Evidence-first research
Turn product pages, reviews, and discussions into Mac app research you can verify before you buy.
Hacker News
Hacker News
I'm going back to coding by hand
I have a successful app I built myself with a solid user base. I had been working on a new version via Claude on and off for about six months In work we use LLMs exclusively. Nobody writes code anymore. It's all hands off and we have a high level understanding of how things work but no more than that. When it comes to my side project, I was adding features at breakneck speed with Claude but I realized I have no clue how the new code works or what it changes or breaks. I spent many years of my life working on this project and I don't want to turn it into another vibe coded black box, especially without an org of other engineers to help. So last night, I abandoned my Claude branch with all the fancy new things and started hand coding again. It was very very satisfying. Sure, there was monotony. I changed some variable names and I had to chase down all the places they were referenced, comment out tons of stuff to get things working and then slowly bring it back in, but it felt like coming home to an untidy house after living in hotels for half a year, and starting to clean up. Yeah there's work to do, but this place is mine. My own. I know where things live. It's given me love and energy for the project again (at least for now, I hope it continues!) and I'm delighted to say I took a good look at code I myself had written pre Claude and I still found many ways to write it better, refactor, make it more readable and efficient. I haven't forgotten. If anyone is feeling the despair
Sep 9, 2026
r/macapps
Folder Preview Pro 3.0 is live with double-clicking to open files
# Problem As the original developer of the [Quick Look extension for folders](https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1g0kawl/free_app_folder_preview_the_missing_quick_look/), there’s a problem I’ve always wanted to fix: double-clicking to open files from within the Quick Look window. That sounds like an easy problem. But believe me, I have tried. And I never succeeded — until now. With FPP 3.0, users will be able to open files and folders directly from the Quick Look window. Everything works the way you’d expect. # Comparison Because FPP is not on the App Store. Hence it’s bounded by the sandbox restrictions like many others do. So far I don’t think any other apps offer comparable features. # Pricing FPP can be purchased [on the website](https://anybox.ltd/folder-preview-pro) for US$9.99 (5 devices). One-time purchase and free lifetime updates. It also happens that the app is on [Bundle Hunt](https://anybox.ltd/folder-preview-pro) for just US$2.5 (2 devices). # Future The app is in very good shape: great performance and fully support for Liquid Glass. But we still have new features planned. We want the app to feel at home on macOS, just like a built-in feature.
Sep 9, 2026
r/macapps
TimeGauge 1.4: Get time perspective and track your working hours from the menu bar.
**Problem:** [TimeGauge](https://timegauge.minilabs.cc/) is a menu bar utility which helps you with time perspective and tracking your working hours. For example: You might have heard statements like "can't believe 2027 is just 4 months away”, "It is already September?" etc. TimeGauge sits in your Mac menu bar and gives you time perspective on Day, Month, Years, Life (🥲) and custom projects. You can customise these using your working hours for the day, including/excluding weekends for your custom projects. Recently I have added a few suggestions from this community and added a working hours tracker, which comes with its own dashboard. All functionalities work locally; there is no tracker or telemetry. **Comparison:** [Year progress bar ](https://www.progressbarosx.com/)is a known competition. It doesn't have many customisations, and the price is $10. **Price:** You can download it from [website](https://timegauge.minilabs.cc/) for $2.99 using code **PH50P** (on web checkout only). It is also available for $5.99 on the App store: [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/timegauge/id6778277708](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/timegauge/id6778277708) For any questions or support, you can reach out at [support@minilabs.cc](mailto:support@minilabs.cc)
Sep 9, 2026
Hacker News
Hacker News
Show HN: Raven – Encrypted messages hidden inside ordinary text
