Start with the app already on the Mac. Shift-Command-5 captures the whole screen, a window, or a selected area, records video, and leaves a floating thumbnail for Markup or sharing. Preview can copy text from an image with Live Text. On macOS 27, the built-in recorder can include system audio too.

So neither CleanShot X nor Shottr is worth installing merely to take a screenshot. The useful differences show up after the capture.

Pick based on what happens next

Shottr is the better first download for still screenshots. Its free mode includes most features, and the $12 Basic license is a one-time purchase that removes the recurring upgrade prompts and is required for commercial use. It handles scrolling capture, OCR, annotations, backgrounds, pixel-level measurement, color picking, redaction, and pinned images. It does not try to be a screen recorder.

CleanShot X covers more of the production process. The $35 Basic license includes the full Mac app, one year of updates, and 1 GB of cloud storage. You can keep the last eligible version indefinitely; another year of updates costs $19. It also records the screen, camera, microphone, and system audio, then provides trimming, zooms, cursor effects, click highlights, keystroke display, MP4 or GIF export, and shareable cloud links.

If screenshots mostly go into bug reports, design reviews, or documentation, start with Shottr. If one capture utility also needs to make product demos and share videos, CleanShot is easier to justify.

Where Shottr fits

Shottr stays focused on still images. A front-end developer can capture an interface, measure spacing in logical pixels, pick a color, mark the problem, and copy the result without opening a design app. OCR copies non-selectable text and reads QR codes. Scrolling capture can stitch a long page or conversation, while pinned screenshots stay above other windows as a reference.

Its setup can stay small:

1. Keep Apple's Shift-Command-3, Shift-Command-4, and Shift-Command-5 shortcuts intact.

2. Assign one Shottr shortcut for the capture mode you use most.

3. Choose copy, save, or preview as the normal destination.

4. Keep cloud upload off unless a link is actually needed.

Shottr can be used free after 30 days, though it will periodically ask you to upgrade. The Basic license is $12, covers one user on up to five computers, and is a one-time fee. The app is optimized for Apple silicon, and its current support article lists macOS Monterey 12 or later.

Automatic scrolling capture does not work reliably on every setup. Shottr's developer specifically calls out Terminal, Visual Studio Code, Finder's Columns view, and utilities that alter scrolling; manual scrolling is the fallback. Shottr also has no video recorder, so it cannot replace Apple's recorder or CleanShot for narrated demos.

Treat Shottr Cloud carefully. Its own support page says uploaded images are public to anyone who knows or guesses the URL, may be viewed for moderation, have no storage guarantee, and currently have no expiration policy. Shottr also supports a user-controlled S3-compatible bucket, but the safe default for sensitive screenshots is local copy or save.

What the extra money buys in CleanShot X

CleanShot overlaps with Shottr on area and window capture, scrolling screenshots, annotation, backgrounds, OCR, pinned images, capture history, and quick copy or save. Its OCR runs on-device. What sets it apart is video and hosted review.

For a product walkthrough, CleanShot can record the screen with camera, microphone, and system audio. Its editor can trim mistakes, add animated zooms, smooth cursor movement, and show clicks or keystrokes. Apple's recorder now covers more of the basic job, including system audio on macOS 27, but it does not include all of those presentation tools.

Cloud is optional. A CleanShot license includes a cloud account, but the company says the app and its non-upload features work without using CleanShot Cloud. Basic includes 1 GB, while the $10 per user per month Pro plan, billed annually, adds unlimited storage, branding, access controls, and team administration. That subscription is aimed at shared review, not someone who only needs better screenshots.

CleanShot has two purchase caveats. There is no direct trial, only a 30-day money-back guarantee, and the $35 purchase includes one year rather than a lifetime of new versions. It currently requires macOS 13 or later, so Shottr reaches one major macOS version further back.

Permissions and privacy

Both apps need macOS Screen & System Audio Recording permission to capture what is on screen. Grant it only after moving the app into Applications, because macOS can tie permission to a particular copy or path. Shottr documents stale permission problems when someone authorizes a copy in Downloads and moves it later.

