This new Mac application holds your screen captive until you consume water.

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      Hydration Hostage resides in your menu bar and will block your screen according to a set schedule, only allowing access once your camera verifies that you have taken a sip.

      A new app for Mac is targeting the common issue of ignored hydration reminders. Unlike apps like Loook, which gently remind you to drink water alongside notifications for maintaining good posture and taking eye breaks, Hydration Hostage adopts a more assertive approach. Created by an independent developer, the app occupies your menu bar and takes control of your screen at specified times until your camera confirms that you have actually drunk water.

      **How it works**

      Hydration Hostage utilizes Apple’s Vision framework for verification. Since camera access is necessary for the app, the developer has been transparent about the privacy aspect in a Reddit post, clarifying that frames are processed locally and discarded immediately afterward, with no analytics system involved in the verification process.

      The app provides three enforcement modes to align with the level of accountability you feel you need. The Gentle mode gives a standard reminder that you can acknowledge and move past. The Enforcer mode requires a camera check before allowing your screen to unlock. The most intense option, Hostage, assumes you'll attempt to cheat and makes it as challenging as possible, although you can always exit using the Escape key in genuine emergencies.

      **Pricing and availability**

      Hydration Hostage can be downloaded for free and includes a seven-day trial with full features, giving you ample time to see if this tough-love method works for you. If it proves effective, a one-time license costs $14.99 until June 18, after which the price will increase to $19.99. There is no subscription fee.

      Passive hydration reminders have often been easy to dismiss, but Hydration Hostage operates on the principle that the solution lies in completely removing that option and linking screen access directly to whether you have complied with the reminder.

      Pranob is an experienced tech journalist with over eight years of experience in consumer technology coverage.

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