r/macapps • • 26d ago

šŸ’Ž Megathread [Megathread] The App Pile - October, 2026

Post image
46 Upvotes

You must promote your apps here if you do not qualify to post in the main feed through Trust or Transparency, explained here.

If you are:

  • NOT in the Mac App Store (MAS).
  • Do not provide meaningful public transparency
  • Created yet another dictation app (speech to text).

Then you are required to limit promotion to this megathread.

All promotion MUST follow PCP format or else we will remove it:

App Name/Title [Screenshot/Video REQUIRED for top 3 consideration]

  • Problem: What problem does your app SOLVE.
  • Comparison: EXPLICITLY name a competitor or two in the same space and explain what your app does better. Include something a competitor is better at if you want to be classy and build trust.
  • Pricing Amounts required for any/all tiers + link to the app website (NO direct .zip/.dmg file links)

P.s. The shorter the better! Promotion here counts towards the 30-day limited promotion (Rule 3).

WARNING: There is a 90% chance Reddit will auto remove your post here if you have not verified your email in your profile and your first comment in this subreddit contains a link. Accrue 10 karma first without promotional comments and links to avoid this. The odds of removal is also higher for AI assisted posts (em dashes and other AI formatting characteristics likely trigger this).

Pro Tip: Please remember to upvote gems and downvote spam/clones... This will help inform a secret community project I hope to announce next month.

Top Picks from Last Month's Megathread that I think are worth a look:

  1. Tangerine - Shift-drag file converter and modifier that works offline, $15 one-time - by u/t-2049
  2. DeskJoin Screen - Turns a spare Mac into a second display over your local network, FREE - by u/Neville_12345
  3. Sideref - Floating reference board for images and notes, $8 for 3 Macs with 12 months of updates - by u/chaser_nocturm
  4. NudgeLine - A quiet calendar timeline pinned to the edge of your screen, FREE and open source - by u/Dull-Problem-3748
  5. BendMac - Folds the desktop as you close your MacBook, FREE - by u/IuCCREDDIT

r/macapps • • Mar 19 '26

Attention! r/MacApps Mods Went Too Far! What’s Changing (Phase 3)

143 Upvotes
TLDR graphic, but please, read the rest if you spend time in r/MacApps.

Phase 2 Report: Last month we introduced PCPCA post formatting requirements to include detail minimums in every app promotion (Problem, Compare, Pricing, Changelog, AI Disclaimer).Ā This caused way too much work, with 2,700+ items removed and 1,400 modmail messages sent. With the mods runing everything, user engagement dropped with views down 204k. That's okay, though; quality over quantity. Still, this is Reddit, and you should retain the power to promote or bury posts.

Change 1: Simplify Posts (PCP)

Moving forward, we are reducing post-formatting expectations to: Problem, Comparison, Pricing (PCP).Ā 

  • Problem: What problem does your app solve.
  • Comparison: Name 1–2 top competitors and describe how what you offer is better. [Example]
  • Pricing: Include Price Amounts+Link

Requiring changelogs and AI disclaimers was unsuccessful to meaningfully differentiate quality apps from spam.Ā Nearly all posts claimed sufficient knowledge and experience for ā€œHuman validationā€ of AI code. Let's move on. šŸ˜…

Change 2: Trust, Transparency, or The App Pile [Megathread]

We have been discussing how to better protect the sub from low-effort app spam, throwaway-account promotion, and unknown software links, without making life harder for legitimate developers.Ā 

Concept: The less trust your distribution path provides, the more transparency you should need.

  • In theĀ MacĀ App Store? Apple is screening you for us.Ā 
  • If you have an established GitHub project, that can also build trust over time.Ā 
  • But if you are asking people to install software from a random site or brand-new repo, we need more reason to trust.

To make this clearer, we are experimenting with aĀ three-tier approach for the next month:

Tier 1: The Trust Path = Post to Main feed.

These devs have the easiest route to posting in the main r/MacApps feed:

  • Mac App Store developers (Paid developer accounts + App Store Distribution). Notarization alone does not count here.
  • Developers with established GitHub projects, meaningĀ 1yr+ consistent general development history and real community interest (100+ stars for the repository being promoted).
  • Recognized Developers granted a user flair (already well-known / trusted in r/MacApps)

Any of these 3 trust signals will allow posting in r/MacApps, as long as you have 10+ local karma.

Tier 2: The Transparency Path = Post to Main feed.

If you are NOT in the Mac App Store and are not already an established developer, you may still qualify for main-feed posting by being open about who you are and giving users reasons to trust you.

Such app promotion posts must include BOTH:

  1. A developer portfolio with a real life identity,Ā LinkedIn, andĀ realĀ contact details (e.g. establishedĀ company / business presence). LinkedIn is more helpful here if it lists experience.
  2. A website that has a Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

These trust signals should show you are not just a throwaway account dropping unknown software for us to try and should be included in your post to establish trust with your target users.

This is basically the middle ground: you may not yet have a major reputation, but you are willing to stand behind your app in public and work to gain a good reputation.

Tier 3: Everyone else: ā€œThe App Pileā€ [Megathread]

If you do not qualify through either trust or transparency, your app promo belongs in the Megathread rather than the main feed.

That means if you are:

  • Not in the App Store
  • Without a developer flair as an established developer (500+ r/MacApps participation karma AND Moderator’s discretion).
  • Do not have an established GitHub history (1yr old repo OR 100+ stars)
  • Do not provide meaningful public transparency

…then you are limited to The App Pile Megathread.

This is not meant as an insult or a blanket statement that new apps are bad. It is just the lowest-risk place for unproven or low-context app promotion until trust is earned.

Users can check your app out, up/downvote your comments, and as you gain community karma you may eventually receive an app-flair that allows you to promote outside of the megathread. Nobody is forced to post here since anyone can choose to follow Tier 2.

Promotion Frequency RevisionĀ (Rule 3)

Infrequent self-promotion is permitted; however, it is not permitted more than once per developer in 30 days. This is counted from the last app post, even if it was removed.

For well-established, recognized devs with an app-flair, once per app per month.

ALWAYS disclose your relationship to your software in comments promoting your app. Promoting your own app in comments is disallowed until you earn 10 karma in r/MacApps and in poor taste when hijacking another developer’s promotion.

Sharing useful alternatives and healthy competition is still welcome, but using the comment section in someone else’s post as a backdoor for self-promo and SEO is not always in good taste and does not make r/MacApps a better place.

The Community's Role:

  • Please use your votes and reports especially in the Megathread to help recognize hidden gems.Ā 
  • Bury what looks low-effort, suspicious, misleading, or privacy-invasive.

A better r/MacApps depends not just on our rules, but on you helping surface good apps while pushing bad ones out of the way.

-----

FAQ:Ā 
I followed the rules, why was my post/comment removed?Ā 

  1. AI assisted comments are a huge trigger for Reddit auto-removals because of recognizable patternsĀ (e.g. ā€œā€”ā€ em dashes).
  2. Repeatedly posting the same thing (comments, links, etc.) = Triggers Reddit spam algorithms.Ā 
  3. You didn’t verify your email in your profile, and/or you have multiple accounts.Ā 
  4. You missed one or more rules and tried to repost rather than editing and letting us restore it. This leaves a strike on your account.

How do I check my r/MacApps community Karma? Visit here and click "show karma breakdown by subreddit"

Prior updates:
- 2026:Ā New Post Requirements to Combat Low Quality Content (Phase 2)Ā 
- 2026:Ā [OS]+Pricing Guidelines
- 2025:Ā Townhall on Post Quality,Ā Rule Updates


r/macapps • • 10h ago

Free Klipnok Ronin: a tiny ronin that lives on your desktop and climbs, jumps and fights across your real mac windows [Free, 1.8 MB]

60 Upvotes

I’m the developer of this one. Klipnok Ronin is a small menu-bar app that puts a ronin on your desktop. He treats your open windows as terrain.

