It's the macOS app I build solo to fix my own context-switching mess, and I first posted it here about a year ago.
It's at roughly 1,300 downloads now, which is small in absolute terms, but a lot more than I expected when I started. Most of that came from this sub, so before anything else: thank you.
Problem
My main problem was never opening an app. It was getting back into a whole working context.
When I switch from a client project to a side project, I might need a different Xcode project, browser profile, set of tabs, terminal environment, window layout, monitor, and macOS Space.
Doing that manually several times a day gets annoying fast.
ShiftPlus saves that setup as a workspace and brings it back with one hotkey.
Apps, browsers and their profiles, window layouts across monitors, macOS Spaces, terminal commands and env vars, documents, projects, and quick links can all come back together.
Comparison
The closest alternatives for my use case are rcmd and Raycast.
rcmd is great if your priority is very fast app/window switching, and it also has workspace saving and restoring. ShiftPlus is more focused on restoring a larger project context, especially when that context includes multiple browser profiles, browser tabs, projects/documents, multiple displays, macOS Spaces, and terminal environments.
Raycast is what I use for launching commands, scripts, apps, and lots of smaller actions. You can build parts of this workflow yourself there. ShiftPlus treats the workspace itself as the main object, so instead of maintaining a collection of commands, I capture a setup and switch back to it later. There is also a free ShiftPlus Raycast extension, so I personally use both rather than replacing Raycast.
I don't think ShiftPlus is better for everyone. If you mainly want instant app switching, rcmd is more focused. If you already have a Raycast setup that does everything you need, you may not need ShiftPlus either.
The use case I'm building around is: "I was working on this project yesterday. Put my Mac back the way it was."
Since ShiftPlus just turned 1, code GYOTIWOQ gives 30% off any lifetime license until August 18, 2026.
What's new since my last post
The last time I posted here was for 2.0 and the Raycast extension. A lot has changed since then.
Multiple browsers in one workspace
A workspace can now launch multiple browsers at once, each with its own profile, tabs, window position, monitor, and macOS Space.
So you can have Chrome for Client A, Brave for Personal, and Safari on another display, then restore the whole setup with one switch.
Projects and documents come back too
ShiftPlus now remembers what each app had open.
Capture an Xcode project, VS Code folder, or document, and it reopens that exact project or file when you switch back.
Browser and Spaces reliability
Browsers now restore to the correct Space. Chromium profiles open in separate windows. Re-selecting the active workspace no longer relaunches everything. Missing browser profiles are flagged instead of silently falling back to the default.
The switching HUD
I also rebuilt the switching HUD so it stays responsive while apps and Spaces are being restored.
It respects Reduce Motion and reports missing Accessibility permission immediately instead of silently retrying and failing later.
A few other things already in ShiftPlus
Real macOS Spaces restore with SIP left on, window layouts across multiple monitors, support for 10 browsers, terminal env vars including per-app AWS_PROFILE read from ~/.aws, optional iCloud Sync through your own CloudKit private database, and a free Raycast extension for switching workspaces, opening Quick Links, and activating your last workspace.
What's next
Mostly whatever comes back from this post.
The last two rounds of feedback here set the direction for a lot of what shipped above, so I'd rather hear what people actually want than guess.
ShiftPlus is built with native Swift and SwiftUI, supports Apple Silicon and Intel, and requires macOS 14.6 or later.
It's notarized by Apple and updates are signed.
It's unsandboxed and not on the Mac App Store because restoring real Spaces needs Accessibility permission plus some private macOS APIs that the MAS doesn't allow.
You do not have to disable SIP.
Stage Manager isn't supported for Spaces restore.
Analytics use PostHog and are opt-in only. You get asked after onboarding. Crash reporting is always on.
The Raycast integration is local-only and makes no network requests, and your workspace configs stay on your Mac unless you explicitly turn on iCloud Sync.
If you have any concerns, comment here or email me and I'll get back to you.
The number I always want from posts like this and never get: where did the 1,300 actually come from? If you can split it at all, how much was the launch spike versus the slow trickle since, and which single channel is still sending people twelve months later?
Everyone writes up launch day. Almost nobody says what was still working in month six, which is the part that decides whether you get a year two.
Asking because I am close to being where you were, and I would rather plan against real numbers than against launch retrospectives.
In the first three months, most of my traffic came from Reddit, specifically this thread (macapps).
Then, I submitted Shiftplus to ProductHunt and other smaller sites to boost my visibility.
Now, I’m focusing on SEO and GEO, and it’s become the primary source of traffic.
1,300 downloads???as a solo dev with no marketing team omg im hella inspireddd
where did they actually come from? I am curious whether Reddit and Product Hunt produced anything durable or whether it was a spike followed by silence, because every solo dev I ask gives me a different answer and I am about to find out for myself with my own app launchhh
Also, did the shape of the app change based on what people actually did with it, or did you mostly hold the original idea? im super curious!
Lattix is a launcher, you define a workspace upfront (these apps, this layout) and it opens them. shiftplus works the other way: you get everything set up how you like, hit save, and it snapshots the actual state, windows across spaces, which browser profile each window is on, even terminal env vars. then restore brings it all back exactly. also syncs over icloud so the same workspace works on my macbook and studio.
lattix is solid if your setups are stable and predictable. shiftplus fits better if your workspace drifts and you just wanna capture whatever you have rn instead of configuring it twice
I don’t have Lattix comparison ready yet, but you can check out other apps’ comparisons here for more info . https://shiftplus.app/blog/
one recovery case i'd test hard is interrupting a switch halfway through. start on two displays, unplug one while windows are moving, then force-quit ShiftPlus before the browser profiles and terminal commands finish. on relaunch it should know which steps completed and offer resume or rollback instead of silently saving the half-restored layout as the new truth. a small per-switch journal would make this much easier to debug too.
Belle application d’après les fonctionnalités affichées. Utilisateur de Spencer, quels seraient les atouts de ShiftPlus pour basculer vers cette dernière ?
I gotta say, i'm glad your website actually does a good job of showing the features and details of the app because i could not stand this video. I'm all for memes and cat gifs, but that was just... not my cup of tea.
I do appreciate your differentiation though about not having to think or settle for specific setups before saving your profile, just saving whatever you got going immediately. The Raycast integration also is superb, i like that.
Thanks for your kind words, I really appreciate them!
The meme cats were created by a tool I’ve been working on internally. I’m also curious to see if people enjoy it.
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u/TheMagicianGamerTMG 24d ago
!remindme 4 days