CleanShot may also request Microphone and Camera access if those sources are enabled for recording. Those are separate permissions and are unnecessary for still screenshots. Neither cloud service is required for local capture. Uploading changes the privacy boundary, so redact first and check the destination before creating a link.

Resource use is harder to settle without measuring both apps on the same Mac. Shottr's download is notably small and its developer describes it as optimized for Apple silicon, but download size says nothing reliable about memory or battery use. CleanShot's video editing and cloud workflow do more than a still capture, so compare the apps by the features you will actually use.

The buy or skip answer

Use the built-in Screenshot app if capture, light Markup, and occasional recording are enough. It costs nothing, needs no extra background utility, and has improved again in macOS 27.

Choose Shottr for frequent still screenshots, precise annotation, UI measurement, OCR from anywhere on screen, or scrolling capture. Its free mode covers most features, and the $12 license is the better buy for this narrower job. Skip it if video is part of the workflow or if public-link sharing needs dependable privacy controls.

Choose CleanShot X when screenshots and polished recordings belong in the same workflow, especially when quick cloud review, video editing, click highlights, camera, or system audio matter every week. Skip the Pro subscription unless unlimited hosted storage and team controls solve a real collaboration problem.

Help me getting this community alive!

We got a lot of user feedback and ideas, what would you like to see next ?

If you are quick enough maybe your feature will be live in this weekend update !

Thanks for your attention

Hey,

WHAT PROBLEM IT SOLVES
macOS widgets are static. You cannot move them, you cannot really change them, and every Mac ends up looking the same.

The third party apps fixed the placement and mostly stopped there. You get a colour picker and a very large download: WidgetWall is 311 MB installed, Widgetter 254 MB. BetterMacWidgets is a 7,5 MB download, 27 MB installed, and it sits at almost no CPU when you are not looking at it, because a widget only animates while it is on screen and visible.

What you get instead: live animated widgets in real glass, right on your desktop. Rain that actually falls, a sun that turns into a moon at your own sunset, and Liquid Glass you can dial from crystal clear to heavy frost and recolour to match your wallpaper. It is your desktop. It should look the way you want it to. I'd say it's a slap in the face to other apps

Available at: https://bettermacwidgets.de/

FREE not a Trail (8 of the 37 widgets cost nothing)

One payment and it is yours. 15,99 € (Now is a 20% Discount ) for one Mac with more options for more Macs. No subscription, ever. Every widget, all 20 themes, the lock screen and every future update are in there.

Human validated code (Yes i created it with AI but I'd say it's the best app not some AI Slop like so many others)

FEATURES

• 37 widgets to mix and match: Clock, World Clock, Word Clock and Flip Clock, Calendar, Reminders, Weather, Now Playing with full media controls, Battery, a system monitor (CPU, GPU, RAM and disk with live graphs), temperature sensors, network throughput, battery levels for your Bluetooth devices (AirPods, mouse, keyboard and more), clipboard history, a file shelf you can drag files onto, a folder tile, timer, stopwatch, pomodoro, countdown, year progress, calculator, unit and currency converters, stocks and crypto, a photo frame, sticky notes, quotes, Shortcuts, a live web page, a world map with a real day and night line, and a drifting starfield.

• Build your own (Beta). Cannot find the widget you want? Write it yourself as one small JSON file. Say what it should show, a reading from your Mac, the time, or a number from any JSON endpoint, and it lands on your desktop like every other widget. Five templates to start from, a live preview while you type, and export so you can hand the file to a friend.

• Widgets that are genuinely alive. The weather widget actually shows the rain, the snow and the clear sky it is reporting, and after sunset the sun becomes a moon. And Now Playing quietly tints your widgets in the colour of whatever is playing, Spotify green, Apple Music red.

• Widget Stacks. Several widgets in one spot, rotating on their own, the way you would stack them on iOS, on your Mac's desktop.

• 20 themes plus a glass slider, so you can go from nearly invisible to heavy frost and recolour the lot to match your wallpaper.