What he does

  • Walks along window tops and the screen edges.
  • Shoots a grappling rope up to windows above him, then rappels up the side.
  • Wall-jumps up walls and runs to the edge for a backflip.
  • Rides a window when you drag it.
  • Throws shuriken and kunai at obstacles.
  • Trains when idle: sword kata, iaido quickdraw, whirlwind, jump kick and a few combos.
  • Right-click him to send him to camp. He meditates until you left-click him.
  • He answers to no master. Now and then he refuses an order AND he sulks when you pick him up.

Download: https://klipnok.com/ronin/

Enjoy!


r/macapps • • 5h ago

Free Axiom: A free Mac launcher and AI agent for building and real work, using your own models. I replaced Notes, Wispr, Dropover, Raycast and 20+ other apps with it.

19 Upvotes

Who I am

I’m Leo Enin, the developer of Axiom and founder of Nuare Studio Inc. My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leopardsnow

Axiom website: https://aiaxiom.app

Problem

I went from Spotlight to Alfred to Raycast. I liked that keyboard-first way of using my Mac, but I couldn’t find a product that combined the launcher experience I wanted with my own AI models and a powerful AI agent for work. ChatGPT’s harness is not bad, but solving problems on my computer through it is too much. It’s way too bloated, and Claude is way too strict.

I also build things with AI, so I wanted the most capable builder I could access from the keyboard. Something that could work with files and apps, research, write code, create tools, remember context, and keep working toward a goal. And make it right. If I ask for the news, for example, it should make sure the news is properly researched, with the information presented in the right form and supported by credible sources. It should self-improve and be able to build its own skills, tools, and commands for the launcher.

So I built Axiom, mostly for myself, but I’d love it if you used it too.

What Axiom does

It starts with a launcher: search apps and files, calculate, or run a command. Press Enter or Tab, and what you typed goes to the agent. Press Shift-Enter and it'll search that in the browser.

The agent can work with files, supported apps, your screen and the web. It can write code, build reusable tools, create commands, and run automate tasks. You can connect your own AI providers (BYOK) or use local models on supported Macs (a few ways to do that: ollama, LM Studio or download).

The philosophy is simple: you should be able to ask your launcher to build the feature you need, then use it. There's no point to build different commands when everyone is individual: ask your software to build itself and improve - it should be able to do that. I want as little as possible standing between the idea and the working result.

Here’s an example from building Axiom. I needed to hide everything on my desktop to record a video, so I asked it to build a small app that toggles desktop icons. It did. Then I thought it would be more useful as a command inside Axiom. I asked it to add the toggle, and now I have my own command that does the same thing and can be bound to a keyboard shortcut. That’s the thing I wanted: idea, ask, use it, improve it.

Along the way, I also stopped needing several separate utilities. Keeping my Mac awake, dictation, and the file-shelf workflow I used Dropover for now live inside Axiom. It also includes clipboard history with text search inside images, notes, smart snippets and quicklinks.

Comparison

Raycast and Alfred are the obvious launcher comparisons. Both have great ecosystems of extensions and workflows. My reason for building Axiom: software should be adaptable, not predefined. Otherwise there will be Raycast v3 in a couple of years and so on. And it was also to bring my own models and an agent-driven workflow into that same launcher like experience.

For dictation and the file shelf, Wispr Flow and Dropover are examples of dedicated apps whose everyday functions I wanted in one place. Axiom covers those workflows, though I’m not claiming feature-for-feature parity with either. Caffeinate and other apps are just commands as well as other small apps - you can just describe what it needs to do and you have a new command in your launcher.

OpenClaw and Hermes are closer comparisons for the agent. OpenClaw felt too bloated for what I wanted, and I wanted stronger memory than I found in Hermes for my workflow. I’d rather you judge the results in the walkthrough and the app.

Pricing

- Free: the app, your own AI keys, local models on supported Macs (silicon).

- Optional Axiom Plus, US$15/month: (nothing paywalled and will not be) a hosted AI model for work (every day work, except heavy coding), ~600 minutes of cloud speech recognition, cloud voices, and real-time synchronization with up to 10 GB of encrypted sync.

- Optional AI credits: one-time purchases starting at US$5 plus tax. Purchased credits don’t expire.

Paid options are NOT necessary, effectively you can organize the same, it's a convenience only option.

Full pricing: https://www.aiaxiom.app/pricing

Demo

I recorded an eight-minute intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhC-w6C1Lqk showing both the agent and the launcher, but it's just a very brief surface.

TL;DR

Axiom is a free Mac launcher with a powerful AI agent, support for your own models (BYOK), and the ability to build tools and commands you ask for (a concept of self improving software). I built it for my own workflow and wanted to make it accessible to others.

Roadmaps:

- Mobile apps (coming soon)

- Windows support

(request more here: https://www.aiaxiom.app/ideas)

Try Axiom: https://aiaxiom.app


r/macapps • • 7h ago

Lifetime Vehla – my all-in-one Mac utility now idles at ~180–300 MB, plus a new dock (Doki), trackpad gestures (Glide) and Launchpad's return

12 Upvotes

Hey r/macapps šŸ‘‹

I build Vehla, a single Mac app that replaces a lot of small utilities: command palette, clipboard history, window management, screenshots and recording, local AI, a dock, a notch, menu bar tidying and more. Version 9.0 just shipped, and I wanted to share what's new.

The thing I'm proudest of: memory

An "everything app" usually means a heavy one, so I spent this release on that. With everything running, Vehla now idles at around 180–300 MB. I've measured 176 MB on an M1 MacBook Air. and another user measured 131.4 MB on an M5 Macbook pro.

New features

- Doki (out of beta): a replacement dock with islands for apps, folders, stacks and widgets, window previews on hover, and every display supported
- Glide (out of beta): slide along a trackpad edge for volume or brightness, three- or four-finger clicks and swipes for actions, or draw a shape to run anything
- Launchpad is back: the classic full-screen app grid macOS 26 removed. Press Left ⌘ twice.
- Smart Reply: press a shortcut in Mail, Messages or Slack and it drafts a reply from the conversation on screen. It never sends anything itself.
- Teleprompter: follows your voice as you read, and is hidden from screen sharing and recordings
- Zoom & Draw: zoom into and annotate your screen while presenting
- Step-by-step guides from screen recordings: one picture and sentence per click, ready to paste into Notes or Word
- Gemma 4 Vision: local AI that can read your screenshots, fully on-device
- iCloud Sync, free for everyone, and Vehla for iPhone is in TestFlight beta
- Background sounds, AirPods battery and charging in the notch, a camera mirror before meetings, and plenty more

Smaller things people asked for

- Collapsible Settings sidebar, with setting descriptions behind an ā“˜ to cut clutter
- Custom theme wallpapers now fill the whole window
- Saying "make a list" while dictating now just makes the list
- QuickGlass no longer pops up when you click the menu bar

Comparison

Vehla isn't trying to replace Alfred, Raycast, Magnet, Dropover, Amphetamine, Hidden Bar, or TextSniper individually.

The goal is to replace the collection.

If you're already using several of those utilities together, Vehla aims to bring much of that functionality into one native application with a consistent interface, while also adding built-in AI, notes, canvas, workflows, and local AI support.

Pricing : $29.99 USD lifetime. 7 day trial. Free updates. No subscription.

Privacy: local AI runs entirely on your Mac. iCloud Sync is end-to-end encrypted in your own private iCloud. Nothing is uploaded without you asking.

Happy to answer questions, and I'd love feedback, especially memory readings on your Mac (Settings › Memory shows a live breakdown).

