Evidence-first research

[macOS] Saber – A Native Usenet/NZB Downloader for Mac

**Problem:** There's no well-maintained, standalone native macOS Usenet client left. SABnzbd and NZBGet are great for a full stack, but they run in a browser tab and need config wrangling. NZBVortex is dead and Intel-only. I just wanted to drop in an NZB, search my indexer in-app, and download — without Rosetta, without a web server, without a config file. **Comparison:** Saber is better than SABnzbd/NZBGet for ad-hoc downloads because it's a real native Mac app, not a web UI — native menus, keyboard shortcuts, sandboxing, proper notifications. And it fixes a real bug I hit with other tools: it reconciles archive volume names with par2 sets so verification actually works, instead of failing on every release. **Other features:** • Inbuilt indexer search • Speed and Inspector panels • par2 repair built in • Automatic unpacking + smart renaming **Pricing:** US$7.99 Lifetime **Link:** [macOS App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id6797222259) **Link:** [Saber Website](https://saber.velosec.au/) **Changelog:** [Saber Changelog](https://saber.velosec.au/changelog) **AI Disclaimer:** Hand coded and AI Assist (hell, who wants to do the grunt work if you don't have to!)

[OS] Metis – A coding agent that elevates DeepSeek's programming capabilities to the "Fable 5" level.

# Problem I wanted to get more useful coding work out of the model I already had. Metis brings planning, code changes, and verification into one workspace, with a visible task checklist and subagents for different parts of the job. You can plan before making changes, follow what each agent is doing, and resume work with persistent project memory. There's also a terminal interface if you prefer that workflow. # Comparison OpenCode and Claude Code are the closest alternatives. My focus with Metis is combining model choice, a desktop workspace, and coordination between planning, implementation, review, and verification. In my Terminal-Bench 2.1 comparison, both Metis and OpenCode used DeepSeek V4 Flash with the same task set, budget, and environment: * Metis: **73/89 tasks solved (82.02%)** * OpenCode: **60/89 tasks solved (67.42%)** That's 13 additional tasks solved, or **14.60 percentage points** higher. This is one benchmark comparison, not a promise of the same improvement on every project. # Pricing **$0 for Metis.** It's MIT-licensed, with no app subscription or paid feature tier. Model/API usage is separate and depends on your provider. Github URL : [https://github.com/Wholiver/metis](https://github.com/Wholiver/metis) What would make you try a different coding app on your Mac: better task completion, clearer control over changes, or easier setup?

Floodtide- update all your mac apps from on place. (Back and on 0.8.5)

I posted about Floodtide here a little while ago, but that post ended up being taken down, so I’m reposting it now with where the app is currently at. It’s changed quite a bit since then. I’ve been building Floodtide as a replacement for MacUpdater. It scans the apps in your Applications folder, checks what’s out of date, and lets you update supported apps from one place. It’s now on **0.8.5 beta**. The awkward part with Mac app updates isn’t really finding the easy ones. It’s dealing with everything that updates differently. Some apps use Sparkle, some are in Homebrew, some come from the App Store or Setapp, some use their own updater, and some don’t expose anything useful at all. One thing I didn’t like in the early versions of Floodtide was that if it couldn’t check an app properly, it basically looked the same as an app that was already up to date. So now it tells you when it couldn’t get a reliable answer. Those apps are shown separately, and there’s an inspector where you can see what sources were checked and what Floodtide actually found. # A few other bits: * **macOS 13+** * **Intel and Apple Silicon** * Apple signed and notarised * Checks and downloads run in parallel, so scans and updates are pretty quick * Backups are kept before replacing apps, so updates can be undone * Privacy-focused, with update checks happening against the relevant sources from your Mac * Public coverage checker so you can see whether your own apps are supported before installing * Currently

I finally made my first Mac app: One Big Note, a scratchpad that automatically resizes your text as you type ($0.99)

Hi r/MacApps, After years of following this sub, appreciating all you developers, and generally being a big fan of interesting Mac apps, I finally did it: I made an app and put it on the Mac App Store. I have a few more ambitious apps in various unfinished states, but for my first release I decided to start with the simplest idea I had and try to build it really well. **Problem** Whenever I wrote something on a scratchpad, I wanted it to be big. If I changed the window size or added more text, I would end up fiddling with font sizes and wrapping just to make it fill the space nicely. So I built One Big Note. It is one autosaved note whose text continuously resizes to fit the window. A short thought becomes enormous. Add more text, or resize the window into almost any shape, and the typography adjusts automatically. I keep it on a second monitor for the one thing I do not want to lose sight of that day. There is something surprisingly refreshing about seeing a thought in giant bold letters, and it is hard to ignore. https://reddit.com/link/1w2yw1v/video/m7y5q3boylmh1/player I also discovered that I really like using it to draft emails and work texts. The changing type size acts as a kind of visual length meter. When my message starts getting tiny, I know I may be asking too much of the person reading it. **Comparison** Scratchpad by Sindre Sorhus is a lovely minimalist app for keeping one quick note nearby. It offers font settings and quick access from the menu bar or Dock, bu

Show HN: Academa – Long-form STEM lecture videos generated by LLMs

Hi HN, we are Sina Atalay and Abdullah Geduk, co-founders of Academa. We are both PhD students. We thought: what if lecture videos were written as code and compiled into video using computer graphics and TTS? Then LLMs could write them, and lectures could be fixed with code edits instead of video production. On correctness: LLMs may make mistakes. But these videos are code sitting in our repository, and we can maintain them. Every report and review becomes a fix in the source, and everyone who watches after that gets the corrected lecture. Every recorded lecture on the internet is stuck with its mistakes. Ours will continuously improve. Each video also comes with an AI chat that understands everything said and shown in the lecture. There is a longer write-up at the bottom of the page. Happy to answer any questions.

