You can measure my productivity by how slouched I am.
Sitting up straight at my desk, chair locked, perfect posture? I’m doing nothing, maybe looking through System Preferences to change the system highlight color.
Sliding down in my chair like jelly, with my shoulders where my butt should be and my head resting on the lumbar support? I’m building the next iPhone and it’ll be done by 2 AM.
I'm seeing that "great-ai-unlock" is happening. I see in last month a lot of new software being codeveloped with claude/codex/gemini/you-name it.
Before, it was too costly to do sth like the Posture app: here, you would have to know Swift and apple apis to write such tool. Would you be C# (very good) programmer with free weekend, and an idea: no cookie for ya.
These days, due to "great-ai-unlock" your skills can be easily transferred and used to cross platforms boundary and code such useful app in a weekend or so.
I'm not sure how you can use a laptop with good posture. An external monitor at the right height seems like a necessity.
I'm also optimistic about monitors in the form of glasses- even less effort needed to set yourself up for perfect posture. But the sweet spot problem is still very much a thing from what I've seen- can't wait until it's normal for them to have eye tracking, foveated rendering and streaming, and be wireless.
I guess it's technically cool, but one should be aware that there is no such thing as "good posture" or no accepted definition that lends itself to good science.
slouching isnt bad, remaining in the same posture for a long time is, or at least it can lead to discomfort. people that sit up straight all the time still get back pain. i slouch all the time and i don't. The popular attachment to specific configurationa of your joints that look aeathetically acceptable os orthorexia, not science.
I’ve had chronic back problems due to computer use and back posture for 20+ years. This past year I bought an adjustable height desk and an Aeron chair to try and help, but I still slouch constantly without realizing it.
I cloned this a few hours ago and started using it and it’s amazing how effective the blur is! And it’s frustrating to learn how quickly I start slouching the second I’m not paying attention.
I’ll echo what I’ve seen others saying about how cool it is to see something come about due to LLM coding that likely wouldn’t have otherwise. Glad to see you actively working on it, and I’ll be using it every day!
P.S. I’ve been an iOS and Mac dev writing Obj-C and then Swift for 16 years now, so if you run into any issues that Claude isn’t sorting out feel free to reach out to me, you can find my contact via my GitHub which is in my profile (same username as hear). Also as I’ll be using this regularly, if I come up with any improvements I’ll be sure to open a PR!
Sounds like a good idea but “good posture” meaning being upright is just such an outdated and incorrect thing. Be comfortable, relax in your chairs, it’s fine.
Once launched, Posturr runs in the background and displays a brief "Claude Mode Active" notification.
I haven’t checked the code yet, but what does the “Claude Mode” mean? Is it a poor naming choice? It implies that the local app is somehow connected to Claude (?)
I've now installed this and it's already improved my posture -- thanks! It reminds me of how I now wash my hands for at least twenty seconds every time, because my Apple Watch will annoy me if I stop at even 18 seconds. Little reminders like this are wonderful, and I appreciate you for creating this.
ps -- I added two feature requests and commented on another on the repo.
I love this, but I’d rather have an indicator in the menu bar, an app notification, or maybe a nice flow around the "notch" like NotchNook. (https://lo.cafe/notchnook)
Can't really afford to play with an app that would have such an obvious hit on productivity and mental clarity.
While this seems to detect posture fairly well, the screen blurring doesn't work for me despite allowing what appear to be the relevant permissions. (macOS 15.1)
Slouching is caused by the design of chairs and soreness in a single sitting position. I have a love-hate relationship with my Salli chair, but angle your legs down and slouching is no longer an issue, to the point where you don't even need a back on your chair.
I think this is an interesting application of computer vision for healthcare purposes.
I've noticed that the app tends to use 15% of my CPU constantly. I wonder if there is room to improve efficiency so that the app does not hog resources.
I wonder if this is less about “bad posture” and more about how people unconsciously optimize for stability when thinking deeply. When I’m reasoning through something hard, I tend to lock into whatever position minimizes micro-adjustments - even if it looks terrible ergonomically.
This is cool, I built something similar a while back. I originally wanted the screen to dim when I slouched but I couldn't get access to dimming on OSX. I ended up just playing a noise when I slouched. It became so distracting I stopped using it.
Love it - I did something like this for when codex is done - a script runs to detect if I’m at my computer or not and then notify my phone if I walked away that it’s done - mostly so I can get back to slouching ;)
Works pretty well, probably too resource heavy to just always keep on.
Suggestion: give the user a shortcut key to close the app in case the blur goes haywire on them.
Congratulations! I love seeing people express themselves to release things that were previously not economically viable to prioritize
Forget worrying about a 10x dev, Claude Code with the Opus 4.5 model has turned me into a 100x developer even in software stacks I'm not even familiar with. And with playwright-mcp its completely absolved the need for UX designers in my workflow because I just point playwright-mcp at an already established and A/B tested website for its UX principles. This gives me results far beyond what v0, lovable or Claude Code would come up with on its own.
That whole "good posture" thing is future physical problems waiting to happen. For 25 years, I've always put my feet up on the corner of my desk (to the left), set the seat as high as possible (or adjust the desk lower) and lean back, arms extended. Basically, I'm positioned like an F1 driver in a cockpit.