Solo dev. built in my spare time. Raven uses a combination of steganography and cryptography to create a metadata resistant messenger. It encrypts any piece of text on your device and stores the ciphertext on Solana. It works pairwise with keys, users decrypt locally on their device- no accounts. I do run the relayer and a retention sweeper (not claiming peer to peer). One more thing, every write is signed by the same pool wallet, so anyone can see volume/timing. Check the white paper below and there’s been no audit. Several variations include: public, private, and stealth (for fun, i’ve hidden a public raven in this post) White Paper: https://oara.ai/raven-whitepaper The crypto and encoding core is open source. Apps are not open yet. Open source: https://github.com/OAraLabs/raven-core iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/raven-hidden-messages/id677947... Chrome: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/raven-%E2%80%94-hid... For fun public raven read key: https://sendraven.ink/k/Ot2YzGEoYYaMN1Uc
Sep 9, 2026
r/macapps
JuxtaText is going freemium
Hi r/macapps, I’m the developer of JuxtaText. It got a lovely reception [when I first shared it here](https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1dvtsvy/), so I wanted to come back with an update: JuxtaText 2 is going freemium, and I’m keen to find testers. **What does it do?** JuxtaText lets you paste or drag two pieces of text and compare them side by side. Version 2 adds in-place editing and TwinFocus: hover over a word to highlight its match on the other side. This is especially useful in long paragraphs with lots of scattered changes. **Comparison** [Kaleidoscope](https://kaleidoscope.app/) offers a broader set of tools for comparing text, images and folders, along with Git integration. JuxtaText’s advantage for everyday text comparison is that you can keep using that core functionality for free. If you use the [Diffchecker website](https://www.diffchecker.com/), JuxtaText gives you a dedicated Mac app with multiple comparison windows and saved .juxta documents. It’s for people who prefer working with text in a Mac app. **What’s free, and what’s changing?** Free in JuxtaText 2: * Two-way text comparison, with various new improvements. * In-place editing, with edits saved within your .juxta document. * Multiple windows. * PDF and PNG exports. JuxtaText+ adds saving edits back to the original file, plain-text export, TwinFocus and Markdown highlighting. There are also two changes for existing users: the 3-pane merge tool is becoming a paid feature, and general programming-l
Sep 8, 2026
Hacker News
Hacker News
Meta Just Launched Muse
Few days ago Anthropic launched Claude Fable 5.1, then came OpenAI with Gpt-6 Astra and now Meta came up with Muse. The AGI competition is getting crazier, just waiting what Google drops now.
Sep 8, 2026
Hacker News
Hacker News
Does anyone know YouTube's pre-2006's des key?
Hey so as me (representing a group of people researching old youtube) We have a lot of archives of old youtube which are hard to order and put together, videos like quick stoppie or dante comes home can not be put in a list of 621,355 videos coming from the youtube api. back then the key was just a mysql primary id encrypted with des. We have a list of 621,355 of post-2006 ids (still used today but we do not have the key, just called channelsections on user/simmonsfam817). at some point in late february 2006, the key was changed and we can no longer do anything about it so we are asking where our sources come from (here). Hopefully this is the right place to ask in. -Kyer
Sep 8, 2026
Hacker News
Hacker News
Show HN: Rokz: a browser port of a 1990 ASCII dungeon crawler
For those younger than me, Kroz was Apogee's first game, a text-mode dungeon crawler from 1987. Apogee released the Turbo Pascal source under GPL in 2009. I ported the 1990 episode (Lost Adventures of Kroz) to the browser. No dependencies typescript. Some interesting tidbids I learned: The game's clock is its sound :-) Turbo Pascal's delay() blocks, and the sound effects are built out of delays, so a footstep is an 8 ms tone, 120 ms of silence, another 8 ms tone. That silence is the turn. You can't outrun Kroz by mashing keys because every move costs the length of its own beep. In the port a square-wave oscillator reproduces this (no samples etc), and playing a sound returns its duration whether or not it is audible. DOS Kroz asked at startup: "Slow or Fast PC" - and repeated sound chunks according to this. All the hidden stuff, easter eggs, and even most of bugs are reproduced. You can play it just like original. Oh, one thing - instead of ASCII letters I used tiles (from Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup (CC0)). I started with Lost Adventures because Apogee's source was most complete. I will continue with rest of the episodes. AI Disclose: I used Claude to help me extract levels from the Pascal source and to test it by taking over chrome session and measure miliseconds :D You can play it here: https://taler.pl/rokz/ source code here: https://github.com/htaler/rokz
