01 / A little fuel
Take a sip.
Timed by how long you've actually been working at your desk.
A little companion in your computer
Nifu: a free desktop companion that looks out for you
Gentle reminders. A familiar voice. Right on your screen.
0 downloads · 100% Free · No account needed
Care throughout your day
For the things
you forget to do.
Another email can wait.
A sip of water. A proper lunch.
A quick call home.
02 / A little pause
Rest your eyes.
20-20-20 eye breaks and screen-time breathers.
03 / A little home
Call home.
A gentle nudge to hear a familiar voice.
Habits that breathe with you
Designed to care,
not to disturb.
Traditional reminder apps pile up modal popups. Nifu tracks your active computer time and gives you quiet breathing room.
5/8
Hydration Goal
Smart prompts based on actual desk presence.
20s
20-20-20 Eyes
Look 20 feet away every 20 minutes to relax eye muscles.
4/5
Movement & Breathing
Stand up, unclench your neck, stretch, and take a slow breath.
45m
Focus Sessions
Focus sessions from 25 to 90 minutes, with check-ins held back.
Insights & streaks
Watch your healthy
rhythm grow.
Private, on-device insights built from your own history. Nifu only notices whether you are at the computer, never what you type. Below is a sample week.
Current Streak
🔥 +3 days
7 Days
Daily goals achieved
Weekly Hydration
↗ +18%
7.8 / 8 cups
Average intake this week
20-20-20 Eye Rests
92%
14 breaks
Taken on active hours
Deep Focus Work
↗ 3h 40m
4.2 hrs/day
Without distraction alerts
7-Day Wellness Rhythm
Sample data · Consistency across a week
Hydration
Eye breaks
Feels like your companion
12 languages.
Three gentle tones.
Choose a language and tone, written in Latin script with an English line underneath.
Kure neram aayi, kurachu vellam kudikku!
Malayalam · Gentle prompt in Latin script
12 languages · 3 tones (Caring, Playful, Calm) · No cloud
On your terms
A little care.
A little breathing room.
Choose quiet hours, space out check-ins, and snooze when you need a moment without a backlog of missed alerts.
Quiet hours
10:00 PM — 8:00 AM
A little peace until morning. Bedtime check-in stays on.
Your timing.
Your daily limit.
No backlog of missed nudges.
Respects focus sessions.
Calm by design
Never in your way.
Gentle on your ears.
No blaring alarms. No invasive popups that knock you out of deep work. Nifu stays out of sight between visits and lives in your menu bar or system tray, with an optional soft chime.
Sound
On or off
A soft chime, not an alarm.
When your character arrives, Nifu plays one short, gentle chime. It nudges you without pulling you out of your work. Prefer quiet? Switch it off and your character will still show up.
The Nifu chime
Plays once when your character arrives
784 Hz soft sine tone
0.3 s then it fades out
Built in no sound files
Reminder sound
A short, gentle chime when your character arrives.
Speak reminders aloud
Uses your computer’s own voice. Off by default.
One soft chime, never a loud alarm
Switch sound off any time in Settings
Reminder text never leaves your device
On your desktop
macOS · Windows · Linux
Always one click away.
Between visits your character is out of sight. Nifu stays in your menu bar or system tray, where you can start a focus session, pause the companion, or add a reminder.
Menu bar companion
Zero window clutter
💧 Hydration check
Nudges you on time, then tucks back into tray.
Nifu
Active · 2h 14m today
Up next
+ NewToday
- Water
- Breaks
- Stretch
Focus
Open Nifu
Quit
Reminders never stack up
Tray icon on Windows & Linux
Respects focus sessions and quiet hours
How it works
A few choices.
Then Nifu’s there.
Set it up in a minute: pick your language, tone and rhythm. After that, Nifu does the remembering while you get on with your day.
01
Meet your companion.
Choose a language, tone, and pacing that feel right for you.
02
Find your rhythm.
Set your hydration goals, eye-break intervals, and quiet hours.
03
Carry on.
Nifu checks in quietly from the corner of your screen, only when it is time.
In their words
Feedback from
people who use it.
100% Free & Independent
Fuel the companion.
Nifu is free, with no accounts, no ads, and no tracking inside the app. If it helps you drink more water, rest your eyes, or simply makes your desk a little warmer, you can support its development with a coffee.