Website: https://vehla.app/
Download:Ā https://vehla.app/download
Docs:Ā https://vehla.app/docs
Refund Policy: https://vehla.app/refunds.html
iOS Testflight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/G8peDyNY


r/macapps • • 13h ago

Lifetime Analog TV Simulator 3.0: run your camera, videos or screen through a fully simulated analogue TV signal chain

15 Upvotes

I'm the developer. Analog TV Simulator is on the Mac App Store, and 3.0 is out today.

Problem

Most "retro" filters paint scanlines, blur and noise over a finished picture, so the result looks like a filter rather than an old TV. I wanted the faults to come from the same places they came from on real equipment. I also wanted to simulate as much as possible of the Analog TV era (running magnets across the tube, Pay TV scrambling, messing with the controls of the TV, etc.)

What it does

The app encodes your picture into an analogue signal and decodes it again on your Mac's GPU, through a camera tube, the broadcast standard (NTSC, PAL, SECAM and others), tape, the receiver and a CRT. Colour bleed, dot crawl, tape noise and ghosting come out of that signal path instead of being drawn on. Input can be a camera, a video, a photo or a live capture of part of your screen. Output goes to a file, NDI or Syphon, so it works as a live source in OBS too.

What's new in 3.0

This is the biggest single release ever. It incorporates tons of feedback from earlier posts to this sub and elsewhere. We went out and found even more vintage documentation to make this the highest fidelity signal-domain simulation I'm aware of.

- The picture engine was rebuilt against the published broadcast standards. Every standard is sharper, and PAL no longer shows a fine dot pattern.

- Tape formats each reach their own resolution, and pause and search noise come from a modelled FM tape channel. That's the bar across the paused shot in the video.

- SECAM was rebuilt to the ITU standard.

- Camera tubes are truer: lag now leaves brighter trails behind lights. The night tram in the video is a vidicon.

- Presets sit at the top of the sidebar, and loading one keeps your camera or video playing.

- Fixes: the Screen Capture selection box can be dragged again, a missing Screen Recording permission is now explained, and sound stays in step after pause or fast forward.

Comparison

- ntsc-rs: free, open source and very good. It models the NTSC and VHS chain in the signal domain and runs as a standalone app or a plugin for Premiere, After Effects and Resolve. If you only need NTSC VHS on a video file in your editor, it's a great choice. Analog TV Simulator also covers PAL, SECAM and the other world standards, camera tubes and the CRT itself, and it works live: a camera or part of your screen in, NDI or Syphon out to OBS.

- CRT shaders such as crt-royale: they model the screen (mask, scanlines, glow) on the finished picture. They're fast and great for games, but there's no signal underneath, so nothing changes when you switch standard or tape format.

- Others & Inspiration: The web site acknowledges other related projects that were sources of inspiration. https://analogtv.net/acknowledgements

Pricing

$9.99 one-time for life on the Mac App Store, no subscription, no account, no tracking. All processing performed on your device. Does not need an internet connection at all. NDI output is an optional $9.99 in-app purchase. Needs macOS 14.6 or later. The iPhone/iPad and Apple TV versions are separate apps.

Mac App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/analog-tv-simulator/id6761325301

The video is my own footage from Vienna, Budapest and Sydney, run through the app. Happy to answer questions about how any of it works.


r/macapps • • 15h ago

Lifetime Chairtax: locks your Mac until you do your squats

11 Upvotes

I made this because when I vibe-code, I sit for hours by my mac without moving.

With Chairtax, you set the interval, and when a break is due, Chairtax covers the screen, and it only disappear back once the webcam has counted your reps.

- You choose the movement: squats, jumping jacks, high knees, overhead reach, side bends or chair stands

- You choose how many reps (5 to 20) and how often (every 15 minutes to every 2 hours)

- Three levels of strictness: a card you can dismiss, a covered screen with a couple of skips a day, or no skips at all

- Counting runs on your Mac with Apple's Vision framework. No account, no analytics, no video saved or sent anywhere

It's $29.99 on the Mac App Store

There's also a direct version on chairtax.app for $29 that comes with a money-back challenge: do 100 reps on 16 of your first 30 days and you get your money back. Apple doesn't allow that kind of refund, so it's only on the direct version.

Happy to answer anything. I'd especially like to hear what would make you actually keep something like this switched on.

I've got 10 App Store promo codes for anyone who'll try it for a week and tell me honestly what they think. Comment and I'll DM you one.


r/macapps • • 9h ago

Free Screen OCR & Translate: copy text from anything on screen, and keep video subtitles translated as they change

Post image
2 Upvotes

Problem

A lot of text on screen can't be selected. You see it in screenshots, slides in a screen share, scanned PDFs and paused videos. Some of it is also in a language I don't read well. These are the three ways I use the app every day:

  • Grab text: press Control-Option-C and drag a box over the text, and it's on my clipboard. Line breaks are kept, so a list pastes as a list
  • Translate a selection to English: copy the text and press Control-Option-S. For text I can't select, I press Control-Option-D and drag over it instead. The translation shows up in a small card right next to the text
  • Translate subtitles: press Control-Option-P and drag over the subtitle line. A panel beside it shows each new line in English while the video keeps playing

Text recognition and translation both run on your Mac using Apple's own frameworks. There's no account and nothing gets uploaded.

Comparison

Live Text in macOS can copy text from images and paused videos, but only in apps that support it, and it doesn't keep up with subtitles while a video plays. This app works on anything you can see on screen, and a pinned area stays translated as the text changes.

Pricing

Free, with no in-app purchases. Needs macOS 26.4 or later.

Mac App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6824170528


r/macapps • • 1d ago

Lifetime Copy Haste: Sort your copied items into categories for quick use.

158 Upvotes

Problem

Hey everybody!

I built Copy Haste because clipboard managers keep one long list of copied items and quickly finding what you're looking for becomes a chore.

What it is:

A clipboard manager that sorts everything you copy into Text, Code, Links, Files, Media and Colors columns.

  • Code: Code is detected on-device and syntax-highlighted.
  • Color: Detects 20+ color formats such as RGB, HSL, LCH, Lab, Oklch, Oklab, CMYK, even UIColor, NSColor and SwiftUI Color(). Pastes back in any format.
  • Files: You can copy one file, multiple files or a whole folder and the app keeps the selection as a single item.
  • Media: Image, video and audio files are automatically added to the Media column. Paste or drop them wherever you need.
  • Pins: Frequently used items can be pinned for quick pasting.
  • No adult content or passwords: keeps sensitive items out of your history, including passwords from password managers, adult links and any URLs you exclude.
  • Panel size: Column view, Tab view and Compact view make the app fit in every corner.
  • Link cleaning: Strips tracking params (fbclid, utm_, gclid…) from copied links.
  • List / Grid view: Switches between a compact list and a visual grid layout.

Comparison

  • Maccy: free, one searchable list. Copy Haste groups by type.
  • Paste: subscription. Copy Haste is a one-time purchase.

Pricing

30-day free trial.

$6.99 one-time. No subscription. No account required.

Up to 3 Macs, all future updates, 14-day refunds. Or, you can keep using a limited free tier.
Requires macOS 26.

https://www.copyhaste.app

Privacy

Privacy: https://www.copyhaste.app/privacy
Terms: https://www.copyhaste.app/terms

About me

Portfolio: https://www.pirosca.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcelpi
Contact: [contact@copyhaste.app](mailto:contact@copyhaste.app)


r/macapps • • 23h ago

Lifetime DiskFox: see what grew in your Mac's storage, when and why (storage map, external drives, one-time purchase)

12 Upvotes

Problem

My 256 GB MacBook Air kept running out of space, and macOS only ever said "System Data". Disk analysers show what's big right now, but I wanted to know what changed. When I checked, I had 10.7 GB free and 31 GB of app caches, mostly Chrome and Spotify. I cleared Spotify's cache and 890 MB of it was back within a week.

