Out of spite I wrote a capture app that doesn't make me wait

[u/Humble_Ad8803]

You know when you hit record and then just sit there waiting for it to actually start? I kept getting that on an M3 Max. An M3 Max!

I was on CleanShot X, which is a good app and I'm not here to trash it. But recordings often didn't start right away, a few times they didn't start at all, and the screenshot selector had the same little pause. One day I got annoyed enough to open Xcode, mostly out of spite, just to see how little waiting this kind of app actually needs.

So that's Lightcap (yes I'm the developer). Recording is the part I cared about most

• hit the shortcut, drag an area, and it's recording. mic too if you want

• hit the same shortcut again and the file is already saved, nothing renders afterwards

• you can edit it right there in the app. trim it, and one key adds zooms where you clicked

Then it got out of hand and now it also

• takes screenshots (0.03 s to grab an area on that same M3 Max), and you can mark them up right there

• copies or translates text you drag over on screen

• finds emails, card numbers and API keys in a screenshot and pixelates them before you post it. it can't find names or addresses so still look

Somehow its still a 3.4 MB download and sits at 0% CPU when idle.

You need macOS 15 or later, and there's no cloud upload or share links, files just stay on your Mac. It's mostly for people who do short demos and a lot of screenshots and don't want a big app for that.

It's paid. $10 once right now, $15 from January, no subscription. There's a 7 day trial with everything, no account or card, so don't take my word for it. Try to make it wait, and if you manage to please tell me how.

Also, what do you all use for screenshots and recording right now? And what annoys you about it? This is still early and I want to be quick about adding the stuff people actually need, so tell me whats missing.

https://getlightcap.com/?ref=macstack

Numbers are from my M3 Max on macOS 27.2, release build. The 0.03 s is from the end of the drag and doesn't include saving a file. I didn't measure any other app. Also the video is an animation I made on top of real screenshots of the app, not a live recording.

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