No back problems as there's no weight on my spine. No carpal tunnel issues, as my wrists are always flat. No fatigue from holding my body at right angles for hours at a time.
The downside is I look like a total slacker in the office, especially to narrow minded image conscious managers who expect me "to act professionally."
One thing I learned from my physio: in your spine, everything is connected.
For example, even if you sit perfectly upright, if you have anterior pelvic tilt, it can change the whole dynamics of your spine, that the cervical segment takes a lot of load that it isn't supposed to do.
Or with bad habits you can reprogram your neuromuscular system that it uses the wrong muscles to maintain posture, that can lead a series of problems long term.
If you have back/neck pain or tension that does not resolve in 1-2 weeks, go to a physio.
About 20 years ago they was an early XDG /Compiz plugin called ‘literal focus’ - as a joke, it only focused the focused window. It’s amusing to see this technique being used more practically.
A macOS app that blurs your screen when you slouch
(github.com)676 points by dnw 25 January 2026 | 219 comments
Comments
Sitting up straight at my desk, chair locked, perfect posture? I’m doing nothing, maybe looking through System Preferences to change the system highlight color.
Sliding down in my chair like jelly, with my shoulders where my butt should be and my head resting on the lumbar support? I’m building the next iPhone and it’ll be done by 2 AM.
I'm seeing that "great-ai-unlock" is happening. I see in last month a lot of new software being codeveloped with claude/codex/gemini/you-name it.
Before, it was too costly to do sth like the Posture app: here, you would have to know Swift and apple apis to write such tool. Would you be C# (very good) programmer with free weekend, and an idea: no cookie for ya.
These days, due to "great-ai-unlock" your skills can be easily transferred and used to cross platforms boundary and code such useful app in a weekend or so.
Jevons paradox is indeed working (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox).
I'm also optimistic about monitors in the form of glasses- even less effort needed to set yourself up for perfect posture. But the sweet spot problem is still very much a thing from what I've seen- can't wait until it's normal for them to have eye tracking, foveated rendering and streaming, and be wireless.
I cloned this a few hours ago and started using it and it’s amazing how effective the blur is! And it’s frustrating to learn how quickly I start slouching the second I’m not paying attention.
I’ll echo what I’ve seen others saying about how cool it is to see something come about due to LLM coding that likely wouldn’t have otherwise. Glad to see you actively working on it, and I’ll be using it every day!
P.S. I’ve been an iOS and Mac dev writing Obj-C and then Swift for 16 years now, so if you run into any issues that Claude isn’t sorting out feel free to reach out to me, you can find my contact via my GitHub which is in my profile (same username as hear). Also as I’ll be using this regularly, if I come up with any improvements I’ll be sure to open a PR!
Get it notorized and ask for some money! I will gladly pay it (and I hope others will do it as well).
Awesome concept: ergonomics and/or posture monitoring is a market opportunity for heavy users.
https://nekoze.app Nekoze warns you when you are hunched over.
Years back, we did a couple of whimsical prototypes along those lines (using J!NS MEME, smart glasses): https://youtu.be/LXIY2g-twOA
I haven’t checked the code yet, but what does the “Claude Mode” mean? Is it a poor naming choice? It implies that the local app is somehow connected to Claude (?)
ps -- I added two feature requests and commented on another on the repo.
https://huggingface.co/models?other=human-pose-estimation
https://huggingface.co/models?other=3d-human-mesh-recovery
Can't really afford to play with an app that would have such an obvious hit on productivity and mental clarity.
However, I was not familiar with Swift, the app was more or less vibe coded.
My next goal was to learn swift patterns to refactor the app into something that was understood and robust.
I will be reading though your sources to understand production quality Swift!!
I've noticed that the app tends to use 15% of my CPU constantly. I wonder if there is room to improve efficiency so that the app does not hog resources.
Still, always good to see someone push out a new app. Well done.
The blurring of the screen is a much better idea.
I tried opening by right-cliking on the app file, holding option, etc.
I'm on Sequoia 15.7.3 (24G419)
I guess this app won’t catch me slouching then.
Congratulations! I love seeing people express themselves to release things that were previously not economically viable to prioritize
Forget worrying about a 10x dev, Claude Code with the Opus 4.5 model has turned me into a 100x developer even in software stacks I'm not even familiar with. And with playwright-mcp its completely absolved the need for UX designers in my workflow because I just point playwright-mcp at an already established and A/B tested website for its UX principles. This gives me results far beyond what v0, lovable or Claude Code would come up with on its own.
No back problems as there's no weight on my spine. No carpal tunnel issues, as my wrists are always flat. No fatigue from holding my body at right angles for hours at a time.
The downside is I look like a total slacker in the office, especially to narrow minded image conscious managers who expect me "to act professionally."
For example, even if you sit perfectly upright, if you have anterior pelvic tilt, it can change the whole dynamics of your spine, that the cervical segment takes a lot of load that it isn't supposed to do.
Or with bad habits you can reprogram your neuromuscular system that it uses the wrong muscles to maintain posture, that can lead a series of problems long term.
If you have back/neck pain or tension that does not resolve in 1-2 weeks, go to a physio.
> Posturr uses your Mac's camera
Not all of us have web cams, or are willing to tolerate them from a security perspective. [apologetic grin]
* laughs histerically