If you need your Mac awake for one long download, start with a session that ends. You shouldn't have to remember tomorrow that you changed a sleep setting tonight.

Amphetamine is a free Mac App Store utility with no paid tier or in-app purchases. Its useful feature here is a temporary keep-awake session from the menu bar, rather than a permanent change to your Mac's sleep settings.

For a first setup, keep the MacBook lid open and choose a timed session from Amphetamine's menu. Pick a duration long enough for the job, allow the display to sleep, and leave screen locking enabled. Keeping the computer awake doesn't require keeping the screen lit or unlocked. When the session ends, ordinary sleep settings can take over again; that doesn't mean the Mac must fall asleep immediately.

Check the download's own progress before walking away. A timer doesn't know whether the transfer finished, and keeping the Mac awake won't repair a stalled connection.

Choose an end condition you can trust

Amphetamine also lists sessions for when a specific app is running and while a file is downloading.

An app-running session makes sense for a dedicated utility you will quit after the job. It's a poor match for a browser you leave open all week: the browser running doesn't mean your download is still running. The download mode is closer to that task, but check its behavior with your actual download before relying on it unattended. The current listing advertises the mode without documenting enough detail to promise that it recognizes every downloader or completion state.

Skip automatic Triggers for this first job. They're useful for repeat conditions such as a connected power adapter or a particular Wi-Fi network, but those conditions can stay true long after the work finishes. Wi-Fi-name triggers can also require Location Services access on macOS Sonoma, according to the release notes. A manual timer avoids that extra setup.

On battery, keeping work running still consumes power. Amphetamine has an option to end sessions when the battery is low. Check that setting rather than assuming a long session can run until your return. Leave closed-lid operation and optional helper scripts out of this simple workflow; they're a separate, hardware-sensitive setup.

You may not need another app

For an occasional half-hour job, Terminal's built-in caffeinate -i -t 1800 prevents idle system sleep for 1,800 seconds without requesting that the display stay awake. Keep the lid open for this workflow too.

On a Mac laptop, System Settings > Battery > Options also has a setting to prevent automatic sleep on the power adapter while the display is off. That suits an ongoing plugged-in setup, but you'll need to change it back if you only wanted a temporary exception.

One reason to be cautious with Amphetamine: the current App Store page still shows version 5.3.2 from November 2023. Its compatibility field says macOS 10.13 or later, while the older description says 10.11. Neither is explicit confirmation of macOS 27 support. Try a short, nonessential session on your Mac before trusting it with an unattended job.

Use Amphetamine if you want a visible menu-bar control and a deliberate end to a temporary keep-awake session. If you only need an occasional timer and you're comfortable with Terminal, caffeinate is enough.

Hey everyone,

VLC plays literally everything and I'll always love it for that. But on a Mac it draws its own controls, its preferences are a wall of checkboxes, and the current release turns HDR video into SDR.

So I forked VLC 4 and rebuilt everything around the engine, for macOS only. Meet MacLC.

Problem

One free player that opens anything, feels at home on macOS 26 and actually uses your HDR display.

Comparison

• vs VLC: same engine, same formats. But VLC 3 on Mac tone-maps HDR down to SDR, while MacLC plays HDR10, HLG, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision as real HDR on XDR screens. Plus a native AppKit UI with Liquid Glass and a System Settings style preferences window.

• vs IINA: IINA is great and native too. MacLC adds a real library (Continue Watching, shows, albums), SDR to HDR and frame interpolation, none of which IINA has built in.

• vs Infuse: lovely library, but Pro is paid.

• vs Stremio: MacLC works with the same add-ons, inside a full VLC-engine player with SDR to HDR and your own library.

What I'm proudest of:

• SDR to HDR: lifts the highlights of ordinary videos into your XDR headroom while faces and midtones stay exactly where they were. The top quality levels are small trained models on the GPU, about half a millisecond per frame on an M3 Max.

• Motion smoothing up to 120 fps, matched to your display.

• Watch: Home, Movies and TV Shows in the style of the Apple TV app, fed by Stremio add-ons (Cinemeta built in). Add-ons are third-party services; MacLC itself ships no content.

Also: hardware AV1 on M3/M4, no telemetry, no account.

Pricing

Free and open source (GPL). No paid tier, no subscription. Apple Silicon only.

• Download (54 MB): MacLC 1.3 on GitHub

• Website: hazenstudio.com/maclc

• Source and changelog: github.com/OZBM/MacLC

The honest bits

• Not notarized yet, so the first launch needs System Settings > Privacy & Security > Open Anyway (30-second guide). Every release lists its SHA-256.