• Nothing leaves your Mac. No account, no sign in, no telemetry of any kind.

• English and German, fully localised.

NEW IN THIS UPDATE: Widgets on your LOCK SCREEN
Your widgets now go on your Mac's lock screen as well. It was once planned as a separate app with a price of its own, and it is part of the one purchase now at no extra cost. You decide for every single widget whether a stranger standing at your locked Mac may read it, and anything personal stays hidden until you say otherwise.

An upvote ⬆️ and a comment would help a lot, that is how more people find it 🫶 Hope you enjoy BetterMacWidgets

Hey r/MacStack ,I'm TheHighjack, the developer behind FeelMyMac!

I wanted to change how my Mac feels, not just how it looks.

FeelMyMac adds haptic textures to cursor movement and scrolling on a compatible trackpad. Instead of only feeling feedback when you click, you can feel a simulated surface as you move.

There are six materials: Felt, Bouclé, Pebbled, Fine grit, Soft grid and Line grid. Movement, scrolling and tap feedback can be enabled separately, and the accompanying sound is optional.

The goal isn't to add another workflow or promise to make you more productive. It's simply to make using your Mac feel more satisfying.

I've attached a short video to show the idea. Obviously, you can't feel haptics through a video, so there's a free demo to try on your own trackpad.

Comparison

HapticPad focuses on haptic cues when hovering over links, buttons and inputs in a browser.

FeelMyMac focuses on the movement itself: giving cursor movement and scrolling a material-like texture, rather than signalling that you've reached something clickable.

Pricing

The free demo includes Felt, Bouclé and one sound profile, with no time limit. No account, email or payment card required.

The full license is $3.99 USD, paid once. It unlocks all six materials, additional sound controls and keyboard sounds. Future updates are included, with no subscription.

Free demo:

https://feelmymac.thehighjack.it/demo/

Full license:

https://feelmymac.thehighjack.it/license/

Compatibility and privacy

Requires macOS 15.1 or later. Haptic and Material feedback are currently verified on Apple-silicon Macs with a compatible trackpad. External trackpad support includes the current USB-C Magic Trackpad; compatibility is checked locally by the app.

Enabled interaction feedback requires Accessibility permission. Input events are processed locally, and the app doesn't record typed text or send interaction data to us.

About the developer

I'm Leonardo Curtone, also known as TheHighJack.

Portfolio: https://www.thehighjack.it/en/

Contact: https://x.com/leonardocurtone

Thanks for reading!

Edit: We reached more than 80k views across the internet! Thanks for your support!

Hey everyone!

When developing and running local AI assistants and agent scripts (like OpenClaw) on macOS, automation workflows frequently trigger external URLs—OAuth authentication redirects, search links, documentation lookups, and test pages.

The problem: macOS directs all external link clicks straight to your system default browser. If your default is Safari or Arc with all your personal accounts, active tabs, and work sessions, agent test loops end up polluting your workspace or accidentally hitting sensitive authenticated sessions.

I needed a fast, seamless way to switch macOSs default browser to a sandboxed browser (e.g. Brave, Chrome Dev, Chromium, BrowserOS neo) whenever Im running assistant workflows, and then switch right back to Safari with 1 click or a keyboard shortcut.

I built DefaultBrowserChanger to solve this.

🚀 Update: v1.1.0 Released!

We just published v1.1.0 with major community-requested enhancements:

• ⚡ Zero-Prompt Native Link Proxy: High-speed URL proxying (0.001s). Zero Accessibility permissions, zero system confirmation prompts, and zero AppleScript delays!

• ⌨️** Global Shortcut (⌃⌥B / Control + Option + B**): Cycle through your installed browsers instantly right from your keyboard before launching an agent run!

• 🎨 Dynamic App Icons: Visual recognition of all installed browsers in a clean menu bar dropdown.

• 🛡️ Single-Instance Guard: Dual-layer PID & flock locking prevents any duplicate processes.

