Pomodoro for books

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.

Free to use, every feature No account needed macOS 13+ · Apple Silicon & Intel PDF & EPUB

Bookidoro is a Mac app. Open bookidoro.app on your Mac to download it free.

A Bookidoro reading break on a laptop: the next pages of Pride and Prejudice in a calm panel in the middle of the screen, with the rest of the desktop blurred The same reading break with the Night page theme
A break arrives: the next two pages of your book, the rest of the screen blurred. Shown: Pride and Prejudice (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.

How it works

Four steps, and the fourth is a click.

Step 1

Add a book

Drop in a PDF or DRM-free EPUB you own. It joins your Library, and the file stays where it is.

Step 2

Work

Bookidoro waits in the menu bar and counts your work time, 10 to 60 minutes, your choice.

Step 3

Read

When the break comes, a calm panel opens with just the next 1–5 pages. No scrolling ahead.

Step 4

Done

Your place is saved. The next pages arrive after your next stretch of work.

The quiet math

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.

12pages a day
60pages a week
12books a year

Assumes 5 workdays a week, 250 workdays a year and 250-page books.

Respectful of your day

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.

Features

Small doses, exactly where you left off.

The Bookidoro Library: book covers with progress bars and a checkmark on the book being read
Your Library. Every book keeps its own place. The checkmark marks the one you're reading now.
Bookidoro reading panel settings: page theme, blur background, minimum height and the position of the End here button
Set it up your way. Page themes from Paper to Night, background blur, panel height, and where End here sits.

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 become clean, readable pages. Page themes recolor PDFs too, all the way to Night.

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.

Statistics

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?"

Bookidoro statistics: pages today, a 9-day streak, 978 pages read in total, a 30-day chart, how breaks ended and a heatmap of when you read
The dashboard. Today, your streak, totals, the last 30 days, and when you actually read.
A Finished card for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: 84 pages, 35 breaks, 1 minute 49 seconds per page
Every book, start to finish. Pages, breaks, your pace, and the day you started.

Your books stay on your Mac. So does everything you read.

  • 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.
  • Anonymous statistics onlyWhich features get used, never what you read. One switch in Settings turns it off. Privacy policy
  • Signed by AppleSigned with a Developer ID and notarized, with signed in-app updates.
Why not just…

The missing piece between a timer and a reader.

Pomodoro timers

Tell you to take a break

Then leave you to fill it, usually with your phone.

Reading apps

Wait for you to open them

Great for reading, once you've found the time. Most days you won't.

Bookidoro

Brings the pages to you

At the right moment, in a finite dose, and never during your calls.

Pricing

Free to use. Pay if it sticks.

Every feature works without paying, forever. Nothing is locked and nothing expires.

After your first few breaks, Bookidoro shows a small reminder at most once a day. If it has become part of your day, a license removes the reminders and keeps an independent app going. Less than one paperback a year.

$9.99per year for a license
  • No more reminders in the menu or the reading panel
  • One license for up to 3 Macs
  • License key by email, right away
  • 30-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked
  • Cancel anytime from your Gumroad receipt
Buy a license · $9.99/year

Not sure yet? Download free and decide later.

FAQ

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. Reading works entirely offline. Bookidoro only goes online to check for updates, to verify a license, and to send anonymous usage statistics, which you can turn off in Settings → Privacy.

Which Macs does it run on?

macOS 13 Ventura or later, on Apple Silicon and Intel.

Is Bookidoro really free?

Yes. Reading breaks, the Library, themes, statistics and updates all work without paying, forever. After your first 3 breaks you'll see Buy License in the menu and a small reminder card, at most once a day, that you can dismiss. A license removes them.

What happens if I cancel?

Nothing stops working. When your paid year ends, the reminders simply come back. Your Library, statistics and books stay exactly as they are.

How do I enter my license?

Your receipt email has your license key. In the Bookidoro menu, choose Enter License… and paste it. One license works on up to 3 Macs.

Can I get a refund?

Yes. If you change your mind within 30 days, email us and you get a full refund, no questions asked.

Is there an iPhone, iPad or Windows version?

Not at the moment. Bookidoro is Mac only.

Your next break could be a chapter.

Download free
Free to use, every featuremacOS 13+ · Apple Silicon & IntelLicense $9.99/year, optional