Sep 8, 2026
r/macapps
JuxtaText is going freemium
Hi r/macapps, I’m the developer of JuxtaText. It got a lovely reception [when I first shared it here](https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1dvtsvy/), so I wanted to come back with an update: JuxtaText 2 is going freemium, and I’m keen to find testers. **What does it do?** JuxtaText lets you paste or drag two pieces of text and compare them side by side. Version 2 adds in-place editing and TwinFocus: hover over a word to highlight its match on the other side. This is especially useful in long paragraphs with lots of scattered changes. **Comparison** [Kaleidoscope](https://kaleidoscope.app/) offers a broader set of tools for comparing text, images and folders, along with Git integration. JuxtaText’s advantage for everyday text comparison is that you can keep using that core functionality for free. If you use the [Diffchecker website](https://www.diffchecker.com/), JuxtaText gives you a dedicated Mac app with multiple comparison windows and saved .juxta documents. It’s for people who prefer working with text in a Mac app. **What’s free, and what’s changing?** Free in JuxtaText 2: * Two-way text comparison, with various new improvements. * In-place editing, with edits saved within your .juxta document. * Multiple windows. * PDF and PNG exports. JuxtaText+ adds saving edits back to the original file, plain-text export, TwinFocus and Markdown highlighting. There are also two changes for existing users: the 3-pane merge tool is becoming a paid feature, and general programming-l
Sep 8, 2026
Hacker News
Hacker News
Meta Just Launched Muse
Few days ago Anthropic launched Claude Fable 5.1, then came OpenAI with Gpt-6 Astra and now Meta came up with Muse. The AGI competition is getting crazier, just waiting what Google drops now.
Sep 8, 2026
Hacker News
Hacker News
Does anyone know YouTube's pre-2006's des key?
Hey so as me (representing a group of people researching old youtube) We have a lot of archives of old youtube which are hard to order and put together, videos like quick stoppie or dante comes home can not be put in a list of 621,355 videos coming from the youtube api. back then the key was just a mysql primary id encrypted with des. We have a list of 621,355 of post-2006 ids (still used today but we do not have the key, just called channelsections on user/simmonsfam817). at some point in late february 2006, the key was changed and we can no longer do anything about it so we are asking where our sources come from (here). Hopefully this is the right place to ask in. -Kyer
Sep 8, 2026
Hacker News
Hacker News
Show HN: Rokz: a browser port of a 1990 ASCII dungeon crawler
For those younger than me, Kroz was Apogee's first game, a text-mode dungeon crawler from 1987. Apogee released the Turbo Pascal source under GPL in 2009. I ported the 1990 episode (Lost Adventures of Kroz) to the browser. No dependencies typescript. Some interesting tidbids I learned: The game's clock is its sound :-) Turbo Pascal's delay() blocks, and the sound effects are built out of delays, so a footstep is an 8 ms tone, 120 ms of silence, another 8 ms tone. That silence is the turn. You can't outrun Kroz by mashing keys because every move costs the length of its own beep. In the port a square-wave oscillator reproduces this (no samples etc), and playing a sound returns its duration whether or not it is audible. DOS Kroz asked at startup: "Slow or Fast PC" - and repeated sound chunks according to this. All the hidden stuff, easter eggs, and even most of bugs are reproduced. You can play it just like original. Oh, one thing - instead of ASCII letters I used tiles (from Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup (CC0)). I started with Lost Adventures because Apogee's source was most complete. I will continue with rest of the episodes. AI Disclose: I used Claude to help me extract levels from the Pascal source and to test it by taking over chrome session and measure miliseconds :D You can play it here: https://taler.pl/rokz/ source code here: https://github.com/htaler/rokz
Sep 8, 2026
r/macapps
LookAway is on BundleHunt sale!