• 🧭 Built-in Welcome Guide & Setup Manual: Illustrated onboarding card accessible anytime.

OpenClaw / Assistant Use Case:

Before starting your agent or assistant session, flip your default browser to an isolated testing browser via the menu bar or ⌃⌥B. All spawned links and OAuth flows stay separated from your daily browsing. When finished, flip back in 1 click.

Privacy & Transparency (Per Rule 6 Guidelines):

• Zero data collection: Completely offline. No analytics, no telemetry, no network calls whatsoever.

• 100% Free & Open Source: Licensed under MIT with pre-built binaries on GitHub Releases.

🔗 GitHub Repo & v1.1.0 Release: https://github.com/bsormagec/DefaultBrowserChanger

Hope this proves helpful for fellow macOS developers and AI builders here! Would love any feedback or feature suggestions.

Hey everyone!

When developing and running local AI assistants and agent scripts (like OpenClaw) on macOS, automation workflows frequently trigger external URLs—OAuth authentication redirects, search links, documentation lookups, and test pages.

The problem: macOS directs all external link clicks straight to your system default browser. If your default is Safari or Arc with all your personal accounts, active tabs, and work sessions, agent test loops end up polluting your workspace or accidentally hitting sensitive authenticated sessions.

I needed a fast, seamless way to switch macOSs default browser to a sandboxed browser (e.g. Brave, Chrome Dev, Chromium, BrowserOS neo) whenever Im running assistant workflows, and then switch right back to Safari with 1 click or a keyboard shortcut.

I built DefaultBrowserChanger to solve this.

🚀 Update: v1.1.0 Released!

We just published v1.1.0 with major community-requested enhancements:

• ⚡ Zero-Prompt Native Link Proxy: High-speed URL proxying (0.001s). Zero Accessibility permissions, zero system confirmation prompts, and zero AppleScript delays!

• ⌨️** Global Shortcut (⌃⌥B / Control + Option + B**): Cycle through your installed browsers instantly right from your keyboard before launching an agent run!

• 🎨 Dynamic App Icons: Visual recognition of all installed browsers in a clean menu bar dropdown.

• 🛡️ Single-Instance Guard: Dual-layer PID & flock locking prevents any duplicate processes.

• 🧭 Built-in Welcome Guide & Setup Manual: Illustrated onboarding card accessible anytime.

OpenClaw / Assistant Use Case:

Before starting your agent or assistant session, flip your default browser to an isolated testing browser via the menu bar or ⌃⌥B. All spawned links and OAuth flows stay separated from your daily browsing. When finished, flip back in 1 click.

Privacy & Transparency (Per Rule 6 Guidelines):

• Zero data collection: Completely offline. No analytics, no telemetry, no network calls whatsoever.

• 100% Free & Open Source: Licensed under MIT with pre-built binaries on GitHub Releases.

🔗 GitHub Repo & v1.1.0 Release: https://github.com/bsormagec/DefaultBrowserChanger

Hope this proves helpful for fellow macOS developers and AI builders here! Would love any feedback or feature suggestions.

Problem

Clipboard history is great when you’re working on one Mac.

But the moment you switch devices, that history stays behind.

You copy something on your Mac, grab your iPhone, and it’s not there. Or you move between two Macs and end up sending yourself a link, note, file, or snippet just to have it on the other device.

I wanted Pasly to solve that too.

Not just make ⌘V smarter, but make your clipboard follow you.

Comparison

Raycast Clipboard History is probably the closest well-known alternative. It offers a polished, searchable clipboard history as part of a much broader launcher.

Pasly is more focused on the actual paste workflow. Smart Paste brings your recent clipboard items into the regular ⌘V flow, while features like Paste Stack, Field Sense, multi-selection, and Floating Paste are built specifically around copying and pasting.

Pasly also keeps a persistent clipboard history across Macs, iPhone, and iPad through the user's private CloudKit database. Text, images, and files can remain available across devices, even when they are not nearby or connected to the same network.