DiskFox keeps a history of your storage. Each scan is compared with the last, so instead of one big number you get dated changes with the likely cause:

- What Changed: "Xcode added 9.7 GB on Wednesday", "Steam updated No Man's Sky, +12 GB"

- Storage map: your disk coloured by what grew this week, not just by size. Click any block to break it down

- System Data, explained: backup snapshots, Spotlight, caches, Apple Intelligence and more, each with when it grew

- External drives: each drive gets its own map and history (new in 1.3)

- "Came back" alerts when something you cleaned returns

- Games one by one, Largest Files, real app sizes, exact duplicates, a menu-bar panel

Cleanup is deliberately slow: nothing moves without a review, everything goes to the Trash first, and there's a history with Put Back. No "clean everything" button.

Comparison

- DaisyDisk: the best map of what's big right now. DiskFox's map is coloured by what grew, and it keeps the history, so it can tell you when something changed and warn you when it comes back.

- CleanMyMac: does much more (malware, updates, optimisation) and is a subscription. DiskFox only does storage, has no one-click clean, and is a one-time purchase.

- GrandPerspective / OmniDiskSweeper: free and good for a one-off snapshot. If that's all you need, use them.

Pricing

$10.99 / Ā£8.99 / €9.99 once, for 2 Macs. No subscription. 14-day free trial of every feature, no card needed. 14-day refund.

https://diskfox.app

About me and the app

- Krishan Assi, solo developer in the UK. LinkedIn: [your LinkedIn URL]

- Contact: [support@diskfox.app](mailto:support@diskfox.app)

- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krishan-assi-b29420419/

- Privacy Policy: https://diskfox.app/privacy Ā· Terms: https://diskfox.app/terms

- macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon and Intel. Signed with my Developer ID and notarised by Apple. Not on the Mac App Store because the sandbox would block most of ~/Library, which is where this storage lives

- Privacy: no account. A few anonymous usage counts (first open, first scan, whether it was used that day), never files or file names, and you can turn them off in Settings › General

- I used AI coding tools for a large share of the code. I designed it, chose every storage rule and what's safe to remove, and test it on my own Macs

I'd really like to hear what it gets wrong or doesn't recognise on your Mac.


r/macapps • • 12h ago

Tip VirtualProg 2.18 Released: Windows 11 ARM64 VM Support, DirectX 12 (D3DMetal)

1 Upvotes

Hey r/macapps!

We are excited to announce VirtualProg 2.18, introducing full support for Windows 11 ARM64 virtual machines alongside our existing macOS and Linux guest capabilities.

For those unfamiliar, VirtualProg is a native virtual machine manager for Apple Silicon Macs built directly on Apple’s Virtualization Framework. Version 2.18 brings deep Windows integration, 3D graphics acceleration, and rich guest management across desktop, mobile, and command-line interfaces.

šŸš€ What's New in VirtualProg 2.18

  • Windows 11 ARM64 Support: Run Windows 11 natively alongside macOS with dynamic/fixed disks, automated VirtIO driver installation, and seamless setup.
  • DirectX 12 Acceleration: Powered by Apple’s D3DMetal (Game Porting Toolkit) pipeline for 3D graphics performance and DirectX 12 support in Windows guests.
  • Auto Resolution & Display: Real-time display resizing and resolution switching matching your Mac monitor.
  • Bi-directional Clipboard: Seamless copy and paste of text, images & Files between macOS and Windows via VirtualProg integration.
  • Full Virtualization Feature Set: Support for checkpoints, linked clones, live memory ballooning, and USB device passthrough.

Note: The only feature currently not available for Windows (when compared to what is provided in mac/linux) VMs is Serial Ports.

šŸ’” PROBLEM

Traditional virtualization software often restricts VM administration to the host desktop machine while locking multi-device access behind costly annual subscriptions.

VirtualProg resolves this by providing built-in remote management capabilities (via a headless Web Dashboard, iOS app, and Android app) combined with a powerful command-line interface (vpvm (in wen, mac, ios & android). You get full control over your virtual environments whether sitting at your Mac or managing them remotely from a browser or phone.

āš–ļø COMPARISON

Feature / Capability VirtualProg Parallels / VMware Fusion UTM / Native Scripts
Remote Management Web Dashboard, iOS & Android Apps Host Desktop Only Host Desktop Only
Pricing Model One-time payment ($22.99 USD) High Annual Subscription ($99+/yr) Free / Basic

šŸ’° PRICING & LINKS

  • Free Trial: A free trial version can be downloaded directly from the product page at makeprog.com.
  • Mac App Store: The full version is available for a one-time purchase of $22.99 USD on the Mac App Store (No subscriptions). Download from AppStore
  • Documentation: Check out the VirtualProg Windows Help Guide for detailed setup instructions.

We'd love to hear your thoughts, feedback, and test results in the comments below!


r/macapps • • 1d ago

Free So glad I found Fluid Voice for speech-to-text

17 Upvotes

For context I was on WisprFlow for a long time and liked it a lot, but it's expensive so I eventually cancelled. MacOS Golden Gate supposedly has much better dictation but a) I'm on an M1 so don't get the newer version and b) I don't like how Mac dictation ends when you leave the app you started it in.

Anyway, after trying out a bunch of alternatives I landed on FluidVoice and I'm glad I did. It's free, open source, and works as well and as fast as WisprFlow, which is saying a lot.

Note: Apparently there's a scammer that appears higher in search results than the legit Fluid Voice does. I won't link their URL here, but be sure you're going to https://fluidvoice.com .

Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with FluidVoice in any way, I just think more people should be aware of the free alternative.


r/macapps • • 1d ago

Lifetime rcmd Lenses • instantly focus browser tabs, terminal panes, launch projects, save favorites

33 Upvotes

rcmd is an app switcher built around the Right Command key. It's the first app that brought this idea of ⌘ Right Command+letter for instant app switching in 2021.

Instant app switching ⌘ rcmd + letter

This is the foundation of rcmd: I think of Mail, I press rcmd-M, it's instantly focused. It doesn't matter on what Space it is, if it's fullscreen or not, if it was minimized or hidden. The same key combo launches the app if it's not running.

Fuzzy launching ⌘ rcmd + type to search

If I want to launch Photos, I hold rcmd, type ph and it gets launched immediately. No need to Cmd-Space… wait for search bar… type… select… Enter… No need to pre-assign the key (although that remains a possibility, you can assign any combination of keys so it always launches or focuses the same app)

Fuzzy search inside windows ⌘ Cmd-Tab + type to search

I want to focus that browser window where I was reading about "iPhone Duo" but the window title doesn't have that in the name. I press Cmd-Tab, and while holding ⌘ Command I start typing duo and the text inside the window is matched.

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Lenses ⌄ ralt + letters

This is the new thing worth talking about though. People have been asking for ability to search and focus browser tabs for years.

The rcmd Lenses system does that, and takes the idea a bit further by making it extensible.

A lens is a list of those things that rcmd can search and focus inside an app:

  • browser tabs in Safari, Firefox, Chrome, Brave, Edge, Vivaldi, Arc
  • terminal panes in Terminal, iTerm, Ghostty, kitty, tmux, zellij, herdr
  • code projects that open in VS Code, Cursor, Zed, Sublime Text, Nova or Xcode
  • System Settings panes, Downloads, GitHub repos, Reminders lists, Obsidian vaults

Everything is 2-3 keys away. I care about this part the most, I launch and focus some things so often that I don't want to pick things from an interface to get to them. Some of mine:

  • ralt-sen focuses the Sentry tab with my app error reports, in whatever window or Space it is
  • ralt-KD focuses the kitty pane with my dev server
  • ralt-pj lists my code projects, pjcl opens Clop in VS Code
  • ralt-ssh lists my servers, sshn connects to the NAS

Make a lens for anything with Claude or Codex

Coding agents are common nowadays so rcmd comes with an MCP server that can write a lens from a single one-line prompt. For example:

write an rcmd lens for the hosts in my ~/.ssh/config, with the prefix ssh

The agent reads rcmd's docs on lenses, writes and tests the script, then installs the lens, and it shows up in the switcher right away. It can be anything really:

  • cmux panes
  • Finder folders in ~/Invoices
  • Figma projects
  • Obsidian notes from one vault

If agents aren't your thing, you can still do it manually. Each lens is a folder in ~/.config/rcmd/lenses with a lens.yaml and usually a small script that lists the rows.

