Read 12 more books this year, without finding time to read.
Bookidoro lives in your Mac's menu bar. After each stretch of work, it opens the next few pages of your book. Read, click Done, get back to work.
Bookidoro is a Mac app. You can buy it here: the download link arrives by email, ready for your Mac.
Book II
Begin the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busy-body, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. All these things happen to them by reason of their ignorance of what is good and evil.
But I who have seen the nature of the good that it is beautiful, and of the bad that it is ugly, and the nature of him who does wrong, that it is akin to me, not only of the same blood or seed, but that it participates in the same intelligence and the same portion of the divinity, I can neither be injured by any of them, for no one can fix on me what is ugly, nor can I be angry with my kinsman, nor hate him.
For we are made for co-operation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of the upper and lower teeth.
A break arrives: the next two pages, the rest of the screen blurred. Text: Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, tr. George Long (public domain).
The pile of books you keep meaning to read.
The breaks that disappear into your phone.
Bookidoro puts them together. Work, read a few pages, work again.
Four steps, and the fourth is a click.
Add a book
Drop in a PDF or DRM-free EPUB you own. It joins your Library, and the file stays where it is.
Work
Bookidoro waits in the menu bar and counts your work time, 10 to 60 minutes, your choice.
Read
When the break comes, a calm panel opens with just the next 1–5 pages. No scrolling ahead.
Done
Your place is saved. The next pages arrive after your next stretch of work.
Two pages at a time adds up faster than you think.
2 pages × 6 breaks = 12 pages a day, about a 250-page book every month.
It never shows up in the middle of your call.
Waits out your meetings
While your microphone or camera is in use (Zoom, Meet, Teams, FaceTime, Slack) or your screen is mirrored, the break waits and appears about a minute after. It reads only on/off flags. No audio or video is ever accessed.
Doesn't steal your keyboard
The panel opens without taking focus from what you're typing. Bad moment? Snooze it for 5 minutes.
Waits until you're back
Away from your Mac? The break holds until you return, and time away never counts in your stats.
Hidden from screen sharing
Where macOS allows it, the reading panel stays out of what you share.
Small doses, exactly where you left off.
Breaks on your schedule
Pick your work time (10–60 min) and pages per break (1–5). Reading happens by itself.
Pomodoro long breaks
Every 4th break brings more pages (5 by default), just like the classic rhythm.
Keep reading →
In the flow? Get the next pages in the same break.
End here
Read 2 of 5 pages? Stop on that page and the next break starts exactly there.
Snooze & Read now
Push a break back 5 minutes, or open your pages from the menu any time.
A Library of your books
Covers, titles and progress bars. Switch books with a click; each keeps its own place.
PDF and EPUB
EPUBs are laid out as clean pages, in light or dark mode.
Never loses your place
Moved or renamed a file? Bookidoro finds it again and recognizes copies of the same book.
Feels like macOS
Menu bar only, no Dock icon. Settings laid out like System Settings. English and Georgian.
Watch the pile get smaller.
Streaks, pace and a finish date for every book. Time only counts while you're really reading: after 3 idle minutes, Bookidoro asks "Still reading?"
Dashboard
Example dataWhen you read
This book
Example dataMeditations
Marcus Aurelius · 254 pages
- Pages read
- 96 of 254
- Your pace
- 1.6 min/page
- Time left
- 4 h 13 min
- Estimated finish
- Oct 24
Your books stay on your Mac. So does everything else.
- No accountNo sign-up, no email, no login. Open it and add a book.
- No cloudBookidoro never uploads, copies or changes your books.
- Local statisticsYour reading history is a simple file on your Mac that you can inspect.
- No listeningCall detection reads only "in use" flags. It never hears or records anything.
- No trackingNo analytics in the app. The only network request is the update check.
- Signed by AppleSigned with a Developer ID and notarized, with signed in-app updates.
The missing piece between a timer and a reader.
Tell you to take a break
Then leave you to fill it, usually with your phone.
Wait for you to open them
Great for reading, once you've found the time. Most days you won't.
Brings the pages to you
At the right moment, in a finite dose, and never during your calls.
Pay once. Read for years.
Less than a paperback, for a book a month.
No subscription: Bookidoro runs entirely on your Mac and has no servers to pay for. And if it doesn't stick, you get your money back.
- Every feature, on all your Macs
- Free updates for all 1.x versions
- Download link and license key by email, right away
- 30-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked
Secure checkout by Gumroad. No account needed, just your email.
Made by Niko Peikrishvili, an independent developer in Tbilisi, Georgia. I built Bookidoro because my breaks went to my phone and my books stayed unread. Questions or ideas? Write to support@bookidoro.app.
Questions, answered.
Which files can I read?
PDF and EPUB. EPUBs must be DRM-free.
Can I read my Kindle books?
No. Kindle books are copy-protected (DRM), and Amazon offers no way for other apps to open them. Many publishers sell DRM-free EPUBs, and public-domain classics are free from Project Gutenberg and Standard Ebooks.
What about Apple Books?
Books bought in the Apple Books store are copy-protected and can't be opened. PDFs and DRM-free EPUBs that you added to Apple Books yourself are ordinary files and work fine.
Will it interrupt my meetings?
No. While your microphone or camera is in use, or your screen is mirrored, breaks wait until about a minute after.
Will it steal my keyboard focus?
No. The panel appears without taking focus from the app you're typing in.
Can I read more, or less?
Yes. Keep reading gives you the next pages in the same break. End here stops on the page you're on, and the next break resumes exactly there.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Everything is local. Only the update check uses the internet, and you can turn automatic updates off.
Which Macs does it run on?
macOS 13 Ventura or later, on Apple Silicon and Intel.
Can I try it before buying?
There's no trial. Instead, you have 30 days to change your mind: if Bookidoro isn't for you, email us and you get a full refund, no questions asked.
How do I get the app after buying?
Your receipt email has the download link and your license key. Open Bookidoro, paste the key, and add your first book.
Is there an iPhone, iPad or Windows version?
Not at the moment. Bookidoro is Mac only.