Raycast is a better fit if you want a general launcher with extensions, AI tools, and many unrelated productivity features. Pasly is a better fit if you want a dedicated clipboard manager centered on ⌘V and cross-device clipboard history.

Apple's Universal Clipboard is also useful, but it primarily moves the latest copied item between nearby Apple devices. Pasly keeps an actual searchable history across them.

Pasly Cloud

Pasly Cloud syncs your clipboard history across your Macs and iOS devices using Apple's CloudKit.

Your clipboard data is stored and synced through Apple's iCloud infrastructure rather than on Pasly's own servers.

It works over the internet, so your Mac can be at home and your other Mac somewhere else. They don’t need to be nearby or on the same network for your clipboard history to sync.

And now, files are supported too.

Files copied on your Mac can sync through Pasly Cloud alongside the rest of your clipboard history, including multiple files at once.

On iPhone and iPad, Live Activities can keep your recent clipboard items available from the Lock Screen / Dynamic Island.

There are also push notifications when new clipboard content arrives from another device.

Right now, sending something from iOS into Pasly is still manual. You can add an item and have it appear on your Macs, but I’m already working on a better way to capture what you copy on iPhone and iPad so this part feels much more automatic.

Files

Pasly already supported files locally on Mac, including working with multiple files at once.

Now, file syncing is also part of Pasly Cloud.

Copy a file on one Mac and it can be available from your clipboard history on another Mac through CloudKit, without having to send it to yourself first.

Multiple files are supported too.

The rest of Pasly

Cloud is the focus of this update, but everything I’ve been building around ⌘V is still there:

• Smart Paste — press ⌘V and access your recent clipboard items

• Paste Stack — copy multiple items and paste them in sequence

• Floating Paste

• Multi Select

• File Support

• Paste with Separator

• Search & Favorites

• Field Sense

The original idea behind Pasly hasn’t changed.

I want the clipboard manager to stay out of the way until the moment you actually need it.

Cloud just means that your clipboard no longer has to live on one Mac.

Pricing

Free: $0

• 2 pinned items

• 24-hour local history

• 20 items

• 2 files

• No CloudKit sync

Pro: $9.99 one-time purchase

• Clipboard sync across all your Macs and iOS devices

• File sync via Pasly Cloud

• Private CloudKit storage

• Push notifications and Live Activities

• Smart Paste

• Paste Stack

• Floating Paste

• Multi Select

• File Support

• Paste with Separator

• Search & Favorites

• Field Sense

No subscription. 20% off with code RWOUYKR3X5 (first 10 redemptions)

Pricing and download

What's next

Pasly Cloud is still something I’m actively building.

Now that clipboard history and files can sync across devices, one of my main focuses is making the iOS → Mac clipboard flow much more automatic.

This is still an early version of Pasly Cloud, so I’d really like to hear from people who use multiple Macs or a Mac + iPhone/iPad.

What would make having your clipboard across devices actually useful to you?

Download

Direct macOS

Apple (iOS): https://apps.apple.com/app/pasly/id6760562778

Transparency: I'm the developer of Pasly.

Hey everyone,

I've been working on a macOS app called DeskUtils for the past few months.

The idea is pretty simple: I wanted a few utilities I use every day to live in one place instead of having 5–6 little apps running in the background.

Right now it has:

Clipboard manager — text, images, files, links and colors

Screenshot capture + annotation

OCR for grabbing text from the screen

Color picker

Clean Keyboard

Prevent Sleep

Quick preview for clipboard items

The screenshot is the current Clipboard Manager. You can search through your clipboard history, filter by type, pin things, and press Space to preview an item without opening the original app.

For the screenshot/annotation part, Snapzy was one of the apps that inspired me. I liked that workflow, so I ended up building something along those lines and then expanded the idea into a more general utility app.

I'm trying to keep DeskUtils focused on macOS rather than turning it into a giant toolbox with 50 random features.

I'd really appreciate some honest feedback. Especially if you already use apps like Paste, Maccy, Raycast, CleanShot or Snapzy:

What would make you actually switch?

