Eye-Care Reminders

Periodically reminds you to take breaks using the 20-20-20 rule to reduce eye strain.

Plugin

Field	Value
ID	apex077/eyecare
Entries	Bar widget: eyecare-widget; service: eyecare-service

Requirements

• dbus-monitor on PATH (optional, for automatic system idle and screensaver lock detection).
• A system audio player on PATH (e.g., canberra-gtk-play, paplay, pw-play, or aplay) to hear sound cues.

Usage

The Eye-Care Reminders plugin provides a status bar widget that displays either the active time countdown or the break duration.

• Active State: Shows the remaining active screen time (e.g., 20:00). Clicking the widget manually starts a break.
• Break State: Shows the remaining break duration (e.g., Break: 20s). Look 20 feet away at an object during this time. Clicking the widget aborts the break early.
• Idle State: Automatically pauses active timer accumulation and resets it if the user remains idle for the duration of a break.
• Right-Click: Resets the active/break timer back to its initial state.

Settings

Setting	Type	Default	Description
active_duration_minutes	int	20	Active screen time before triggering a break (minutes)
break_duration_seconds	int	20	Required duration for eye-care breaks (seconds)
enable_sound	bool	true	Play notification sound when breaks start or finish
enable_notifications	bool	true	Show system-level notifications for reminders

IPC

The service listens for compositor idle events. You can configure compositor hooks to notify the service when the system goes idle or resumes:

noctalia msg plugin apex077/eyecare:eyecare-service all idled
noctalia msg plugin apex077/eyecare:eyecare-service all active

You can also send custom trigger/reset events to the service:

noctalia msg plugin apex077/eyecare:eyecare-service all trigger-break
noctalia msg plugin apex077/eyecare:eyecare-service all finish-break
noctalia msg plugin apex077/eyecare:eyecare-service all reset

Notes

• Zero-Config Idle Detection: If dbus-monitor is installed, the service automatically monitors screensaver and login lock session state without manual compositor configuration.
• Sound Players: Sound notifications automatically try canberra-gtk-play, paplay, pw-play, and aplay to play system sounds.
• Grace Period: When starting a break, a grace period (default 10 seconds or the break duration, whichever is smaller) protects against accidental inputs aborting the break immediately.