Hand-crafted by Muhammed Nifal C H · Software Engineer & Designer
Buy me a coffee
Support on Buy Me a CoffeeYour space stays yours
A familiar companion.
Privacy, built in.
Built from day one to respect your boundaries. No surveillance, no cloud accounts, and your habit data never leaves your machine.
No account to create
Download and run immediately without signups, passwords, or email verification.
Zero camera, microphone, or screen access
Nifu never asks for these permissions and never sees what is on your screen.
Only knows if you are at your desk
Activity tracking only senses active vs. idle state to avoid interruptions, never what you type.
100% local preferences & habit storage
All reminders, sound choices, and streak metrics stay strictly on your local computer.
Downloads
Download Nifu for Mac, Windows and Linux.
Installers for every desktop platform. Lightweight, and your habit data stays on your device.
macOS
Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. Follows macOS accent colors and light/dark appearance. Calendar meeting heads-ups work on macOS. First time opening it? Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.
Windows
Installer for 64-bit Windows 10 and 11. If Windows shows “Protected your PC”, choose More info → Run anyway.
Linux
AppImage and Debian package for Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, Debian, and Linux Mint. For the AppImage, mark the file as executable, then open it.
Nifu FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is Nifu free? Is it private? Which platforms and languages does it support? Quick answers about Nifu, the free desktop companion for Mac, Windows and Linux.
Nifu is a free desktop companion app for macOS, Windows and Linux. A small animated character lives along the bottom of your screen and gently reminds you to drink water, rest your eyes (the 20-20-20 rule), stretch, eat, sleep and call home. Reminders are timed by how long you have actually been at your computer.
Yes. Nifu is free to download and use, with no account, subscription or ads.
macOS 12 or later (Apple Silicon and Intel), 64-bit Windows 10 and 11, and Linux (x86_64 AppImage and .deb for Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Arch and Linux Mint). Every installer is in the Downloads section above.
Twelve: English, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi, Urdu and Odia. Indian languages are written in Latin script with an English line underneath. You can pick a Caring, Playful or Calm tone, or write your own messages.
Your habit data is. Nifu requires no account, the app has no tracking or analytics, and it keeps your habits and preferences on your own computer. The only network request the app makes is an optional once-a-day check for a new version, which you can turn off in Settings. This website uses Google Analytics for visit statistics only if you accept the banner.
No. Nifu only notices whether you are at the computer or away, so it can time reminders. It never reads keystrokes, screen content or the apps you use, and it does not use your camera or microphone.
The 20-20-20 rule means looking at something 20 feet (about 6 metres) away for 20 seconds every 20 minutes to rest your eyes. Nifu reminds you at the right moments, based on how long you have been at your screen. It is a gentle habit reminder, not medical advice.
Nifu is built to stay light. It sits quietly between visits and only wakes briefly when your character appears.
Yes. You have full control over hydration intervals, 20-20-20 eye break timings, daily limits, and quiet hours (such as evenings and weekends) so Nifu only visits when you want it to.
Nifu tries hard not to. Reminders never stack, wait for a good moment, respect focus sessions and quiet hours, and back off if you skip them. You can also pause the companion from the tray any time.
Yes. Alongside built-in habits like water and eye breaks, you can create custom recurring or one-time reminders with your own labels and timing.
Yes. Start a 25, 45 or 60 minute focus session from the menu bar or tray, or a 30, 60 or 90 minute one from the Today screen. During a focus session Nifu holds back its check-ins so you can work without interruption.
Nifu checks once a day and shows a notice with a download link when a new version is out. You can turn the check off in Settings. It never downloads or installs anything by itself.
A fixed timer rings on a schedule whether you are at your desk or not. Nifu times its reminders by how long you have actually been at your computer, then a small character walks in and asks in your own language. It waits for a good moment, never stacks reminders, and backs off if you skip them.
Yes. Nifu is a free desktop reminder app that runs on macOS 12+, 64-bit Windows 10 and 11, and Linux. It reminds you to drink water, rest your eyes with the 20-20-20 rule, stretch, eat, sleep and call home.
Yes. Reminders, your character and your settings all run on your computer, so they work without an internet connection. The only thing that uses the internet is the optional once-a-day check for a new version.
Yes. There is a native build for Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3 and M4) and a separate build for Intel Macs, both for macOS 12 or later.
A little friend.
Right here on your screen.
macOS 12+ · Windows 10/11 · Linux AppImage & .deb