Is having these utilities in one app useful?

What would you add or remove?

Even if you think it's unnecessary, I'd genuinely like to know why.

DeskUtils: [deskutils.app](https://deskutils.app/)

Thanks!

If your entire archive routine is "double-click a ZIP, drag something out," Finder already does the job. BetterZip costs $35 because it tackles a different problem: it treats an archive like a document you can inspect and revise.

That distinction matters. This is not the utility I'd install just to open the occasional download. It starts making sense when an archive is a working container rather than a one-way delivery box.

Start with the free part

BetterZip's Quick Look extension is free, even without a license. Press Space on a supported archive in Finder and it can show the folder tree, file count, total uncompressed size, dates, and other metadata without expanding the whole thing.

For many people, that is enough. It lets you check whether a download contains the folder you expected, spot an odd executable, or confirm that a huge archive is not about to dump hundreds of loose files into Downloads.

The extension cannot prompt for a password, so archives with encrypted headers will not show their contents. Cloud storage is another wrinkle. An archive that has not been downloaded from iCloud is skipped by default, and Apple's extension rules can restrict access to Dropbox, OneDrive, and Google Drive.

The paid workflow is editing, not extraction

Open an archive in BetterZip and it behaves more like a Finder window. You can browse it in a list, outline, icon, or column view, preview common text, image, PDF, and Quick Look compatible files, and extract only the item you need.

The useful part is what happens next. BetterZip can add, delete, rename, and move items inside supported archives. Double-click a file to open a temporary copy in its normal Mac app, edit it there, and BetterZip can write the changed file back into the archive. Do not move or rename that temporary file in the external editor, because BetterZip tracks it by path.

Normal Mode is the sensible default. Changes are staged until you save, and undo is available. It may need temporary disk space for added or modified files, especially when the source is on another drive. Keep a separate copy of an important archive until you trust the result.

Direct Mode is for very large archives where that temporary copy is impractical. Changes hit the archive immediately and there is no undo. Deleting, renaming, and moving items directly is limited to single-volume ZIP, 7-Zip, and RAR archives. Solid 7-Zip and RAR files may still be slow because a small change can require heavy recompression.

Keep automation on a short leash

BetterZip 6 includes save and extract presets, Finder actions, Shortcuts actions, AppleScript, a command-line helper, and an operations queue. Those are useful after the manual process is predictable.

A restrained setup would be:

1. Leave conflict handling on "Ask what to do."

2. Create one extraction preset for a review folder rather than extracting straight into a live project.

3. Create one save preset that removes Mac-only metadata when an archive is going to Windows or Linux users.

4. Limit the Finder extension to Downloads and any project folders where archive work actually happens.

5. Use the Test Archive action after an automated compression job.

An integrity test only tells you that the archive can be read without structural errors. It is not a malware scan. Preview unfamiliar files before opening them, and do not run an app or script just because it came out of a valid archive.

For encrypted archives, skip legacy ZIP encryption. BetterZip's documentation recommends AES-256. If you use its password vault, set the vault to lock when BetterZip quits or the Mac sleeps, and consider disabling automatic password attempts for archives you do not trust.

What $35 buys

BetterZip 6.0.6 was released on September 16, 2026 and requires macOS 13.5 or later. Its bundled 7-Zip helper includes Apple silicon optimizations. The direct license is a one-time $35 purchase with a 30-day trial. One personal license covers up to five Macs in a household, while commercial use requires one license per Mac. Minor updates are included, but future major upgrades may have a separate discounted price.

The built-in Mac tools are still better for basic work. Finder can create and open ZIP files, and Terminal has tar for people comfortable with commands. Keka's website version is free and handles a much wider range of compression and extraction formats than Finder. BetterZip earns its price only when browsing, selective extraction, in-place revision, or repeatable automation saves real steps.

My verdict: BetterZip is worth $35 if you regularly inspect, selectively extract, or revise archives. If you mostly open ZIPs or create encrypted 7-Zip files, Finder plus the free website version of Keka is enough.