Just got an email update about the BundleHunt sale, thought I’d share it with you. My only interested app from the pool is **LookAway.** Original price is $19 and the sale price is $7 for the same kind of licensing. BundleHunt page - [https://bundlehunt.com](https://bundlehunt.com) https://preview.redd.it/nz144gcwlcoh1.png?width=860&format=png&auto=webp&s=c32f8ef1819c6a812a75be98045c5815f747e5b0 https://preview.redd.it/7xwuwgcwlcoh1.png?width=3036&format=png&auto=webp&s=26fd5ecbc8bbfd885c842b030830d4c60a68fe44
Sep 8, 2026
r/macapps
Hopnotch: Spaces navigation in the Menu Bar. Hotkeys, live previews, 51 themes
***Video:*** *Demo of Hopnotch, showcasing certain features like Loop Around. Navigated via customisable Hotkeys. You can customise everything you see here: Controls, background, background behaviour, colour, pills, animations, etc.* # Introduction Hi everyone! I'm a student from Singapore ([LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/yi-huai-kok-1000a3366/)) and have developed an app: Hopnotch that helps with navigating around your Spaces and Apps, while providing aesthetics to your Mac! # Problem I was using my Mac and I just kept getting lost as I had many apps in full-screen, and it was a hassle constantly breaking my flow by swiping around the trackpad or going to Mission Control just to see where everything was since I can't remember and MacOS kept reshuffling my Spaces. This problem had been bugging me for longer than I'd like to admit, and I also wanted something aesthetic as I felt the unused space a waste. # Functionality With the app, Spaces/Apps appear on the menu bar, against an aesthetically pleasing background as pills (customisable names, colours & type). This way you always know where your Spotify, Safari, or whatever is, wherever you are. **The actual Menu Bar is STILL ACCESSIBLE AT ALL TIMES**, whether the app is overlaying or hidden. Just hover at an empty space, or hide the app, up to you! On top of that, you can: * Use Spotlight search on your Pills (renamed, or not) * Rename your Pills * Navigate using Hotkeys (personally, CMD + K/L to move left/right respect
Sep 8, 2026
r/macapps
McKinley: a Mac app just for making custom SF Symbols (weights, scales, Xcode export)
The Apple-created graphics that appear on your folders are called SF Symbols. There are thousands of them, and they're designed to stay legible in multiple sizes and weights, from tiny up to headline-sized. Apple allows you to create your own, in a process that turns out to be pretty complicated when done correctly. You're drawing potentially nine weights (Ultralight through Black) at three scales, making sure the strokes stay visually consistent at every combination, making sure the whole thing still reads as the same symbol from thin to bold, and doing it all in a way Xcode will accept without silently failing. Most people who've tried this by hand in Illustrator or Sketch will tell you it's tedious, error-prone, and genuinely difficult to keep consistent. [McKinley](https://mckinleysymbols.com) is a dedicated app built to solve exactly that problem. It's a vector drawing tool, but unlike a general-purpose one, it already understands the SF Symbols format: the weight system, the scale system, the export rules Xcode expects. You draw a shape once, and McKinley handles generating and keeping consistent the different weights and sizes that shape needs to become a real, working custom symbol, rather than you manually redrawing (and re-aligning) it nine times. It can start from an SVG you already have or from a blank canvas, it live-previews your symbol using Apple's actual rendering engine, so what you see is what will really show up in an app, and when you're done it exports s
Sep 8, 2026
r/macapps
I spent months rebuilding DockFix from the ground up.
Hey r/macapps! After months of work, I released DockFix 5.0, and 5.1 last week. It replaces the macOS Dock with one you actually control: colors, opacity, size, position, animations, custom icons for any app, widgets, window previews, and themes made by other users. 5.0 was a complete rewrite of the app with many new features and improvements. 5.1 adds fullscreen control, widget overflow settings, launch at login, and a handful of smaller things people asked for. # Problem The Dock macOS ships with has barely updated in a decade, and Apple lets you change almost nothing about it. Size, position, magnification, and that is it. You cannot change its color or shape. You cannot put your own artwork on an app icon. You cannot see an app's open windows without going through Mission Control. You cannot put anything in it that is not an app, a folder or the trash. In short, you can customize it. DockFix replaces it with one you control. You can: * Set colors, opacity, size, spacing, corner radius and position * Apply your own artwork to any app icon, including the native ones macOS will not usually let you touch * Put widgets in the dock: media playback, a clock, shortcuts, and more. * Hover an app to see its open windows, live, and jump straight to the one you want * Add folders, website shortcuts and individual files * Apply custom themes to the dock: Modern liquid glass or a nostalgic 3D macOS Yosemite Dock. * Install docks built by other users from the community store, in one c
Sep 8, 2026
How it works?
Turn a link into a decision in 3 steps
https://screen.studio/
read public page
identify apps + claims
keep source attached
1. Paste a link
Start with a product page, review, comparison, or public discussion.