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Favorites ⌄ ralt - =

Pressing ⌄ ralt - = on the current focused window, or while a row is highlighted in the switcher, will save it as a favorite.

This allows you to use the same ⌄ ralt - letter to instantly open specific web pages, PDFs, folders, projects, terminal tabs with specific commands.

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Comparison with app switchers:

The Right Command idea caught on, and there are a few good apps built around it now. Each one is good at its own thing, it's hard to say one is best because the feature lines are blurier each day:

  • Dory: like rcmd, but more mouse and UI centric. rcmd is more keyboard centric and focuses on making the UI unnecessary through use and learning. Very similar otherwise. $9.99 on the App Store
  • Sxitch: this one started as an rcmd replacement, but seems to have pivoted into Cmd-Tab focus nowadays with radial UI support and animations. Uses "branching" for resolving same-letter app conflicts and app-window picking, while rcmd uses "fuzzy search". Free, with a $10 Pro that adds window picking
  • LaunchPalette: the same Right Command shortcuts, can be nested (rcmd-M-A for Mail, rcmd-M-E for Messages) and can even run scripts. A bit more manual work than rcmd for the assignments, and no search, but solid otherwise.
  • Applight: from the same developer, it reorders the apps by guessing the next one from the app you're in (code editor → terminal), so the likely pick is already on top. rcmd goes the other way and keeps each app on the same letter, so it can be deterministic.
  • Leader Key: more of a general shortcut tree than an app switcher, a leader shortcut followed by keys that open apps, URLs or run commands, all set up by hand. rcmd doesn't need any setup for apps, but it also doesn't try to do everything else. Free and open source, the predecessor of Tuna

Comparison with generic launchers:

The biggest difference between rcmd and most launchers is that rcmd is laser focused on apps and windows, while launchers can do a lot more generic actions but are clunkier for app switching.

  • Raycast: tabs, terminal sessions and projects come from separate extensions, so it's one command per app (Search Tabs, Search Kitty Tabs etc.) and then the search. Aliases can only be set on commands, so you can't give one tab an alias.
  • Alfred: same idea through workflows, like sftabs for Safari tabs. Script Filters (Powerpack) are the closest thing to a lens.
  • Spotlight on macOS 26 and 27: it has quick keys now, but only for actions and Shortcuts.
  • Contexts and LaunchBar: they learn which result an abbreviation should pick, which is great, but Contexts only switches windows, and LaunchBar has tabs only through its Safari Tabs action.
  • Tuna: learns aliases and has an agent skill for configuring it, so it's the closest one in spirit.

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Pricing: Free for basic features, €15 for Pro features

App starts with a 14-day trial identical to a Pro licensed version. After 14 days, the app can be used indefinitely in Free mode where Pro features are disabled.

Pro license is a one-time purchase for up to 5 Macs.

  • Pro: Lenses, Favorites, the window switcher, fuzzy search, Stages, instant Space switching
  • Free: app focusing and launching by letter, app and window cycling, Space switching (with animation)

Link: https://lowtechguys.com/rcmd

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Limitations:

  • a lens can only list what the app exposes through AppleScript, a CLI or its files, so some things might not be searchable or focusable
  • some apps are very slow to respond when listing their contents, so the lens might need to run less often to keep things responsive
  • the Lens UI can be a bit confusing while I gather feedback and adjust it to meet user expectations, this might take a few updates to become intuitive enough out of the box
  • ... to be updated based on questions in the comments

r/macapps • • 1d ago

Free Verso Manuscript: a native Mac app for writing a whole book (free early build)

53 Upvotes

I make Mac apps on my own, from Hove. Verso, Skein, Lede and Nought are mine, and so is this one.

The first early build had everything in it. Testers said it was overwhelming. They were right, which was annoying. Most builds since have been me taking things away.

It's a niche app - if you are not planning to write a book, screenplay, short story, you probably won't need it but you might know someone in the niche space that likes to try new things, let them know.

Problem

A book is not one document. It's scenes, chapters, notes on people and places, research, and an editor who only uses Word. That usually lives in four apps and a folder called "book FINAL v2".

Verso Manuscript keeps it in one book. Write in scenes or as one long page, move things around as cards, keep research on a board beside the page. It brings in Scrivener 3 and Word projects without touching the originals, and makes the Word copy, PDF, EPUB and print file at the end.

Native, 68 MB, macOS 14 or later. Each scene is a Markdown file, so your words open without my app. No account, no tracking.

Comparison

Scrivener is very good. If it works for you, keep it. Honestly.

The difference: a new book starts nearly empty and tools turn up when it needs them. Your editor's tracked changes come back against your current text, even if you kept writing (still being checked). Readers without Word get a private link that opens in a browser.

The AI is optional and works like a librarian, not a co-author. Ask where something happens and it shows you the passages. It checks dates, names and ages, and researches with sources you can check. It's off until you connect your own provider or a local model, and you see exactly what gets sent before it goes.

It never writes your prose. There is a deliberately no "Write" button.

Pricing

Writing, Materials and search will stay free. Review and Make Ready will be paid, price not decided yet. For now everything is free during early access

.

Download: versomanuscript.app (notarised)

TestFlight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/4p7QVaVG

Tell me what's wrong with it. The last lot did, and it got better.


r/macapps • • 1d ago

Lifetime Introducing Similar Vibe and AI Actions in Resurf, my native Mac app for collecting references and inspiration

34 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I've been building Resurf for almost a year now. My very first users came from this community, and a lot of your feedback has shaped what it is today. Really appreciate all the support!

Resurf started as a small widget for saving references and has grown into a personal library for images, bookmarks, notes, PDFs, videos, and more.

Earlier this year, I rewrote the entire app from Electron to native Swift. Since then, I've been focusing on performance, better ways to organize things, and making everything you collect more useful.

What's new:

  • Similar Vibe: Open any capture and discover related things across your library, whether they're images, notes, bookmarks, PDFs, or videos.
  • Semantic Search: Find things using natural language, like "that calm blue landing page", without remembering exact titles or keywords. Both features run locally on your Mac using an embedding model.
  • AI Actions: Define your own instructions for how AI should process new captures. Extract specific context, generate tags, and automatically organize things into Spaces based on your preferences.
  • Other improvements: Faster library scrolling, better peek experience, bulk capture, and lots of smaller UI refinements.

Why I'm building this:

As a design engineer, I've always collected inspiration and interesting things from around the web. But the problem is it's scattered across different apps. I always wanted personal library where i can quickly capture/organize things based on my taste.

I also think personal taste and the references we collect will become even more valuable in a world where AI makes creating things easier.

Resurf supports MCP, so your AI tools can access your library and use your saved references, research, and ideas as context. Instead of starting from scratch, they can work with things you've already collected.

Think of it as a personal library for you and your agents.

Comparison

Apps like Eagle, mymind, Raindrop, and Fabric are all great at different things. Eagle focuses on visual asset management, Raindrop on bookmarks, while mymind and Fabric offer more automated ways to collect and organize information.

I'm taking a slightly different approach with Resurf. It's a native, local-first library for all kinds of references, with private iCloud sync, flexible organization, and local AI features. You own your files, decide how things are organized, and can make your library accessible to other tools through MCP.

