Evidence-first research

[OS] PairDrop | Transfer Files Cross-Platform. No Setup, No Signup.

Yesterday I was looking for an even simpler way to transfer files in our house and home offices through the local network than with [LocalSend](https://localsend.org/). And so I found [PairDrop](https://pairdrop.net/). It's free, open-source and web-based and lets you securely (encrypted) share files and text between different devices without requiring an account or an app. It works and looks like [Apple's AirDrop](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirDrop). It appears it can also be used when devices are on different networks, by pairing the devices first, or by public rooms. I did not try that yet, though. There's a[ GitHub page](https://github.com/schlagmichdoch/pairdrop/blob/master/docs/faq.md) too. ^(No affiliation, just sharing.)

Audacity just updated to v4, but annoyingly there are now two apps installed because they changed the name

it's difficult to uninstall Audacity (v3) with PearCleaner because it has some files in common with v4. what a mess.

[OS] VolEq: automatic voice-volume leveling for online meetings, free and open source

Hi everyone, I've released my first open-source macOS app, **VolEq**: Download: [https://github.com/DPatrikI/voleq-community/releases/latest](https://github.com/DPatrikI/voleq-community/releases/latest) Source code: [https://github.com/DPatrikI/voleq-community](https://github.com/DPatrikI/voleq-community) **VolEq** can process either one application, such as Teams, or all audio playing on your Mac. It automatically raises quiet voices and reduces loud ones. It uses offline speech-aware processing so music, barking, and background noise do not get boosted. Everything runs locally. **VolEq** does not record, save, or upload audio. The downloadable app is signed and notarized by Apple. **Problem** During meetings, I regularly have one person who is much quieter or louder than everyone else. I either cannot hear that person properly, or someone else suddenly destroys my ears. VolEq tries to keep those voices at a more consistent level without me constantly changing the volume. I originally made an Android version around five years ago. This is a new native macOS implementation of the same core idea. **Comparison** SoundSource offers much broader control over Mac audio, including manual per-app volume, routing, and effects. Teams and Zoom can automatically adjust your microphone input, which affects what other people hear from you. VolEq has a narrower purpose. It automatically levels the playback that you hear, either from one application or device-wide, while trying not to ampli

Launchie 1.5.9 - Customizable and beautiful Launchpad alternative - AUTUMN SALE

**macOS removed Launchpad. Launchie brings it back - and makes it more customizable.** Hi r/MacApps, I’m the developer of **Launchie**, a Mac App Store app built after Apple removed Launchpad from macOS. # Problem Launchpad used to be a simple, visual way to open and organize apps on macOS. Since Apple removed it, there is no real built-in replacement for people who liked having an app grid, folders, and quick access to their installed apps. Launchie brings that workflow back, but with more control: * Launchpad-style app grid * Folders and Spaces for organizing apps * Drag and drop rearranging * Keyboard shortcut, hot corner, app icon, or menu bar activation * Customizable layout, window size, columns, Quick Access, hidden apps, and more I built Launchie because I personally missed that workflow, and a lot of users seemed to feel the same. # Comparison There are already other good apps in this space, including LaunchNext and LaunchOS. Launchie’s focus is slightly different: I’m trying to keep the original Launchpad feeling, while adding deeper customization and a more native macOS-style experience. For example, Launchie supports folders, Spaces, drag-and-drop organization, Quick Access, hot corners, keyboard shortcuts, and a lot of layout options. I’m also actively developing it based on user feedback. Many of the recent changes came directly from emails, DMs, and comments from users. I reply to feedback, and when an idea makes sense for the app, I try to implement it. # Pric

Tell HN: I want to see the same moon as you

My wife was at home in San Francisco and I was in Mexico City for work. She told me to go look at the moon. Being 2000 miles apart we could look at the same object at the same time. The Internet used to be like that. A shared experience - “did you see what was on the front page of Instagram?” I miss that. Now we are off in separate algorithms like the Tower of Babel. Doesn’t it feel like without a shared experience it’s basically offline?