2. Choose what matters
Keep the apps and buyer factors that actually affect your decision.
3. Create reusable Research
Save the result, add priorities, share it, or use someone else's work as your starting point.
Hacker News
Hacker News
r/macapps
r/macapps
Features
Research that reduces uncertainty, not just tabs
Source-backed research
Every published answer stays attached to the source that supports it, so you can verify before you buy.
Comparison that fits the decision
Compare the apps you choose across category-specific factors, not a generic checklist that fits nothing.
Research you can reuse
Save a comparison as Research, add your own priorities, share it, or use someone else's work as a starting point.
RESEARCH LIBRARY
Mac launcher shortlist
6 apps · 11 key factors
Screen recorder research
15 apps · 48 factors
Buy-once utilities
8 apps · Pricing evidence
Public facts, private thinking
Public facts remain evidence-backed while your notes, priorities, and decisions stay yours until you publish them.
Private notes
Stay separate from public facts.
Evidence model · live
Research that stays traceable
Missing evidence remains an open question. Conflicts stay visible.
Start a ResearchAI research agents
TheMacApps for AI research agents
Connect agents to structured Mac app research so they can plan, investigate, expose evidence gaps, and keep every answer traceable.
$ research screen.studio vs screensage.pro
✓ Connected acme.example
$ Compare Screen Studio, ScreenSage Pro, and Tella for polished Mac product demos.
Evidence covers zoom, cursor polish, system audio, pricing, and release history. Missing facts stay explicit instead of becoming guesses.
▍
Works with the sources you already use
PRODUCT SOURCES
COMMUNITY SOURCES
TheMacApps exists because a directory tells you what exists, but a purchase decision needs evidence: what matters for this category, what each app actually supports, what changed, and which source proves it.
Public facts stay separate from your personal Research, so better sources can improve shared knowledge without overwriting anyone's notes or decisions.
Research the decision, not the marketing page.
- Keep evidence visible.
- Keep missing facts as open questions.
- Reuse good Research instead of restarting from zero.
That is the product.
LookAway is on BundleHunt sale!
r/macapps
Research access that matches how you work
Start free. Save, reuse, and publish Research when it becomes part of your workflow.
1 app · Personal · $0
FAQ
What kinds of links can I research?
Public product pages, reviews, comparisons, discussions, documentation, and other public HTTP/HTTPS pages can be analyzed as a research starting point.
How are facts verified?
TheMacApps separates what a page claims from verified facts. Research cells keep source links and evidence state so missing evidence is never silently turned into a negative answer.
Can I compare more than two apps?
Yes. A Research can contain a broad comparison set, while the table keeps the first app pinned and lets you scroll across the rest.
Can I add my own research fields?
Yes. You can add the questions that matter to your purchase instead of waiting for a global schema to anticipate every niche app category.
Do I need an account to analyze a URL?
You can analyze a public URL before creating a saved Research. An account is required when you want the research to become your persistent asset.
Can Research be private?
Research supports private, unlisted, and public visibility. Personal notes are not exposed to other viewers of a public Research.
Can I use someone else's Research?
Yes. Use this research creates your own Research while preserving lineage to the source, so you can change priorities without rewriting public facts.
Is TheMacApps only a directory?
No. The catalog is the identity layer for apps; the core product is evidence-backed Research that turns scattered web pages into reusable purchase knowledge.
Where does TheMacApps get its evidence?
Research can cite official product sites, App Store pages, documentation, support pages, release notes, GitHub, reviews, Reddit, YouTube, X, and other public web sources.
What happens when sources disagree?
Conflicting evidence stays visible as conflicting. TheMacApps does not silently pick one source and present it as settled fact.
Does missing evidence mean a feature is unsupported?
No. Missing evidence remains an open question until a source supports a yes or no answer.
Can Research change when an app changes?
Yes. Public facts can be refreshed as products, pricing, requirements, and features change, while your private notes and priorities remain separate.
Can I share a Research without making it fully public?
Yes. Unlisted Research can be shared by link without appearing as a normal public listing.
Can I keep personal notes inside a Research?
Yes. Personal notes and decision context belong to your Research layer and are kept separate from reusable public facts.
Can I start from a Reddit or X discussion?
