rate or less. That can lead to dry, irritated, and tired eyes, but twenty seconds focusing elsewhere is long enough for the eyes to relax enough to reduce the strain. [...] Participants’ digital eye strain symptoms were measured before and after two weeks of using the reminders, and one week after completing the study. Results showed a marked decrease in symptoms including dryness, sensitivity and discomfort.

aston.ac.uk

Aston University, UK

The authors of the report suggest that up to 70 million people worldwide are at risk for computer vision syndrome. And this number is likely to grow, considering the large (and increasing) numbers of students and employees who rely on their computers for many hours each day. According to the researchers, up to 90% of people who use a computer for prolonged periods of time will report one or more of these symptoms. And that’s not counting other health problems linked to extensive computer use, including back, neck, and shoulder pain; carpal tunnel syndrome; and headaches. Together, it’s enough to make you view an ordinary computer as a potential health hazard.

health.harvard.edu

Harvard Health Publishing

HF2

Now with HF+.  
9.99$ per Year.  
FREE Trial Available.

Download in the

macOS App Store

While the Hyperfocus mission has been bringing healthy screen ergonomics and awareness to anyone with a Mac, Hyperfocus 2 introduces seamless productivity features, iteratively becoming a fundamental app for the PROs.

Microtasking

Hyperfocus 2 introduces Microtasking, a new way of getting things done in macOS.

Stay into focus and switch contexts without any focus loss by always keeping your next task in your right-top corner.

Fully keyboard controlled. Open the task management sidebar at any time with ⌥X, manage your priorities, and push towards completion.

Provide time estimates to each of your microtasks and HF will seamlessly start the time tracking for your next task.

Download a detailed log as .CSV of your session anytime and later on import your tasks back with no effort.

Microtasking

NEW

Fall faster into focus and get more done, with the new always-on Microtasking experience.

Time Tracking

NEW

Keep tabs on what you're getting done, and let HF+ build a timeline of your work session.

Time Estimates

NEW

Provide time estimates directly when entering your microtasks, it has never been simpler.

Progress Notifications

NEW

Stay on track with your time estimation and be informed when milestones have been reached, in 50% increments.

Full Keyboard Support

NEW

Why waste time with the cursor? HF Microtasking has complete keyboard support.

CSV & TXT Export/Import

NEW

Export and import your entire work session, together with detailed timestamps and time tracking details.

Hyperfocus 2 brings a set of refined ergonomics, meant to help you tackle bad screen hygiene in a multitude of ways.

Persistent Breaks

Prevent reflex skips and break up any ADHD hyperfocus sessions.

Context-Aware Pausing

Autopause HF when a video plays or you go into a video call.

Custom Durations

Configure each break type with custom durations and intervals.

Multiple Profiles

Define your configurations for later use through the profiles switcher.

Ergonomics Notifications

Delay, unpause or simply stay aware of upcoming breaks.

Guided Breathing

NEW

Guideded breathing techniques that will help you wind down without breaking your flow.

Healthier Blinking

NEW

Reduce bad blinking patterns, improve dry eyes and CVS symptoms with onscreen blinking guides.

iCloud Configuration Sync

Sync your profiles and configurations across your macOS devices.

Overlay Appearence

Change the app theme, break overlay colors and add break timers.

Animated Icons

Get in sync with the animated icons every time your break comes on.

Slack Status Updates

Make Hyperfocus change your Slack status while you're on a break.

Frequently Asked Questions.

Is Hyperfocus available outside the App Store?

No. We view our policy of sticking only to the App Store distribution as unlikely to change anytime soon.

We believe that Apple's App Store is quite a unique place in the software world that stands out and delivers to its promises of ensuring safety, ease-of-use, privacy and reliability.

We strongly recommend not to install any Hyperfocus instances distributed by any other means besides the App Store.

Any Hyperfocus distributions found outside the App Store have likely been tampered with, are highly prone to malware infestations and deliver absolutely no promises of safety.

Contact lenses and screen time?

The general consensus is that screen time while wearing contacts is not recommended and will lead to eye irritation, dry eyes and other eye issues

The only thing worse than the combination of screen time and contacts, is prolonged and continuous screen time with contacts, in a high level of attentiveness, when blinking is reduced.

With HF+, your screen time can be divided in short to very short sessions of focus, leading to frequent eye breaks and a better hydration for your eyes.

With the optimal interval configuration, the difference in eye comfort level can be felt even after a brief period of using Hyperfocus.

What's the best configuration for ergonomics?

The free Hyperfocus confugration should fit just right for the majority of users. Hyperfocus is meant to be free, and allow everyone to follow the ergonomic breaks timings recommended by the research studies and the medical experts.

However, based on our past experiences using the app, we've found the short and frequent eye breaks to be the ones that provide the most comfort, with no context loss.

We still strongly recommend that you do move every single hour, maybe even every half hour. This is a critical aspect of cardiovascular health... Blood that is stagnant tends to clot.

Another tip would be using the overlay theme that you find the least comfortable, since that will make you move your sight away from the screen the fastest. The pitch black theme is worth mentioning, since it fades out your screen completely, leaving only the Hyperfocus contextual information present.

The unskippable breaks provide the best experience if you develop an immediately-click-skip reflex and we consider it to be the best feature of HF+, since it provides a high value for those of us that have a tendency to find any possible way to skip the breaks and maintain the mental flow, at the detriment of our physical health.

We fully understand that getting out of the flow is no fun, but neither is the risk of developing conditions that might decrease your vision or affect your health, many of which are hard to impossible to reverse.

In time, the seconds you'll be looking away from the screen will hardly hurt your flow zone, in fact, you might actually use them to get a fresh perspective on your current task, and take a break from objective thinking, while gaining some increased creativity.

For the custom timings, the themeable overlays and the unskippable breaks feature, a HF+ subscription is required.

Context-Aware Pause not activating?

Since we've been aligned with Apple's principles from the start, we've stayed away from any hidden APIs or shady ways of analysing whether your camera is in use or whether you're watching a video in order to «Autopause» Hyperfocus.

However, we've engineered a way of figuring out whether Hyperfocus should autopause by just checking the overall state of your device.

Unfortunately, this does sometimes lead to false negatives and Hyperfocus might fail to enter the «Autopaused» state under certain circumstances.

With your help, this will get better over time, so if you do notice the Context-Aware Pause failing to activate, please write an email to us, with the application debug logs attached, at [email protected].

The procedure for downloading, inspecting and sharing the debug logs is documented inside the application. The instructions can accessed by clicking the "Report a Bug" link, found inside the main application view.

How can we get in touch?

We would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions at [email protected]

Hyperfocus is available for any Mac device running macOS 10.12+. The Hyperfocus app is and will only be distributed exclusively through the macOS App Store. This ensures its safety, world-wide availability and code integrity. Any distributions found besides the macOS App Store are unofficial, might be malware prone and potentially dangerous for your machine.

Liking Hyperfocus? Check out Clepside, launching later this year on all desktop platforms.

We praise human centric design and are deep believers of ones right to privacy.

No A/B testing, tracking or numbers driven product decisions, just loveable products in their purest form.

Pursue the craft and strive for the humane.