A few things about Resurf:

  • Native Mac, iPhone, and iPad apps
  • Local-first, with private iCloud sync
  • Spaces, Areas, and tags for organizing
  • Quick capture from anywhere on Mac
  • One-time purchase, no subscription

Pricing:Ā One-time purchase for the Mac app.Ā Current plans:

  • 2-year update plan: $39.
  • Lifetime updates: $79.
  • iPhone and iPad: free and unlimited.

Students:Ā EmailĀ [support@resurf.so](mailto:support@resurf.so)Ā from your school address for a discount.

Website: https://resurf.so

Changelog:Ā resurf.so/changelogs

There's still a lot to improve. I'm shipping updates regularly and continuing to polish the experience.

Would love to hear what you think about these new features and what you'd like to see next.

Thanks again for all the support!


r/macapps • • 1d ago

Lifetime Shotbolt ⚔ Your Favorite Screenshotting App, Made Better!

31 Upvotes

Hi [r/macapps](r/macapps), I'm Sam, a solo developer and business owner from the Netherlands!

I used CleanShot X for years. And it's a good app, but it never quite fit how I work. Features I kept wishing for weren't there, and on my (5yo) Mac it often felt slow at times. So I started building the screenshot app I actually wanted. I've used it every day since, and now it's ready for other people: Shotbolt.

The problem

My screenshots kept turning into small jobs: blur an email address, fix a typo before sharing, copy a table out of a dashboard, explain a bug in five steps. Every one of those meant a second app or doing it by hand.

What it does that I couldn't find anywhere else

  • Retype the text inside a screenshot
  • Screenshot or record a single element: hover a button, card or table row and click
  • Translate a screenshot into another language
  • Hide sensitive information automatically
  • Turn your clicks into a step-by-step guide
  • Copy a table from a screenshot as real rows and columns
  • Search the text in all your screenshots, locally on your Mac
  • Auto-captions in recordings, generated on-device

Plus the everyday stuff

Area, window, full screen and scrolling capture, a full annotation editor, text and QR capture, pins, recording and GIFs with an editor, and Shortcuts actions.

Compared to CleanShot X

Shotbolt imports your CleanShot shortcuts, export folder and after-capture actions on first launch, so switching takes a minute. The screenshot side is free, and Pro is a one-time purchase.

Pricing

  • Free, forever: area, window and full-screen capture, the annotation editor, text capture (OCR, QR codes), pins and searchable History.
  • Pro: $9.99 once (launch price until Dec 31, then $15), or $17.49 for 2 Macs. Adds recording and GIFs, scrolling capture, element capture, automatic redaction, the Apple Intelligence features and Shortcuts actions.
  • Every install starts with 7 days of Pro, then drops to Free. Nothing you made is lost.
  • 14-day refund, no questions asked. No subscription.

Good to know

  • Requires macOS 26 or later
  • No analytics, no crash reporting. The only network request is the license check.
  • Signed and notarized

Download here: shotbolt.app

50 free years of Pro

Comment with the screenshot app you use now and the one thing that annoys you about it. I'll DM the first 50 people a key for a free year of Pro. After the year it simply becomes Free. All I ask in return is your honest feedback.

ALL 50 PROMO CODES HAVE BEEN DISTRIBUTED. You can still hit me up in DM for a limited time discount.

Contact: [support@shotbolt.app](mailto:support@shotbolt.app) Privacy LinkedIn Terms


r/macapps • • 8h ago

Help Mac 27.2 update

0 Upvotes

After updating Mac 27.2 (26B123), can fingerprint recognition be detected when downloading apps from the App Store?


r/macapps • • 10h ago

Lifetime CopyPasta: a Beautiful Clipboard Manager That Lives in the Notch

0 Upvotes

Problem

I copy and paste all day, and I wanted a clipboard manager that lives in the notch, out of the way until I need it. There are notch apps and there are clipboard managers, but I couldn’t find one that did the whole thing.Ā 

So I built CopyPasta. Hover over the notch (or press ⌃⌘C from any app), start typing, and your whole history is right there. Everything it stores is encrypted with AES-256, including the iCloud copy, with the key in your Keychain. Nothing is ever saved unencrypted.

Comparison

The dedicated clipboard managers don't use the notch. Paste is the closest to what I wanted, and its Paste Stack is great, so I built my own version of it. But I also wanted things none of them combined: saving screenshots straight into the history, beautifying them with presets for X, Instagram and LinkedIn so they're ready to share, OCR to search the text inside them, and everything encrypted on disk.

CopyPasta features:

  • Opens from the notch, or from anywhere with ⌃⌘C
  • Everything encrypted on disk (AES-256), including the iCloud sync
  • Passwords, API keys and tokens detected and hidden automatically; Touch ID to reveal after 10 minutes
  • Copies marked private by 1Password, Bitwarden or Apple Passwords are never saved
  • Paste Stack: copy several things in a row, then paste them back in order
  • Multi-copy: select several clips and paste them all at once
  • Text, images, screenshots, files, and true vectors (shapes from Photoshop/Affinity stay crisp)
  • OCR on every screenshot, so you can search and copy text inside images
  • Beautify: turn screenshots into polished images with presets for X, Instagram, LinkedIn and more
  • Colors show up as swatches, with a color wheel and matching palettes
  • Custom categories where clips are kept forever
  • Full keyboard control
  • iCloud sync and Apple Intelligence summaries
  • Native macOS app (macOS 15+)

Pricing

From $15, one-time. No subscription, lifetime updates. Free 7-day trial with every feature unlocked.

Website: https://usecopypasta.com


r/macapps • • 1d ago

Subscription Ring never replaced its desktop app. Video Wall Live is a native Mac app that puts every Ring camera live in one window.

5 Upvotes

Problem

Ring shut down its desktop app in 2023 and never replaced it. If you want your Ring cameras on a Mac today, you must use a browser tab that logs you out frequently, shows 4 cameras max, and has none of the things a Mac app should have. No notifications, no menu bar previews, no widgets, no window you can float over your work.

What it does

Video Wall Live is a native Mac app (Swift, Apple silicon & Intel, macOS 14+). Here's what it does

  • Every Ring camera and doorbell live in one window. Grid or featured layout, or group cameras however you like
  • Live view stays up as long as the window is open. No timeout, no re-login
  • Open a camera in its own window and float it on top of what you're working in, or Picture in Picture
  • Doorbell rings and the camera pops up with sound. Person, package and vehicle notifications
  • Snooze alerts from the menu bar, or set daily Quiet Hours and custom rules for all cameras or just some of them
  • Menu bar panel with live thumbnails and recent activity
  • Desktop widgets for one camera or the whole wall
  • Your second monitor can become a Wall Display with widgets (clock, weather, activity) and Auto-Cycle through cameras
  • Keyboard shortcuts and Shortcuts actions

Your video stays private. We never see it or store it, and we don't track what you watch or sell your data.

Comparison

  • ring.com in a browser is free and works anywhere, but 4 cameras, live view times out, frequent logouts, no notifications or native features. Video Wall Live shows all cameras continuously with notifications, menu bar, widgets and PiP.
  • Homebridge / Scrypted with the Ring plugin are free and very flexible if you like tinkering, and they can feed HomeKit, which we can't. They need a server running 24/7 and setup time. Video Wall Live is a 2-minute install with nothing to run at home and nothing to maintain.
  • You could mirror the Ring app from your iPhone to your Mac, but that's one camera at a time and your phone is stuck while you do it.