Yes. Public discussions can be analyzed as starting evidence, then the important product claims can be verified against stronger sources.
Can AI agents use TheMacApps research?
Yes. The research model is designed so agents can plan, investigate, identify evidence gaps, and work with structured app facts instead of opaque summaries.
Does TheMacApps research non-Mac software?
The product is centered on Mac apps and Mac buying decisions. Cross-platform products can appear when their Mac version is relevant to the comparison.
Can makers correct outdated information?
The evidence model is designed for corrections to be backed by newer or stronger sources rather than overwriting facts without traceability.
How is it better than another app directory?
Read the real conversations that become Research inputs.
Hacker News
Claude
I'm going back to coding by hand
I have a successful app I built myself with a solid user base. I had been working on a new version via Claude on and off for about six months In work we use LLMs exclusively. Nobody writes code anymore. It's all hands off and we have a high level understanding of how things work but no more than that. When it comes to my side project, I was adding features at breakneck speed with Claude but I realized I have no clue how the new code works or what it changes or breaks. I spent many years of my life working on this project and I don't want to turn it into another vibe coded black box, especially without an org of other engineers to help. So last night, I abandoned my Claude branch with all the fancy new things and started hand coding again. It was very very satisfying. Sure, there was monotony. I changed some variable names and I had to chase down all the places they were referenced, comment out tons of stuff to get things working and then slowly bring it back in, but it felt like coming home to an untidy house after living in hotels for half a year, and starting to clean up. Yeah there's work to do, but this place is mine. My own. I know where things live. It's given me love and energy for the project again (at least for now, I hope it continues!) and I'm delighted to say I took a good look at code I myself had written pre Claude and I still found many ways to write it better, refactor, make it more readable and efficient. I haven't forgotten. If anyone is feeling the despair
Sep 9, 2026
Hacker News
Timing
Show HN: Raven – Encrypted messages hidden inside ordinary text
Solo dev. built in my spare time. Raven uses a combination of steganography and cryptography to create a metadata resistant messenger. It encrypts any piece of text on your device and stores the ciphertext on Solana. It works pairwise with keys, users decrypt locally on their device- no accounts. I do run the relayer and a retention sweeper (not claiming peer to peer). One more thing, every write is signed by the same pool wallet, so anyone can see volume/timing. Check the white paper below and there’s been no audit. Several variations include: public, private, and stealth (for fun, i’ve hidden a public raven in this post) White Paper: https://oara.ai/raven-whitepaper The crypto and encoding core is open source. Apps are not open yet. Open source: https://github.com/OAraLabs/raven-core iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/raven-hidden-messages/id677947... Chrome: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/raven-%E2%80%94-hid... For fun public raven read key: https://sendraven.ink/k/Ot2YzGEoYYaMN1Uc
Sep 9, 2026
Hacker News
Hacker News
Does anyone know YouTube's pre-2006's des key?
Hey so as me (representing a group of people researching old youtube) We have a lot of archives of old youtube which are hard to order and put together, videos like quick stoppie or dante comes home can not be put in a list of 621,355 videos coming from the youtube api. back then the key was just a mysql primary id encrypted with des. We have a list of 621,355 of post-2006 ids (still used today but we do not have the key, just called channelsections on user/simmonsfam817). at some point in late february 2006, the key was changed and we can no longer do anything about it so we are asking where our sources come from (here). Hopefully this is the right place to ask in. -Kyer
Sep 8, 2026
r/macapps
Spotify
Hopnotch: Spaces navigation in the Menu Bar. Hotkeys, live previews, 51 themes