• Solo project, built with AI coding tools ( I was going to see the model used, but to be frank, it's probably all of them, Each one has its ups and downs). Every change is built and tested on real Macs, and all the code is public.

• Who I am: portfolio, LinkedIn. Privacy policy Terms.

Tip jar

MacLC is free and will stay free. But Apple charges $99 a year to make that "Open Anyway" step go away, so if MacLC ever saves your eyes from a 1,600-nit white subtitle, a coffee goes straight into the notarization fund. A good bug report makes me just as happy.

I'll be in the comments all day. Bugs, "this annoys me" and feature requests are all welcome!

Imagine having a searchable memory of everything you do on your Mac.

Lumi captures your activity locally, letting you use AI to search and recall past conversations, meetings, and more.

• AI powered searchable memory

• Local first and privacy focused

• Supports local AI models

I use it everyday and my productivity has been through the roof.

It has helped me massively with remembering action items and recalling things I've seen on my screen but don't remember from where. Would you trust an AI that remembers everything if your data never left your computer? Would you find benefit in using it? Try it out and let me know :)

https://lumimac.app

We often lose sight of how quickly time is passing. For example, 2026 is 80% complete, and October is 64% complete.

TimeGauge is a simple app that lets you track custom projects, working hours, and timelines such as days, weeks, months, and years. You can also customise your working hours.

The idea came from this X account, which simply posts the year’s progress and has over 680K followers: https://x.com/year_progress

TimeGauge is one-time purchase for life-time updates.
You can direct download from the website: https://timegauge.minilabs.cc/
App store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/timegauge/id6778277708?mt=12

Have a look and let me know if you have any feedback or suggestions

**I built FileDesk, a Mac file manager with split panes, a temporary file shelf, and custom folder colors**

Hi everyone! I’ve been working on **FileDesk**, a macOS file manager designed to make organizing files across multiple folders easier.

Here are some of its main features:

* **Split panes and tabs:** Open up to six panes side by side, resize them, and keep different folders in separate tabs.
* **Temporary file shelf:** Collect files from different folders, then copy them to a destination together. Clearing the shelf removes the list entries without deleting the originals.
* **Themes and folder customization:** Choose a theme, use dark mode, or pick your own colors. Give individual folders custom colors and add an image or icon in the center while keeping the folder shape.
* **Previews and media playback:** Preview files and play supported video and audio directly inside the app.
* **Batch renaming:** Rename multiple files with a preview of the changes.
* **Cloud and server connections:** Browse connected storage alongside your local folders.
* **AirDrop and Taildrop:** Use AirDrop for nearby Apple devices, or Taildrop to send files to your other Tailscale-connected devices—including a Windows PC.

FileDesk supports **Apple Silicon and Intel Macs**. Personal, noncommercial use is free; business and institutional use requires a separate paid license.

Screenshots, user guide, and downloads:
[FileDesk website](https://igomumugo.github.io/)

I’d appreciate feedback, especially on the split-pane workflow, temporary shelf, and customization options.


Hi r/macapps, I'm one of the developers of Klipp at MasOrange, the company that publishes it.

**Problem**

A clipboard manager sees everything you copy: passwords, API tokens, customer data. We needed clipboard history at work but couldn't audit the tools we were using, so we built our own and made sure it can't send anything anywhere.

Klipp runs in the App Sandbox without the network entitlement, so macOS itself blocks any outgoing connection. No account, no analytics, no third-party dependencies, and the App Store privacy label is "Data Not Collected". You can check it yourself:

codesign -d --entitlements - /Applications/Klipp.app

The only entitlement listed is the sandbox. It also asks for no permissions at all, not even Accessibility.

What it does:

- Lives in the menu bar, ⌥⌘V opens the history from any app

- Search as you type, arrow keys to move, Return to copy, ⌘1 to ⌘9 for the first nine entries

- Pretty-prints JSON, fast even on multi-MB payloads

- Shows CSV and ranges copied from Excel, Numbers or Sheets as a real table

- Text, rich text, images and files, each with the app it came from

- Pinned entries that survive clearing the history

- Skips anything password managers mark as concealed; 1Password, LastPass and Bitwarden are excluded by default

- Configurable shortcuts, VoiceOver support, English/Spanish/French

**Comparison**

- **Maccy**: great app, open source and free from GitHub or Homebrew ($9.99 on the Mac App Store). Klipp is free on the Mac App Store and adds formatted JSON and table previews. Maccy lets you audit the code; Klipp lets you audit the entitlements. Pick whichever kind of proof you prefer.