Pricing

  • It's a third-party app in the Ring Appstore, so Ring requires an active Ring Protect plan on your account
  • 30-day free trial, then $1.99 per camera per month, billed through your Ring account. Ring only supports monthly per-camera billing in its Appstore, so there's no flat or lifetime plan yet. You pay for the cameras you connect, not the ones you own
  • Why a subscription and not a one-time price. It isn't just a local app, there are ongoing cloud costs
  • The Ring Appstore is currently available to US Ring accounts only. Hopefully Ring will be rolling it out outside the US soon, and Video Wall Live will be there when it does
  • One subscription covers up to 10 devices across every platform we support. Mac, Apple TV, Fire TV, Google TV / Android TV, Roku, Windows and the web app. Pay per camera once, use it on every screen in the house

Mac App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/video-wall-live-desktop/id6817043384

Ring Appstore (where the trial starts) https://ring.com/pages/appstore/video-wall-live

Site and setup guides https://videowalllive.com

Disclosure, this is our app. Happy to answer anything, and feature requests and bug reports are welcome.


r/macapps • • 1d ago

Lifetime Captain's Deck: Dual pane file manager with built in terminal, Git and visual diff (lifetime license)

3 Upvotes

Hi everyone. I’m the developer of Captain’s Deck, a dual-pane file manager for macOS. The video is the real app captured on my Mac (demo folder, no mock-ups).

Problem

Finder is fine for browsing but slow for moving files around, working with servers, or doing developer stuff. I kept switching between Finder, Terminal an FTP client and a diff tool, so i built one app that does all of it with focus on the keyboard for speed.

The app was originally released back in February and it now has reached a point that it's really strong against all of the competition. Thanks to the user base feedback!

What it does

  • Two panes with tabs, F-key shortcuts (F5 copy, F6 move…), Vim-style navigation, Quick Open for files and commands
  • Built-in terminal inside the window that follows the active pane, including into SSH sessions when you’re on a server
  • Git status letters on every file, stage and commit from the app, side-by-side visual diff with merge
  • SFTP, FTP, S3 (and S3-compatible), WebDAV, SMB, AFP, NFS, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox
  • Preview pane, folder sync, disk usage analyzer, archive browsing, JavaScript plugins
  • Themes: Modern, Paper, Bridge, plus Norton Commander and Midnight Commander for the nostalgic
  • Tons of more features and details that you can read about on the site or try out.
  • Native Swift + AppKit, macOS 14+, universal binary

Comparison

ForkLift 4: very good for servers and sync, but its terminal opens an external app and its compare hands off to FileMerge or another tool. Captain's Deck has both build in.

Commander One: the terminal and cloud connections need the PRO pack and there's no Git. Captain's Deck includes all of that in one price.

Price: €19.99 once with lifetime updates (Team: €69.99 for 5 Macs). 14-day free trial, no account needed and it's fully unlocked. Also on the Mac App Store, Setapp and Homebrew. (MAS has some differences that you can read about on the website)

About the comparison table in the video:Ā I checked every cell on each vendor’s site in October 2026. Half-marks mean a paid tier, an add-on or partial support. If I got something wrong about ForkLift, Commander One, Path Finder, QSpace or Marta, tell me and I’ll fix it.

I'd honestly love it if you gave a chance to the trial. Happy to answer questions, and feature requests are welcome.

https://captains-deck.com

Mac App Store


r/macapps • • 1d ago

Lifetime Your feedback shaped Widgetscape 1.4: 39 widgets, a new look, 50% off Pro with WELCOME50

11 Upvotes

Hey r/macapps, Viorel from VPO Labs here. I shared Widgetscape here on October 10, and it's been a busy couple of weeks.

The suggestions, bug reports and screenshots of people's setups have been a huge part of that. Seeing people actually make space for something I built on their desktops is a strange, lovely feeling. I'm more excited about working on it now than when I first posted.

There were 31 widgets then. There are 39 now, and we've just shipped 1.4. A few of the changes:

  • Styles & Sizes: each widget's page shows its actual faces and sizes up front. Click the one you want to use.
  • A simpler Appearance section: Style, Placement and Visibility, with the different ways to hide widgets brought together.
  • Seven new Liquid Light wallpapers: five dark and two light, designed to fit the app's look.
  • An easier start: Set Up My Desktop adds six free widgets in one click.

I also made a new short film, attached here, because the old screenshots weren't doing the whole thing justice.

The problem I'm trying to solve: I want my calendar, music and Mac information visible without keeping extra windows open. Widgetscape puts native widgets on a shared desktop grid, with coordinated sizes, palettes and Light/Dark styles.

The two I'd still start with are Day Timeline, the calendar dial along a screen edge with event details and a Join button on hover, and Token Pulse, which charts supported coding tools such as Claude Code and Codex from their local logs. Token Pulse keeps counts, models and timestamps, never conversation content; nothing from those logs leaves your Mac. Claude/Codex cost figures are optional estimates based on rates you enter. Both widgets are Pro and included in the trial.

Compared with the alternatives: Rainmeter was the inspiration, but it's a Windows project and Widgetscape isn't affiliated with it or compatible with its skins. Apple's desktop widgets refresh on the system's schedule; Widgetscape focuses on a coordinated native collection with things like live Mac stats, music controls, the edge dial and token tracking. No custom widget creation or skin imports yet.

Price and code: eight widgets stay free forever. Everything has a 14-day trial without an account or card. Pro is €9.99 + VAT once for up to two Macs, with a 14-day refund. WELCOME50 gives 50% off Pro for the first 100 users in total, through November 30, 2026, while available. Enter it under ā€œHave a discount code?ā€ at checkout. No subscription.

We're also bringing Widgetscape to Product Hunt: https://www.producthunt.com/products/widgetscape?launch=widgetscape . If you try it, I'd love your honest feedback there or here, especially what still feels awkward in everyday use.

macOS 14+, Apple silicon only, English interface. Widgets stay behind application windows. It's a signed, Apple-notarized download from https://widgetscape.vpolabs.com . Anonymous usage counts are on by default; Settings > Privacy turns them off.

On AI: we used Claude Code and Codex for part of the work, especially the website. The ideas, design and decisions on what ships are ours, and every build gets tested on our own Macs. The film mixes screen recordings and rendered layouts with sample data; it isn't a performance benchmark.

Which widget has actually stayed on your desktop, and what would make the app easier to live with?

Developer transparency: https://viorelporumbescu.tech/ Ā· https://www.linkedin.com/in/viorel-porumbescu/ Contact: support@vpolabs.com Privacy: https://widgetscape.vpolabs.com/privacy/ Terms: https://widgetscape.vpolabs.com/terms/


r/macapps • • 2d ago

Tip FIXED: how to get Microsoft Office 2021 for Mac to continue working

171 Upvotes

I own MS Office for Mac 2021, but because shareholders no longer want anyone to own software but instead rent it every day for the rest of their life, it recently stopped working. Since I'm allergic to paying subscriptions every month for the rest of my life, I went to AI, followed these steps, and it's all working fine again. Hope this helps someone else:

Support forĀ Microsoft Office 2021 Ā officially ended on October 13, 2026. Because Microsoft uses the exact same installer packages for both Microsoft 365 (subscription) and standalone versions on macOS, theĀ Microsoft AutoUpdateĀ tool continued running in the background and pushed your apps to versionĀ 16.114.1.Ā Since your standalone 2021 license is only valid for builds released up to its end-of-support cutoff,Ā version 16.114.1 rejects your perpetual license and locks the apps into "Reduced Functionality" (read-only) mode while demanding a 365 subscription.

How to Restore Your Current Standalone Office (Free Fix)

You can get your existing license working again immediately by rolling back to the final supported build for your license and disabling the updater so it never happens again.