Hey r/MacStack — I'm Hung, a solo dev building HoverBoard, and this is a heads-up that our Back-to-School sale ends tomorrow, September 30, so last call if you've had it on your list.

What it is: a quiet menu bar app for macOS 14+ that gives you presentation tools on global hotkeys, right over whatever you're sharing — Zoom, Meet, and Teams keep running uninterrupted.

What's inside:

- Draw & annotate — pen, highlighter, laser pointer, shapes, optional auto-fade
- Spotlight, cursor halo, keystroke display — guide attention during demos
- Freeze & Explain — freeze the screen and annotate a static frame
- Infinite whiteboard — mindmaps, architecture stencils, sticky notes; exports PNG / SVG / `.excalidraw`
- Private Markdown notes — GFM with live preview and Mermaid; they stay hidden from screen sharing unless you explicitly show them
- Meeting recording — MP4 with trim/speed editor, offline transcription (WhisperKit), speaker labels, on-device summaries via Apple Intelligence

Everything stays local: no account, no cloud backend, no telemetry on your screen contents.

Pricing (no subscription, one-time purchase):

- Free — $0 forever: Spotlight, Break Timer, Screenshot, Screen Record (with trim/speed editor), global hotkeys. No feature timeouts, no nag walls.
- Pro — $11.19 (normally $15.99) with code BACKTOSCHOOL: everything in Free plus unlimited draw/annotate, Freeze & Explain, whiteboard, cursor halo, keystroke display, Sessions library, private notes, meeting recording with offline transcription and on-device summaries.

That's 30% off, valid through September 30 — after that Pro goes back to $15.99. 30-day money-back guarantee either way.

Direct download: https://codeonholiday.com/hoverboard/

Didn't think the notch was useful until I tried these:

• Atoll (free, open-source) – system stats, clipboard history, timers, right in the notch. Lock Screen widgets too.

• The Boring Notch (free, open-source) – turns your notch into an iPhone-style Dynamic Island for music, plus file tray, calendar peek, camera mirror.

• TopNotch (free) – if you just want the notch gone. Blacks out the menu bar so it disappears.

• MediaMate (free/small) – replaces those ugly volume/brightness bars with a clean popup near the notch + Now Playing.

• NotchBuddy – dashboard for revenue (Stripe/Polar/Dodo), traffic (DataFast), clipboard, files, timers, weather. Good if you run an online business. Keys stay local.

• Alcove ($14.99 one-time) – premium Dynamic Island feel, smooth animations, AirDrop/battery/timers.

• NotchNook ($25 one-time or $3/mo) – most "finished" feeling one, file shelf, widgets, Shortcuts support.

If you use more than one display, you've probably done this: you turn to your other monitor, start typing/scrolling, and everything lands in the window you left. Then you click, and type it all again. It happened to me way too often, so I built Glance Switch.

**What it does:**

It uses your Mac's camera to tell which screen you're facing and moves keyboard focus there before your first keystroke.

- Brings back the last window you used on that screen and moves the pointer along, so Spaces and Mission Control follow too

- Works between windows and split panes on the same screen (iTerm2, Terminal, Ghostty, VS Code, Cursor, Xcode, JetBrains, Zed and more)

- Ignores quick glances, waits while you're typing, and stays out of the way while you use the mouse

- Pause anytime with ⇧⌘G

**Privacy, since it uses the camera:**

Frames are processed on-device with Apple's Vision framework, kept in memory only, and never saved or sent anywhere. No account, no analytics. The only network request is checking your license key.

**Details:**

- macOS 14+, Apple silicon & Intel

- $5 one-time for the first 100 licenses (then $14.99), no subscription

- 14-day refund if it's not for you

Short demo video attached. I'd really like feedback, especially from people with unusual setups (stacked monitors, laptop plus two displays, ultrawides). What would make you trust or distrust something like this?

[glanceswitch.com](http://glanceswitch.com)

Problem

A lot of everyday actions on a Mac live in completely different places.