***Video:*** *Demo of Hopnotch, showcasing certain features like Loop Around. Navigated via customisable Hotkeys. You can customise everything you see here: Controls, background, background behaviour, colour, pills, animations, etc.* # Introduction Hi everyone! I'm a student from Singapore ([LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/yi-huai-kok-1000a3366/)) and have developed an app: Hopnotch that helps with navigating around your Spaces and Apps, while providing aesthetics to your Mac! # Problem I was using my Mac and I just kept getting lost as I had many apps in full-screen, and it was a hassle constantly breaking my flow by swiping around the trackpad or going to Mission Control just to see where everything was since I can't remember and MacOS kept reshuffling my Spaces. This problem had been bugging me for longer than I'd like to admit, and I also wanted something aesthetic as I felt the unused space a waste. # Functionality With the app, Spaces/Apps appear on the menu bar, against an aesthetically pleasing background as pills (customisable names, colours & type). This way you always know where your Spotify, Safari, or whatever is, wherever you are. **The actual Menu Bar is STILL ACCESSIBLE AT ALL TIMES**, whether the app is overlaying or hidden. Just hover at an empty space, or hide the app, up to you! On top of that, you can: * Use Spotlight search on your Pills (renamed, or not) * Rename your Pills * Navigate using Hotkeys (personally, CMD + K/L to move left/right respect
Sep 8, 2026
r/macapps
Browser Deputy
Folder Preview Pro 3.0 is live with double-clicking to open files
# Problem As the original developer of the [Quick Look extension for folders](https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1g0kawl/free_app_folder_preview_the_missing_quick_look/), there’s a problem I’ve always wanted to fix: double-clicking to open files from within the Quick Look window. That sounds like an easy problem. But believe me, I have tried. And I never succeeded — until now. With FPP 3.0, users will be able to open files and folders directly from the Quick Look window. Everything works the way you’d expect. # Comparison Because FPP is not on the App Store. Hence it’s bounded by the sandbox restrictions like many others do. So far I don’t think any other apps offer comparable features. # Pricing FPP can be purchased [on the website](https://anybox.ltd/folder-preview-pro) for US$9.99 (5 devices). One-time purchase and free lifetime updates. It also happens that the app is on [Bundle Hunt](https://anybox.ltd/folder-preview-pro) for just US$2.5 (2 devices). # Future The app is in very good shape: great performance and fully support for Liquid Glass. But we still have new features planned. We want the app to feel at home on macOS, just like a built-in feature.
Sep 9, 2026
r/macapps
Highlight
JuxtaText is going freemium
Hi r/macapps, I’m the developer of JuxtaText. It got a lovely reception [when I first shared it here](https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1dvtsvy/), so I wanted to come back with an update: JuxtaText 2 is going freemium, and I’m keen to find testers. **What does it do?** JuxtaText lets you paste or drag two pieces of text and compare them side by side. Version 2 adds in-place editing and TwinFocus: hover over a word to highlight its match on the other side. This is especially useful in long paragraphs with lots of scattered changes. **Comparison** [Kaleidoscope](https://kaleidoscope.app/) offers a broader set of tools for comparing text, images and folders, along with Git integration. JuxtaText’s advantage for everyday text comparison is that you can keep using that core functionality for free. If you use the [Diffchecker website](https://www.diffchecker.com/), JuxtaText gives you a dedicated Mac app with multiple comparison windows and saved .juxta documents. It’s for people who prefer working with text in a Mac app. **What’s free, and what’s changing?** Free in JuxtaText 2: * Two-way text comparison, with various new improvements. * In-place editing, with edits saved within your .juxta document. * Multiple windows. * PDF and PNG exports. JuxtaText+ adds saving edits back to the original file, plain-text export, TwinFocus and Markdown highlighting. There are also two changes for existing users: the 3-pane merge tool is becoming a paid feature, and general programming-l
Sep 8, 2026
Hacker News
Claude
Show HN: Rokz: a browser port of a 1990 ASCII dungeon crawler
For those younger than me, Kroz was Apogee's first game, a text-mode dungeon crawler from 1987. Apogee released the Turbo Pascal source under GPL in 2009. I ported the 1990 episode (Lost Adventures of Kroz) to the browser. No dependencies typescript. Some interesting tidbids I learned: The game's clock is its sound :-) Turbo Pascal's delay() blocks, and the sound effects are built out of delays, so a footstep is an 8 ms tone, 120 ms of silence, another 8 ms tone. That silence is the turn. You can't outrun Kroz by mashing keys because every move costs the length of its own beep. In the port a square-wave oscillator reproduces this (no samples etc), and playing a sound returns its duration whether or not it is audible. DOS Kroz asked at startup: "Slow or Fast PC" - and repeated sound chunks according to this. All the hidden stuff, easter eggs, and even most of bugs are reproduced. You can play it just like original. Oh, one thing - instead of ASCII letters I used tiles (from Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup (CC0)). I started with Lost Adventures because Apogee's source was most complete. I will continue with rest of the episodes. AI Disclose: I used Claude to help me extract levels from the Pascal source and to test it by taking over chrome session and measure miliseconds :D You can play it here: https://taler.pl/rokz/ source code here: https://github.com/htaler/rokz
