Prevent Eye Strains, Relax Your Eyesight

excellent
key review info
application features
  • Configurable short and long brakes
  • (2 more, see all...)

With the evolution of computer technology, the PC became a must in every company and every home. Besides the many advantages that come with it (Internet access, fun activities, programming etc.) it also can be a decisive factor for your health in the long run.

It is also known that today's modern jobs require more or less to organize, manage or track various tasks with the help of computers, a thing that in time can put a serious strain on the eyes if the user doesn't take periodic brakes to rest them.

Eye strains occur when the eyes get tired from intense computer use. This usually doesn't affect you very much and will go away after a good rest, but in the long run working with computers all day can become problematic leading to blurred vision, back and head aches, dry and burning eyes, forehead heaviness, light sensitivity, delayed focusing, sore eyes or distorted color vision.

While one can schedule breaks on his own, you might prefer a simple program that can remind you every time you need to take a brake. Eyes Relax is a small application that can do just that, reminding you at a specified interval to relax your eyes.

The application is distributed as freeware which means you can use it as long as you want without any time limits or functional restrictions. Of course, to support the developer and his work you can always donate any sum through the donation button in the About screen. Apart from that it's also portable, which makes it a tool that you can carry on any USB device everywhere you go.

Eyes Relax will comfortably sit in your system tray becoming active every 13 minutes by default to alert the user that is time to take a 60 seconds brake. It's up to you to configure it the way it suits best with your current activities by setting up different profiles accordingly.

From the main window you can easily configure your work and brake time as well as the number of short and long breaks. At the bottom of this window you can view the time left until the next brake.

The program offers you the possibility to decide the way you will be reminded of the upcoming break from the Configure window, giving you four options to choose from: display the default break dialog, blank screen, show an image or a slideshow of pictures from a chosen directory. You can individually configure the short and long brakes to suit your working style.

From the Notification tab you can setup Eyes Relax to notify you about an upcoming break with a few seconds before it will happen. It can show a balloon tooltip or a simple notification dialog.

The last tab from the Configuration window, the Sounds tab, allows you to choose the audio that will be played on break notification, break start and break end. The program comes with some default sounds that you can replace with the ones you like or remove them all if they start to bother you. Here you can also find a volume bar to increase or decrease the volume of your sounds to a pleasant level.

Eyes Relax also features a Parent Mode that allows you to password protect the application to make sure your children will take enough brakes when playing at the computer. You can also choose to disable the Task Manager so other users cannot close the process to avoid taking the required brakes.

Last but not least the Settings tab will give you the possibility to save your current settings as an individual profile for quick access. You can setup as many profiles as you like according to your daily activities and then simply select and load them each time you need a different configuration.

Eyes Relax gives you the possibility to choose the default language from a set of 9 language packs, this setting becoming active after you restart the program. From here you can also choose the action to be performed when you double click the Tray icon.

So if you want to take regular breaks but you just can't follow the schedule, Eyes Relax could be the tool you need. It will help you maintain your health and protect your eyes from permanent damage.


The Good

A simple, portable and easy to use piece of software that will remind you to take periodic brakes when you spend a lot of time on your computer. The Parent Mode will make sure that your children will not spend much time playing at the computer without taking any brakes.

The use of profiles can come in handy when you work on different projects and you need to schedule your time to the second.

The Bad

We can't say any bad things about this application, it's a straight-forward utility that does what it suppose to do – protect your eyesight from prolonged exposure to the computer screen. Some eye exercises could be added during the brakes to help you keep your eyesight sharp and relax your eye muscles.  

The Truth

Eyes Relax will surely contribute to your health by reminding you to take a brake from time to time to rest your eyes and avoid eye strains and other affections caused by regular work on the computer.

This article is also available in Spanish: Previene los dolores de ojos, relajando tu vista.

Here are some snapshots of the application in action:

 

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user interface 4
features 5
ease of use 5
pricing / value 5


final rating 5
Editor's review
excellent
 
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