Why your boss doesn't seem to care about your tech career anymore

Show HN: Hide the Mac menu bar or clock, dynamically synced w focus (DND)

what up guys, as I'm sure many of you are also, I'm extremely hyper in the brain and juggle hundreds of thoughts a minute. Again just like most of you, I'm often on DND dialed in. I've realized a point of friction isn't necessarily time itself but rather the questions we ask ourselves in regards to time; a simple mental example being something like 'oh what time is it' or 'wonder what time it is, I prob should get to bed'... Those are my biggest enemy, they ruin my flow and often pull me out of the deep state I push to be in. Enough dialog, this simple Mac repo gives you full customization of your Mac menu bar and what gets hidden, as well as direct dynamic sync with 'focus' (do not disturb). It's pretty straight forward, clean code and not much to it. Happy building. Best, DotcomJack

Ghost v3- an always on and ready personal agent from your notch using your existing Chatgpt/Claude subscription,API or LocalLM. It can create, read, write, respond to iMessages, mail, create calendar events and organize your life!

**Problem** Focused work on macOS means juggling a ChatGPT tab, a local-model UI, a terminal agent, a document viewer, a timer, and Calendar. Ghost collapses that into a menu-bar surface: all of your AI providers live in your notch, idle at rest so it dosent consume CPU.There is a 13-kind intent classifier routes the prompt to the right provider,, local or cloud. Escape dismisses it. No Dock icon, no tab management. **Comparison** [Raycast Pro](https://www.raycast.com/pricing) — $8/mo billed annually or $10/mo monthly, and the AI is subscription-gated and hosted. Ghost is one payment, and you can point it at [Ollama](https://ollama.com/) or [LM Studio](https://lmstudio.ai/) and run entirely offline, free forever, or bring your own API keys (stored in Keychain). Unlike both: file search is fully local (SQLite + FTS5, sentence-aware chunking, 30+ formats, FSEvents watcher). Web, files, automation, screen, and shell are five independent permissions, all off on first launch. 60+ tools across four risk tiers with a 100-entry undo journal. **Pricing** $14.99 one-time, lifetime — no subscription. Native SwiftUI, notarized, macOS 14+ (Apple Silicon or Intel). Website: [https://integratedagentics.com/ghost](https://integratedagentics.com/ghost) Linkdln [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryuhemingway/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryuhemingway/)

Show HN: Academa – Long-form STEM lecture videos generated by LLMs

Hi HN, we are Sina Atalay and Abdullah Geduk, co-founders of Academa. We are both PhD students. We thought: what if lecture videos were written as code and compiled into video using computer graphics and TTS? Then LLMs could write them, and lectures could be fixed with code edits instead of video production. On correctness: LLMs may make mistakes. But these videos are code sitting in our repository, and we can maintain them. Every report and review becomes a fix in the source, and everyone who watches after that gets the corrected lecture. Every recorded lecture on the internet is stuck with its mistakes. Ours will continuously improve. Each video also comes with an AI chat that understands everything said and shown in the lecture. There is a longer write-up at the bottom of the page. Happy to answer any questions.

Why your boss doesn't seem to care about your tech career anymore

Show HN: Hide the Mac menu bar or clock, dynamically synced w focus (DND)

what up guys, as I'm sure many of you are also, I'm extremely hyper in the brain and juggle hundreds of thoughts a minute. Again just like most of you, I'm often on DND dialed in. I've realized a point of friction isn't necessarily time itself but rather the questions we ask ourselves in regards to time; a simple mental example being something like 'oh what time is it' or 'wonder what time it is, I prob should get to bed'... Those are my biggest enemy, they ruin my flow and often pull me out of the deep state I push to be in. Enough dialog, this simple Mac repo gives you full customization of your Mac menu bar and what gets hidden, as well as direct dynamic sync with 'focus' (do not disturb). It's pretty straight forward, clean code and not much to it. Happy building. Best, DotcomJack

Ghost v3- an always on and ready personal agent from your notch using your existing Chatgpt/Claude subscription,API or LocalLM. It can create, read, write, respond to iMessages, mail, create calendar events and organize your life!

