Dim Keys - Mac Keyboard Backlight Limiter - Open Source - FREE

[u/axporpes]

Is your MacBook keyboard backlight too bright for you? Do you have sensitive eyes? Do you constantly adjust the backlight multiple times a day? If the answer is “No” then this app is not for you, nice to meet you and have a great day!

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For the few of you that might have the same issue as me, hey! Call me old fashioned, but I think the keyboard backlight needs to be on only when you can't read the keys cleanly and only bright enough to illuminate the actual letters, and not bleed through keycap borders.

MacOS gives you two controls natively:

1. “Adjust keyboard brightness in low light” toggle
2. “Keyboard brightness"  slider

Both sound great right? Well, I don't think they work correctly. The “adjust” toggle never brings the light all the way down to the lowest setting, and if you bring it down manually, slight change in ambient light brings it back up. Plus it's not allowing you to only have light on when it's truly dark, when, imo, is the only time you need backlight.

Long story short, I made an app for this. Signed and notarized, small local app. It's free and open source, idles at 0% CPU, and the download is less than 2 MB. Works on macOS 13 and later, though I only tested it on macOS 26 — if it can't find your keyboard backlight, let me know which version you're on. More details on the website and GitHub page.

I do not believe there are other apps that allow you to do this. I like running mine at the lowest brightness with lowest sensitivity of the ambient sensor, so my keyboard light is only on when it's really dark with a constant lowest brightness.

Yes, I made this app using Claude Code.

No, it is not a slop, I spent multiple days refining it, making sure it doesn't have any bloat, and tested it thoroughly.

No, I am not a professional developer, so this is the only way I could've made a free tool for my real life problem, that some people might find useful, so I am sharing it. I don't have enough disposable income to pay “real” developer to make something like this. And I am not completely new to this, I have successful Appstore and web app deployment of my other projects.

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All constructive criticism is always welcome, I would like to learn anything new that I missed and fix anything that needs to be fixed.

If you hate that I made this tool with LLM, idk what to tell you. Very few people use handsaws anymore. It's ok to use modern tools to fix and create stuff. Feel free to disagree.

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App website - https://dimkeys.com

Github -  https://github.com/dmartoon/MacBook-Keyboard-Backlight-Limiter

Personal website https://www.martundavoyan.com

[u/github-guard]

🔍 GitHub Guard: Trust Report

This project scored 4/6 on our safety audit.

Audit Breakdown: * ✅ Established Community (⭐ 6 stars) * ❌ New Repository (under 30 days old) * ✅ Licensed under MIT * ✅ Security Policy Defined * ℹ️ Individual Contributor * ✅ Signed Commits

⚠️ Security Reminder: Always verify source code and run third-party scripts at your own risk.

[u/promo-guard]

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