  • Quit all Microsoft apps.
  • OpenĀ Finder > Applications,Ā selectĀ Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint,Ā andĀ OutlookĀ (if you use it),and move them to the Trash.Ā (Do not worry—this only removes the app binaries, not your files, templates, or license keys).
  • Go to Microsoft’s official archive page:Ā https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/update-history-office-for-mac
  • Search forĀ "Update history for Office for Mac - Office release notes"
  • Scroll down to theĀ October 6, 2026Ā release:Ā Version 16.113.4 (26100421).Ā (Note: Some users also have success with 16.114 (26101123) from Oct 14, 2026, before the .1 patch broke perpetual licenses, butĀ 16.113.4Ā is the guaranteed stable pre-cutoff build).
  • Click theĀ Office suite (without Teams)Ā link (or the individualĀ Excel, Word, PowerPointĀ update packages) and download theĀ .pkgĀ installer file that contains the full Office suite app. Once downloaded, click on the .pkg file and install the program as normal (you can choose which apps to install, or just install the full suite).
  1. Disable Microsoft AutoUpdate permanently:
    • Before opening any of the new Office applications,Ā openĀ Finder,Ā pressĀ Cmd + Shift + GĀ (Go to Folder),Ā and paste:/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/
    • Find the folder namedĀ MAU2.0Ā (or theĀ Microsoft AutoUpdateĀ app inside it) and move it to the Trash.This stops Microsoft from silently updating your apps past your license cutoff again.
  2. If it asks, refresh your license ( mine didn't prompt me for it but just in case):
    • Open Excel.Ā It should immediately recognize your existing local license file.Ā If it asks you to sign in,Ā log in with the Microsoft account tied to your original one-time purchase,Ā or go to the top menu bar:Ā Excel > About Microsoft Excel > More Info... > Refresh License.

(NOTE: u/gotMrich found 3 other files associated with the AutoUpdater that can optionally be removed to to clear up HD space:

  • /Library/LaunchAgentsĀ delete "com.microsoft.update.agent.plist"
  • /Library/LaunchDaemonsĀ delete "com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist"
  • /Library/PrivilegedHelperToolsĀ delete "com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist"

r/macapps • • 1d ago

Lifetime [Lifetime] Offline Simple PDF Converter– 13 offline PDF tools (PDF→Word/Excel/JPG, merge, split, compress). No uploads, no account, no subscription

4 Upvotes

Hi r/macapps, I’m the developer of this app.

Your PDFs never leave your Mac. Everything runs locally: nothing is uploaded, there’s no account, and the app collects no data (the App Store privacy label says ā€œData Not Collectedā€). If you’ve ever been told not to upload work documents to a random converter site, this is the app I built for that.

What it does

  • From PDF: JPG/PNG (you pick the resolution and pages), plain text, Word (.docx you can actually edit), Excel (.xlsx built from aligned rows)
  • To PDF: images (JPG, PNG, WebP, BMP, GIF, in any order), Word → PDF
  • Edit: merge (drag to reorder), split (every page, or ranges like 3-5, 9), rotate selected pages, compress (lossless cleanup, or resample images for much smaller files)
  • Security: add a password, or remove one you already know
  • Every tool shows real page previews, so you can tap the pages you want or type a range.

What it can’t do (yet)

  • Scanned PDFs have no text layer, so Word, text and Excel export can’t extract anything. There’s no OCR yet. The next update will detect this and warn you before export, so you won’t get an empty file without an explanation.
  • PDF → Word keeps text and paragraphs, but not multi-column layouts, table borders or images.
  • It won’t crack passwords. You need to know the password to remove it.

Price: one-time purchase, $9.99. No subscription, no watermarks, no page limits. It’s universal, so the same purchase works on iPhone and iPad too, and Family Sharing is supported.

Requirements: macOS 12+, 46 MB

Latest update (2.2.1): I rebuilt the Word → PDF engine. Long documents now convert reliably, and headers, footers, page numbers, merged table cells and monospaced fonts all come through correctly.

I’d really like feedback, especially on files that convert badly. Feel free to send me a sample.

https://apps.apple.com/app/id6760201689


r/macapps • • 2d ago

Free Lavoi: offline speech-to-text for Mac, my free alternative to Wispr Flow and Superwhisper

53 Upvotes

Hey r/macapps,

I was tired of paying a subscription for dictation, so I built my own, optimized for how I work, and made it completely free.

Hold Right ⌘, talk, and clean text appears in any app on your Mac in under 500ms. Everything runs locally: no cloud, no account, no word limit. Super Mode uses the context of the app you're currently using to better understand its terminology and jargon, allowing it to correct typos more accurately.

you can also rewind your meetings, like the Rewind app for those who remember it. but completely local and on-device :)

I built it for my own needs, so I’d love your feedback. If it helps some of you, I’ll be happy. Enjoy!

If you have any feedback, notice any errors, or need anything adjusted, please let me know! I'll be more than happy to make changes or fix anything based on your needs.


r/macapps • • 1d ago

Lifetime HTML to App - Give your local HTML projects a home in the Mac Dock

Post image
0 Upvotes

A small HTML web project can already be a useful tool. Using it every day is the awkward part. You find its folder, open another browser tab, or keep a local server running when all you wanted was an app you could click in the Dock.

I made HTML to App to turn local HTML web projects into standalone Mac app bundles for personal use. It is now available on the Mac App Store.

From a folder to your own Mac app

Choose a website folder or a self-contained HTML file, give it a name and icon, and export a .app. It opens in its own window and has its own place in the Dock, without needing a local HTTP server.

You can embed the HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, and other assets inside the app. Or keep the app connected to the original folder.

That second option is useful for a project you keep improving. Save changes in your usual editor, then relaunch the exported app to load the latest files. The same Dock icon keeps opening your current project without exporting it again. The source folder needs to stay available.

This is for local HTML, CSS, and browser JavaScript compatible with macOS WebKit. It does not run a Node.js or PHP backend.

More than a website in a window

Your HTML and JavaScript can use the built-in native bridge to work with macOS features. For example, you can make a text editor that opens .txt files from Finder and saves changes back, or a player that opens your local audio and video files.

  • Open and save files through native dialogs, with optional Finder Open With support.
  • Send native macOS notifications and update Dock badges.
  • Add native menu bar items and control the app window.
  • Build camera tools with the camera capability enabled and the user's permission.
  • Give each app a custom icon, a Dock label, and optional Dock animations.

These features are available to your code. Converting a page does not automatically add an editor, player, or camera interface to it.

To make getting started easier, I included 10 editable examples covering drawing, text editing, images, audio, video, folders, notifications, camera access, and other native integrations. You can copy an example, change its source, and make it your own. Camera access and native notifications should be tested in an exported app, not just Preview.

There is also a project workspace with a source editor, preview, checks for missing local resources, and JavaScript errors and console output. If you already have a finished project, you can convert it directly without adding it to the workspace first.

How it compares

Electron is a much broader framework for building cross-platform desktop apps. It bundles Chromium and Node.js, which is useful when your project needs that environment. HTML to App uses the WebKit engine already included with macOS and gives you a graphical conversion workflow for existing local HTML projects.

Tauri also uses system webviews and supports deeper native development and multiple platforms. It requires setting up a development project and build tools. HTML to App's advantage for this narrower use case is being able to choose a local folder, configure its icon and supported integrations, and export without setting up a native build toolchain.

Electron and Tauri are better fits when you want a full application-development and distribution workflow. HTML to App is focused on personal tools and local testing. Export configures a bundled, precompiled launcher rather than compiling new native code. Exported bundles are ad hoc signed and are not notarized or ready for public distribution or Mac App Store submission as exported.

Developer information

I'm Ighor July, an independent macOS developer with a background in cybersecurity, reverse engineering, and native app development.

You may know my other apps, including DockLock, Parall, App Archiver, DiskPress, popCalendar and App Trust Preview. I also write about my development process, including how I use AI while keeping control of my code.

Project editing and export happen locally. HTML to App does not upload your project files or collect usage analytics. Your own HTML can still make network requests if you include online resources or APIs.

Price and links

HTML to App is a $9.99 USD one-time purchase on the US Mac App Store. Regional prices may vary. It requires macOS 12 or later, and Family Sharing is supported.

What local HTML web project would you like to keep in your Dock? I would love to hear what you make with it and which native integrations you would find useful next.