**Problem** Focused work on macOS means juggling a ChatGPT tab, a local-model UI, a terminal agent, a document viewer, a timer, and Calendar. Ghost collapses that into a menu-bar surface: all of your AI providers live in your notch, idle at rest so it dosent consume CPU.There is a 13-kind intent classifier routes the prompt to the right provider,, local or cloud. Escape dismisses it. No Dock icon, no tab management. **Comparison** [Raycast Pro](https://www.raycast.com/pricing) — $8/mo billed annually or $10/mo monthly, and the AI is subscription-gated and hosted. Ghost is one payment, and you can point it at [Ollama](https://ollama.com/) or [LM Studio](https://lmstudio.ai/) and run entirely offline, free forever, or bring your own API keys (stored in Keychain). Unlike both: file search is fully local (SQLite + FTS5, sentence-aware chunking, 30+ formats, FSEvents watcher). Web, files, automation, screen, and shell are five independent permissions, all off on first launch. 60+ tools across four risk tiers with a 100-entry undo journal. **Pricing** $14.99 one-time, lifetime — no subscription. Native SwiftUI, notarized, macOS 14+ (Apple Silicon or Intel). Website: [https://integratedagentics.com/ghost](https://integratedagentics.com/ghost) Linkdln [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryuhemingway/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryuhemingway/)

Show HN: Cogram Studio – CAD and BIM workspace for humans and agents

Hi HN, Rick and Alex here, co-founders of Cogram. We’ve been making project-management software for architects and engineers since 2023, and are now experimenting with a second product. Cogram Studio (studio.cogram.com) is a CAD and BIM workspace for AI agents to create three-dimensional models and dimensioned drawings. Studio runs FreeCAD ( https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD ) 1.1 headlessly, using the OpenCASCADE ( https://github.com/Open-Cascade-SAS/OCCT ) geometry kernel. It imports and exports STEP, IFC, STL, DXF and FCStd files. Studio exposes an MCP server, so you can operate it from Claude Code, Codex, ChatGPT, or other agents. Tools cover scripting against FreeCAD, inspecting the model visually, CRUD operations on views, tables, and sheets, importing terrain, etc. Studio also provides a built-in agent based on Pi ( https://github.com/earendil-works/pi ) and a basic UI for 3D model inspection, measurement, view, table, and sheet creation. There are two ways to try it: 1. Bring your own agent. Point Codex or Claude Code at studio.cogram.com/skill.md and ask it to follow instructions there. This starts a one-hour Studio session and opens the modelling environment in your browser, connected to your agent. You need to confirm sign up only if you want to save the session. 2. Use Studio’s built-in agent. Submit a prompt at studio.cogram.com and sign up. You receive 50 free credits. Here are two models created

SoundPaste v1.7.0: The fastest way to capture audio on your Mac and use it anywhere 🔊

Hey everyone, A couple years ago I posted SoundPaste here, an app I made for quickly grabbing audio from your Mac and using it elsewhere. **Problem:** Getting a short piece of audio from your Mac into a DAW, video editor, or another app can take more steps than it should. As a music producer, I was always frustrated by having to set up drivers like Blackhole or Soundflower, configure the routing correctly, and then record the system audio I was hearing. I made SoundPaste to simplify that whole process: hit a hotkey to record, stop recording, then Command-V directly wherever you need the audio. Here's a demo video: https://reddit.com/link/1w2nxn6/video/yty7vu8msjmh1/player I’ve just released one of the biggest updates to SoundPaste since then: • New waveform recording editor with manual trimming • Auto-trim silence from the beginning and end • Audio normalization • MP3 support, alongside M4A and WAV • Improved waveforms, setup flow, and overall UI • Bug fixes and usability improvements Recordings can also be automatically copied to the clipboard, opened in the editor, trimmed, or normalized. **Comparison:** Compared to apps like Audio Hijack and Piezo, SoundPaste is focused on speed and simplicity rather than advanced routing. It also avoids the manual setup involved with virtual audio drivers like BlackHole or Soundflower. Instead of configuring sessions, devices, or audio chains, you hit a hotkey, grab what you need, and paste it where you want it. **Pricing:** 7-day free tr

Looking for a way to have text read aloud on macOS without a subscription

Hi there, I do a lot of reading on my Mac, mostly long articles and PDFs, and I keep wanting to listen instead of read. Especially for things I have to get through but don't need to focus on completely. I tried the built in Spoken Content, but triggering it is clunky and I never stuck with it. I paid for Speechify for a while, which worked, but I stopped because I didn't want a monthly subscription for this, and I wasn't comfortable having everything I read pass through someone else's servers. **Is there an Mac app that reads out loud selected text from any app, runs locally and ideally is a one time purchase? Bonus if it handles PDFs and screenshots where you can't select the text.** Also happy to hear about workarounds. If you have the same problem, how do you deal with it?

Hold my notes: Sticky notes that feels real and you will actually love using!

Hi everyone! I have tried many sticky note apps, but none of them felt right. My girlfriend wanted me to build one that truly feels live and lives on the edge of the Mac.. So I built one! * All sticky notes are represented as dots * hover to peek * click to open the note * Mark as complete to move the note into archive * 10+ live notes enables scroll * You can view and export all the notes * Supports checklist (new) * icloud sync, syncs notes between multiple macs (new) Try out for free: [holdmynotes.app](http://holdmynotes.app) Available on 3 mac devices for $6.99, lifetime license (Early Bird Offer)