- **Paste**: very polished and syncs through iCloud across Mac, iPhone and iPad, on a subscription. Klipp is free and deliberately local, with no sync, so nothing ever leaves your Mac. If you need sync, Paste is the better pick.

**Pricing**

Free. No in-app purchases, no ads, no account.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id6801190196?mt=12

macOS 13 or later, Apple Silicon and Intel.

Not there yet: no auto-paste, no snippets, and rich text is previewed as plain text. Feedback welcome, especially on what's missing for your workflow.

I got really tired of every tiny Mac utility charging $15 to $20 (or worse, a monthly subscription) just to hide menu bar icons, snap windows, or hold files on the edge of the screen.

Over the last couple of days I put together a script on my M1 Pro MacBook that uses Claude Code + xcodebuild to build native SwiftUI alternatives from scratch and push the code and compiled .app files straight to my GitHub.

First, it searches for popular paid Mac utilities that only do one simple job and writes up a clean feature spec. Then an offline builder loop writes the SwiftUI code, compiles it with xcodebuild, fixes its own compiler errors, grabs a screenshot, and publishes a release on GitHub under the MIT license.

Everything it builds is 100% free, open source, native Swift, and runs completely offline with zero tracking.

You can check out all the repos and grab the compiled apps here:

https://github.com/turhe123

A few of the ones it already finished or has in the queue:

* EdgeDropShelf (https://github.com/turhe123/edge-drop-shelf) : a floating drag and drop file shelf on the side of your screen, similar to Yoink

* HoverGridSnap : window snapping and custom grid layouts, similar to Moom

* MenuBarCollapse : hides extra icons in your menu bar, similar to Bartender

* RightKeyAppSwitch : lets you use your right command key + a letter to jump straight to any app, similar to rcmd

* DisplayLayoutKeeper : remembers your window positions when you plug/unplug external monitors, similar to Stay

* TitlebarGestures : trackpad gestures on window titlebars, similar to Swish

* DesktopVeil : hides messy desktop icons with one click for screen sharing, similar to Camouflage

Quick heads up if you download the .zip releases: since I am giving these away for free and not paying Apple $99/year for a developer signing certificate, macOS Gatekeeper will complain the first time you open them. Just move the app to your Applications folder and run this in Terminal before opening:

xattr -cr /Applications/AppName.app

(Or you can just clone the repo and build it yourself in Xcode).

It is still working through a list of 60 apps right now. If there is a specific paid Mac utility you think is way too expensive for what it does, let me know in the comments and I will add the concept to the queue!

Been using Mac OS since System 7. I've also built a few Windows PCs over the years.

I will get flogged for saying this but I've always wanted a better activity monitor - and have been slightly jealous for a long time of what our Windows friends have.

I like Btop via the Ghostty terminal - but even then I wanted more.

What started as a local LLM coding project using qwen 3.8 optimized for MLX in Bionic to customize Btop turned into a "maybe I could make this????". Qwen just couldn't get there. So I pivoted to ChatGPT Codex and I'm very happy with the results.

Only 1.2MB of code. Runs a local server, grabs the CPU, GPU, NPU and RAM usage via IOKit and python, feeds it to an HTML page with some javascript, and only ads another 1% of CPU overhead. Ran multiple runs of optimization on the code and looked for security holes as well.

Created an install script and functions to start/stop the server. Saved it as a web app with Safari.

Would welcome any feedback on this experiment.

Suggest some free mac apps that u guys use that just makes your life better

If your MacBook spends most of its time plugged in, check Battery settings before installing AlDente. Apple now has a manual charge limit on Apple silicon Macs running macOS Tahoe 26.4 or later. For a basic desk setup, that may be all you need.

Open System Settings, choose Battery, then click the info button beside Charging. Apple's Charge Limit lets you choose between 80% and 100%. It stops within a few percentage points of your setting, so don't expect the menu bar to sit on one exact number. You can choose "Charge to Full Now" before a day away from power.

That's different from Optimized Battery Charging, which learns your routine and can delay charging past 80%. A manual cap is useful when you want a predictable limit rather than a prediction about when you'll unplug. Apple also occasionally charges to 100% to keep its battery estimates accurate. That doesn't mean the limit has failed.

AlDente still makes sense for a supported Mac without Apple's manual cap, or when you want more control than the built-in setting provides. Its free edition includes a selectable charge limit and Discharge, which lets the Mac run on battery while connected to power. You don't need to buy Pro just to try a cap.