Show HN: Moadim.io – A scheduler for agents

Why can't we get an agent scheduler that supports all of the following: - git compatible - agent agnostic - 100% open source - os and system-agnostic - multi-runner support - support mcp/ui/http - unlimited routines/crons So I built one, moadim.io is a local Rust daemon you install in the target machine, give it a name and manage its routines via a Git repository, wants a new routine that send you a daily message from this machine? Create a pr and merge, have another routine that run every hour to pull the latest changes to the ~/.config/moadim folder. With more than 1,000 users, I define this project as almost "done" and ready for production. Me and thousand more people are use it in a daily manner. It currently supports Claude, Codex, Hermes, and Pi, and you are welcome to add your agent of choice as well because it's 100% configurable. You are welcome to have a look at the source code of the daemon in " http://github.com/moadim-io/daemon " Feel free to provide me with suggestions for more features around this topic. I don't want to branch out to new off road topics likt webhooks, this is a "done" software in the realm of agents schedulers that focus on cron-like work. Also feel free to start the github repository and open issues and PRs for your suggestions.

Mac developers, what did usage analytics tell you that actually changed your app?

I am a Mac developer, and I believe this should be a worldwide standard. An app that performs an offline task must stay offline. Opening a text file or using a local utility should not mean reporting my activity to its developer or an analytics company. Whether that information is useful to someone else does not change that principle. Sales and download figures are a separate matter. So is a crash report I deliberately choose to send. I am talking about background usage reporting while an app does something entirely on my Mac. I use Little Snitch to check connections, including after disabling analytics. I have seen an app claim "no data collected" while connecting to Google Analytics and its own analytics subdomain. Those destinations do not prove what was transmitted or retained, but I still want an explanation for those connections. Developers who add analytics to local apps, I want to understand your reasoning. * What specific decision has the data helped you make? * Why should using an offline feature generate a report to a server? * Who receives the data, and is it used for anything beyond improving the app? Developers who keep their apps offline, how do you learn what needs improving? Users, do you expect the same boundary? What would it take to make offline tasks staying offline the standard rather than something we have to check ourselves?

Ask HN: Why isn't there a cursor for video games development

So I was prototyping with claude code and Godot engine, and I thought it was weird that this specific category of AI isn't as big as video gen creative suites. Like theres big names like runway and higgsfield but when it comes to video games there's no major company trying to make a one stop shop using AI to make video games. I'm sure it isn't because of a lack of trying, I'm sure developers thought about it as one of the first things to automate. If I had to guess there's a couple reasons: 1)Quality-making a good game requires extreme attention to detail all of which is non coding related. The animations on idle characters, how the background characters look, the sound design and clever story. 90% of gaming is art 2) backlash from players. I think this is an important factor but not the dominant factor. For reasons like games like Slotbound have had amazing positive responses despite being ai generated as long as they are high quality. On the flip side reputation does matter for major studios so adoption can be slow. 3)No money in the industry. Most game studios aren't raining in money, therefore making video games would be an expensive and time consuming hobby that got slightly easier, but is still difficult. A normal prosumer simply doesn't have the time nor dedication to make an project that is going to take months of their time These are my guesses, but I would love to hear responses from people in the industry or people who have attempted this idea or VCs who have their

Tell HN: I want to see the same moon as you

My wife was at home in San Francisco and I was in Mexico City for work. She told me to go look at the moon. Being 2000 miles apart we could look at the same object at the same time. The Internet used to be like that. A shared experience - “did you see what was on the front page of Instagram?” I miss that. Now we are off in separate algorithms like the Tower of Babel. Doesn’t it feel like without a shared experience it’s basically offline?

Show HN: Moadim.io – A scheduler for agents

Why can't we get an agent scheduler that supports all of the following: - git compatible - agent agnostic - 100% open source - os and system-agnostic - multi-runner support - support mcp/ui/http - unlimited routines/crons So I built one, moadim.io is a local Rust daemon you install in the target machine, give it a name and manage its routines via a Git repository, wants a new routine that send you a daily message from this machine? Create a pr and merge, have another routine that run every hour to pull the latest changes to the ~/.config/moadim folder. With more than 1,000 users, I define this project as almost "done" and ready for production. Me and thousand more people are use it in a daily manner. It currently supports Claude, Codex, Hermes, and Pi, and you are welcome to add your agent of choice as well because it's 100% configurable. You are welcome to have a look at the source code of the daemon in " http://github.com/moadim-io/daemon " Feel free to provide me with suggestions for more features around this topic. I don't want to branch out to new off road topics likt webhooks, this is a "done" software in the realm of agents schedulers that focus on cron-like work. Also feel free to start the github repository and open issues and PRs for your suggestions.

Mac developers, what did usage analytics tell you that actually changed your app?