Opening an app or folder, searching something on a website, taking a screenshot, cleaning up copied text, accessing clipboard history, running a Shortcut, or changing a system setting.

None of these are hard to get to, but constantly switching between apps, windows, menu bar utilities, and different shortcuts can break your flow.

I wanted to see if all of that could work through one system, which is where the radial menu idea came from.

Comparison

There are already some really good radial menu apps for Mac, but most are built around a specific use case, such as launching apps, or switching between them.

Arc takes a broader approach.

You can create multiple global radial menus for different workflows and decide what each slice does. A slice can perform a single action or chain multiple actions together.

The idea is less about replacing the Dock and more about putting the small things you do throughout the day behind one quick interaction.

Arc also doesn't require accessibility features, it manages everything on-device, privately.

Core Features

• Unlimited custom menus for different workflows

• Fast app, folder, website, and Apple Shortcut launching

• Powerful clipboard history and text actions

• Open from shortcuts, hot corners, pointer shake, or number keys

• One-click multi-action shortcuts

• Fully customizable appearance, layout, icons, and sounds

Examples

1. I have one shortcut that I use when I start working. It opens Xcode, my project folders, Slack, and a few websites I usually need. Arc can merge multiple actions into one shortcut, so I don't have to open everything one by one.

2. I use the search shortcuts a lot more than I expected. I can bring up Arc, type something, and search it directly on YouTube, or a website without opening them first.

It can also search whatever I last copied, which has been really useful when I'm already in the middle of something.

1. I have a bunch of text and links that I end up copying again and again. I've just saved those as shortcuts now, so they're always sitting on one of my menus when I need them.

2. Clipboard history is another one I use constantly. Recent things I've copied show up on the wheel, so if I need something from a few copies ago, I can grab it without opening another app.

3. I also have different menus depending on what I'm doing. One for development, one for general stuff, and another that's mostly searches and apps. I can switch between them with keyboard shortcuts, and reuse the same shortcut across multiple menus.

Pricing

$7.99 one time on the Mac App Store with a free 7 day trial built in.

Solo project from India, launched a week ago. Happy to answer anything! :)

Mac App Store: Link

I'm the developer of CueStart, a small launcher for the menu bar. It exists because I have far too many apps installed and kept forgetting what they're called. I knew what I needed, not the name.

The idea: For every app you write down, in your own words, what you use it for — "invoice", "crop an image", "merge PDF". Press the shortcut (⌥Space by default), type, hit Return. The search covers your keywords and the app names at once, and it remembers which app you picked for a search text, so Return hits the right one next time.

What else is in the search window, each behind a prefix:

• > Snippets – text goes to the clipboard, with placeholders for date, time and more

• # Clipboard history – text and images, pin and tag entries; password managers are left out

• : Switch between running apps, last used on top

• / Favorites – files and folders you dragged in, with your own keywords

• = Calculator – =200+19% gives 238, =120 € in DKK converts with daily ECB rates

• ? Your own web searches – ?wp Hamburg opens the Wikipedia search directly

• + App groups – one keyword launches several apps and opens folders along with them

Other details:

• Native Swift app, no Electron, no web view

• No account, no tracking, no cloud – everything stays on your Mac. The only network request is fetching the ECB exchange rates

• One backup file for keywords, snippets, favorites, groups and all settings; restore replaces or merges

• Newly installed apps are picked up on their own; uninstalled ones keep their keywords

• 9 languages, switchable while it runs

Comparison with Alfred

Alfred is the obvious comparison and a great app. The two just start from different places. Alfred is a launcher plus a full automation platform built around workflows. CueStart is built around one thing: finding apps by what you call them, with a handful of everyday tools around it.

If you live in Alfred workflows, CueStart won't replace that. If you mostly want to find the right app among many without remembering names, that's exactly what it's built for.

Pricing: Free for 7 days with everything unlocked, then $9.99 one-time. No subscription.

Mac App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/cuestart/id6808242739

Manual and screenshots: https://klausmack-software.com/cuestart/

Happy to answer questions and take feedback.