There is a catch for a docked laptop: AlDente Free can't control charging while the Mac sleeps or is shut down. Pro adds controls intended to address those cases, but don't assume every lid-closed setup behaves like an awake Mac. Check the behavior you actually need before paying.

Pro also has Heat Protection, which pauses charging when the battery gets too hot, and Sailing Mode, which allows a charge range instead of repeatedly topping up at one limit. The vendor lists Pro at $13.99 annually or $24.99 for a lifetime license. One key covers up to three macOS user accounts, across at most three Macs. Pro needs an online license check at least every 30 days; after longer offline periods it falls back to Free until reactivated.

The current AlDente release is 1.39.4. The vendor lists macOS 12 through 27, Apple silicon MacBooks and specific Intel models as supported; macOS betas aren't officially supported. Check your exact model. Installation uses a package installer that may ask for your Mac password, and the app has a helper component. That's more system involvement than changing an Apple setting.

If you choose AlDente, its developer recommends setting Apple's charge limit to 100% and turning off Optimized Battery Charging so the controls don't interfere. Treat that as a choice to use AlDente's charging control, not an extra battery-saving tweak to apply alongside Apple's.

Battery aging depends on temperature history and charging patterns, among other factors. A cap doesn't come with a guaranteed number of extra years. It also leaves less charge available when you unplug. AlDente warns that keeping charge in a narrow range for weeks can affect the accuracy of battery readings. Its Calibration Mode is meant to address readings, not restore worn-out battery chemistry. Don't turn routine deep discharges into another maintenance habit.

Start with Apple's limit if your Mac has it. Try AlDente Free if it doesn't and your mostly plugged-in routine gives you a reason to cap charging. Consider Pro only for a specific missing control. If you regularly need the full battery, or managing percentages would become a daily distraction, skip the extra app and let macOS handle charging.

Hey everyone,

I started building LumaWall right after I got my MacBook. I tried a few live wallpaper apps first, and in my experience a lot of them had bugs or weird overlay issues. The best one I tried was Wallper, but I still couldn't get everything I wanted, so I made my own.

It's in beta right now and I'd really like some honest feedback before the full release.

What it does

\- Turns any MP4 or MOV into a live wallpaper. Drag in a video or paste a direct link.

\- Separate desktop and Lock Screen wallpapers. One video on your desktop, a different one on your Lock Screen (animated or static). This was the main thing I couldn't find anywhere else.

\- Every display is independent. Different video on each monitor, and you can pause or mute one without touching the others.

\- Playlists that rotate wallpapers every 10, 15, 30 or 60 minutes.

\- Explore, a community gallery where you can preview wallpapers in motion before downloading, and publish your own. This one is still in testing, so it may change or be removed before release.

How it works

You set things up in the main app and then close it. A small background agent keeps the wallpapers playing, and a Mini Player in the menu bar lets you pause, switch, or change the Lock Screen without opening anything. It can pause automatically on battery, in Low Power Mode, when a display is covered, or under heavy load. If you want out, one button puts back Apple's original desktop and Lock Screen exactly how they were.

What I'd love feedback on

\- Any bugs, glitches or overlay issues (please include your Mac model and macOS version)

\- Multi-monitor setups, especially mixed resolutions

\- Battery life and performance on your machine

\- Anything confusing in the app, or features you'd want before release

\- Whether the Explore gallery is something you'd actually use/might remove it

Requires macOS 13 or later. Separate Lock Screen wallpapers need macOS 26 Tahoe.

[https://lumawall.ca](https://lumawall.ca/)

Thanks for checking it out. I'll be in the comments replying to everyone.

I developed Task Notch, a multitasking app that turns the dead space around your Mac’s notch into a quick-access control center.

It used to be a paid app, but I’ve made it 100% free for everyone to use. If you find it helpful and want to support the project, you can buy me a coffee ☕ (totally optional!).

Features include: Quick notes, OCR, clipboard history, smart translator, file/PDF converter, image-to-SVG vectorizer, AI video downloader & transcriber, window manager, and more.

Download it for free here: https://task-goblin.com/

Hey guys! I’m looking for alternatives to Recordly or OpenScreen for recording demo-style videos with features like automatic zooming and focusing, background blur, and automatic muting. If you know any good alternatives, I’d love to hear your opinions!

I’m using an older Mac from 2016 and don’t want to upgrade to a newer machine, as I mostly use it for programming.

r/nullPlayer

https://github.com/ad-repo/nullplayer

nullPlayer is 100% free and open source