I am a Mac developer, and I believe this should be a worldwide standard. An app that performs an offline task must stay offline. Opening a text file or using a local utility should not mean reporting my activity to its developer or an analytics company. Whether that information is useful to someone else does not change that principle. Sales and download figures are a separate matter. So is a crash report I deliberately choose to send. I am talking about background usage reporting while an app does something entirely on my Mac. I use Little Snitch to check connections, including after disabling analytics. I have seen an app claim "no data collected" while connecting to Google Analytics and its own analytics subdomain. Those destinations do not prove what was transmitted or retained, but I still want an explanation for those connections. Developers who add analytics to local apps, I want to understand your reasoning. * What specific decision has the data helped you make? * Why should using an offline feature generate a report to a server? * Who receives the data, and is it used for anything beyond improving the app? Developers who keep their apps offline, how do you learn what needs improving? Users, do you expect the same boundary? What would it take to make offline tasks staying offline the standard rather than something we have to check ourselves?

Ask HN: Why isn't there a cursor for video games development

So I was prototyping with claude code and Godot engine, and I thought it was weird that this specific category of AI isn't as big as video gen creative suites. Like theres big names like runway and higgsfield but when it comes to video games there's no major company trying to make a one stop shop using AI to make video games. I'm sure it isn't because of a lack of trying, I'm sure developers thought about it as one of the first things to automate. If I had to guess there's a couple reasons: 1)Quality-making a good game requires extreme attention to detail all of which is non coding related. The animations on idle characters, how the background characters look, the sound design and clever story. 90% of gaming is art 2) backlash from players. I think this is an important factor but not the dominant factor. For reasons like games like Slotbound have had amazing positive responses despite being ai generated as long as they are high quality. On the flip side reputation does matter for major studios so adoption can be slow. 3)No money in the industry. Most game studios aren't raining in money, therefore making video games would be an expensive and time consuming hobby that got slightly easier, but is still difficult. A normal prosumer simply doesn't have the time nor dedication to make an project that is going to take months of their time These are my guesses, but I would love to hear responses from people in the industry or people who have attempted this idea or VCs who have their

Quick AI

I'm looking for a lightweight macOS app that works like Raycast's Quick AI: I hit a global hotkey, a small floating window pops up, I type a quick question, get an answer, and close it - no full chat app, no browser tab, minimal friction. The one hard requirement is OpenRouter support (or at least a custom OpenAI-compatible base URL + API key), so I can pick whichever model I want and pay per use instead of a subscription. Ideally free or one-time payment app.

Show HN: Sageling - a local AI agent for Mac, Qwen 3.5 9B in-process via MLX

A lot of my non-developer friends still think that AI is basically just Google or something you ask to write something and then copy paste it around... if they use it at all. When I ask them why they don't use the good stuff like Claude Cowork or its competitors, they tell me a few things: 1. Well, I don't wanna pay a bunch of money for it, and the $20 plans run out real fast. 2. I'm dealing with sensitive info (student grades, therapy notes, legal work, etc) and I don't wanna give it to anyone. So I built Sageling to give them a first taste of what a good coworking experience feels like. It's admittedly not going to be as powerful given it's running Qwen 3.5 9B, but with all of the harness' tricks, it a good first experience that can handle some impressive things for its size (see all the website videos). If you've heard similar things from your friends, send the link onto them =)

I had the code already, so here's a free Markdown editor

I make [Verso](https://www.versowriter.app/) (a word processor) and [Skein](https://www.skeinnotes.app/) (a notes app). Building those meant writing a Markdown editor anyway, and people who write in Markdown are not interested in buying a word processor from me - so I pulled the editor out, gave it its own window, and made it free. That's the origin story. I tired to do a search on how many there are on app store already - but lost count. I know that you probably have a markdown editor that you like more. But hey. Free things ;) **Problem** Live preview Markdown editors reveal the raw syntax on whichever line your cursor is on. So the text shifts every time you move the caret, and you spend the day watching the page twitch. Lede decides what to hide from what the line says, not from where the cursor is, so nothing reflows while you type. It's also one file in one window. No vault, no sidebar, nothing to import into. It edits the file where you keep it and gives it back byte for byte. **Comparison** *Typora ($14.99, one-time)* is the closest thing, and it has exactly the problem above: put the cursor on a heading and the `##` appears, moving the line. Typora is Electron; Lede is AppKit and about 5 MB. But Typora does maths and Mermaid diagrams and Lede does neither, so if you write LaTeX, stop reading, it's the better app. *MarkText (free)* is the free version of that idea and still Electron. Its last release was v0.19.1 in June 2024 and the Mac builds are unsigned, so you get

Sandboxing Claude CLI with Tart on Apple Silicon