Time Out app alternatives for Windows, older Macs, and your phone

Time Out by Dejal has been nudging Mac users away from their screens for a long time, and it’s good at it. We compared the closest swaps on the same criteria (Stiff is our app, so hold us to them).

What Time Out does well, and why people switch

Time Out runs two kinds of break: a brief Micro break to relax and a longer Normal break for getting up and moving, plus custom breaks you add yourself (lunch, a stretch, whatever). It can count time away from your Mac as a natural break, skip breaks during calendar events or Focus, and detect calls in FaceTime, Teams, and Zoom. There are themes, statistics, and scriptable Break Actions. The core is free; Supporter options start at $4.99 for three months and go up to $59.99 for lifetime.

• It’s Mac only. Dejal lists no Windows, Linux, Android, or iPhone version. Switch jobs, get a Windows laptop, and it stays behind.
• The newest version needs macOS 26. Older Macs are offered version 2.9.7 (macOS 10.15 or later), which works but won’t get new features.
• It only sees the Mac. Meetings in another room, the laptop closed on the sofa, the afternoon on your phone: none of that counts.
• The break is a blank canvas. Time Out fills the screen with a nice theme and then leaves the actual movement up to you. Some people want to be told what to do.

If none of those apply, honestly, keep Time Out.

Time Out alternatives at a glance

“Not in docs” means the app’s own site or README doesn’t mention it (checked November 2026), not that it can’t.

Which Time Out alternative should you pick?

For a wider field, including watch nudges and phone alarms, see the best break reminder apps. If you’re also weighing Workrave, the Workrave alternatives guide covers its strict RSI timers.

Best Time Out alternative for your phone: Stiff

Time Out, Stretchly, and BreakTimer only know about the computer they run on (LookAway syncs to an iPhone, but its breaks still start on the Mac). Stiff lives on the phone that goes everywhere with you, so the reminder reaches you in the meeting room, where Time Out can’t.

• Work hours, not screen time. Pick your work days and hours, then an interval of 30, 45, 60, 90, or 120 minutes (45 by default) and one to three stretches per session. Mid-presentation? Snooze it for 10 minutes.
• The Normal break, filled in. Where Time Out gives you a calm screen, Stiff gives you the stretch: 41 illustrated, timed stretches of 20 to 60 seconds for the neck, shoulders, back, wrists, hips, legs, and eyes, plus 16 relief programs of 3 to 10 minutes. The free version includes 26 stretches and 6 programs, with a free program for every body area.
• Streaks and a leaderboard, not just stats. Time Out’s stats tell you what happened. Stiff adds streaks, a daily XP goal, levels, badges, and small groups with a shared leaderboard (up to 5 people in a group you own on the free plan).

Where it falls short of Time Out: Stiff can’t see your Mac, so it won’t dim the screen, spot a Zoom call, or count time away from the keyboard as a break. If you rely on those, keep Time Out for Micro breaks and let Stiff own the longer stretch break (setup below).

Best free alternative for Windows and Linux: Stretchly

Stretchly is the nearest thing to Time Out outside the Mac. It’s free and open source (BSD-2-Clause), runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux, and splits breaks the same way: a 20-second Mini break every 10 minutes and a 5-minute Long break every 30 minutes by default. It pauses itself after 5 minutes idle and while Do Not Disturb is on, which covers some of what Time Out’s rules do, though with far fewer knobs.

Two catches. The Mac version needs macOS Ventura (13) or later, so it doesn’t rescue a very old Mac. And its defaults are brisker than most Time Out setups, so stretch the intervals out on day one or you’ll be reaching for Pause by lunch. Its own gaps are covered in Stretchly alternatives.

The simple one: BreakTimer

BreakTimer (GPL-3.0, Windows, macOS, Linux) trades Time Out’s two tiers for a single break you set up yourself, shown as a notification or a fullscreen window. Its best feature for desk workers is working hours, so it goes quiet in the evening. It can also restart the countdown when it notices you’ve been away from the computer, a lighter version of Time Out’s natural-break idea.

Pick it if Time Out felt like more app than you needed. Skip it if you depended on separate Micro and Normal breaks.

For Mac users who want eye care: LookAway

LookAway stays on the Mac but covers different ground. Alongside breaks, it sends blink and posture reminders and pauses automatically during calls, screen recording, video playback, and fullscreen games. It also syncs breaks to your iPhone or iPad. It needs macOS 13 or later, and it’s a one-time purchase: $19 for one device or $29 for two, each with a year of updates.

It’s a good fit if your main complaint is tired eyes, which a movement-focused app won’t fix. Our 20-20-20 rule guide explains why looking far away for 20 seconds helps.

Rebuild your Time Out schedule before you switch

Switching break apps is where good habits quietly die. The new defaults feel wrong, you mute them, and a week later nothing reminds you of anything. Spend five minutes deciding who owns each break first.

The Normal break interval has outside support. OSHA’s computer workstation guidance suggests a five-minute break from computer tasks every hour, used to look away, stretch, get up, or walk, because short pauses give muscles and tendons time to recover.

A small Columbia University lab study of 11 adults found five minutes of walking every 30 minutes was the only pattern that significantly lowered both blood sugar and blood pressure; walking every 60 minutes didn’t help blood sugar. An hourly Normal break meets OSHA’s guidance; the small Columbia study hints that more frequent short walks may do more.

What to do when the break fires

Time Out leaves the movement up to you, so here’s a routine that fits either break. None of it needs you to leave the chair until the last step. Move gently, and stop if anything hurts, tingles, or goes numb.

1. Look far away (20 s). Pick something across the room or out the window. Don’t look at your phone for this one.
2. Chin tuck (5 slow reps). Sit tall and slide your chin straight back, as if making a double chin. Hold 3 seconds. Don’t tip your head down.
3. Chest opener (20–30 s). Clasp your hands behind you, or hold the chair back, and gently squeeze your shoulder blades together. Don’t crank your arms up or arch your lower back.
4. Wrist flexor stretch (20–30 s per side). Arm straight in front, palm up, gently draw the fingers back with the other hand. Don’t lock the elbow or push into tingling.
5. Seated twist (20 s per side). Feet flat, turn your upper body toward the chair back and hold it lightly. Don’t yank on the chair to force more range.
6. Stand and walk (1–3 min, Normal break only). Refill water, walk a lap, come back. It’s the step people skip most, and the closest to what the Columbia study tested (5-minute walks).

More ideas are in our 5-minute desk stretch routine and in how often to stretch at work.

Common mistakes when switching break apps

• Running two full schedules at once. Time Out plus Stretchly with default settings means double prompts and, soon, zero apps. Give each app one job.
• Keeping someone else’s defaults. A break every 10 minutes suits some people and drives others to uninstall. Start gentle and tighten once the habit holds.
• Treating dismiss as done. A break you click away is still a break you skipped. Snooze instead, so it comes back.
• Forgetting the evening. If you game or study on the same computer, a work-hours-only app stays quiet then. Extend its hours or add a second schedule if you want evening nudges too.