Sep 8, 2026
r/macapps
Xcode
McKinley: a Mac app just for making custom SF Symbols (weights, scales, Xcode export)
The Apple-created graphics that appear on your folders are called SF Symbols. There are thousands of them, and they're designed to stay legible in multiple sizes and weights, from tiny up to headline-sized. Apple allows you to create your own, in a process that turns out to be pretty complicated when done correctly. You're drawing potentially nine weights (Ultralight through Black) at three scales, making sure the strokes stay visually consistent at every combination, making sure the whole thing still reads as the same symbol from thin to bold, and doing it all in a way Xcode will accept without silently failing. Most people who've tried this by hand in Illustrator or Sketch will tell you it's tedious, error-prone, and genuinely difficult to keep consistent. [McKinley](https://mckinleysymbols.com) is a dedicated app built to solve exactly that problem. It's a vector drawing tool, but unlike a general-purpose one, it already understands the SF Symbols format: the weight system, the scale system, the export rules Xcode expects. You draw a shape once, and McKinley handles generating and keeping consistent the different weights and sizes that shape needs to become a real, working custom symbol, rather than you manually redrawing (and re-aligning) it nine times. It can start from an SVG you already have or from a blank canvas, it live-previews your symbol using Apple's actual rendering engine, so what you see is what will really show up in an app, and when you're done it exports s
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Sep 8, 2026
r/macapps
TimeGauge 1.4: Get time perspective and track your working hours from the menu bar.
**Problem:** [TimeGauge](https://timegauge.minilabs.cc/) is a menu bar utility which helps you with time perspective and tracking your working hours. For example: You might have heard statements like "can't believe 2027 is just 4 months away”, "It is already September?" etc. TimeGauge sits in your Mac menu bar and gives you time perspective on Day, Month, Years, Life (🥲) and custom projects. You can customise these using your working hours for the day, including/excluding weekends for your custom projects. Recently I have added a few suggestions from this community and added a working hours tracker, which comes with its own dashboard. All functionalities work locally; there is no tracker or telemetry. **Comparison:** [Year progress bar ](https://www.progressbarosx.com/)is a known competition. It doesn't have many customisations, and the price is $10. **Price:** You can download it from [website](https://timegauge.minilabs.cc/) for $2.99 using code **PH50P** (on web checkout only). It is also available for $5.99 on the App store: [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/timegauge/id6778277708](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/timegauge/id6778277708) For any questions or support, you can reach out at [support@minilabs.cc](mailto:support@minilabs.cc)
Sep 9, 2026
Hacker News
Claude
Meta Just Launched Muse
Few days ago Anthropic launched Claude Fable 5.1, then came OpenAI with Gpt-6 Astra and now Meta came up with Muse. The AGI competition is getting crazier, just waiting what Google drops now.
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Sep 8, 2026
r/macapps
LookAway
LookAway is on BundleHunt sale!
Just got an email update about the BundleHunt sale, thought I’d share it with you. My only interested app from the pool is **LookAway.** Original price is $19 and the sale price is $7 for the same kind of licensing. BundleHunt page - [https://bundlehunt.com](https://bundlehunt.com) https://preview.redd.it/nz144gcwlcoh1.png?width=860&format=png&auto=webp&s=c32f8ef1819c6a812a75be98045c5815f747e5b0 https://preview.redd.it/7xwuwgcwlcoh1.png?width=3036&format=png&auto=webp&s=26fd5ecbc8bbfd885c842b030830d4c60a68fe44
Sep 8, 2026
r/macapps
Overflow
I spent months rebuilding DockFix from the ground up.
Hey r/macapps! After months of work, I released DockFix 5.0, and 5.1 last week. It replaces the macOS Dock with one you actually control: colors, opacity, size, position, animations, custom icons for any app, widgets, window previews, and themes made by other users. 5.0 was a complete rewrite of the app with many new features and improvements. 5.1 adds fullscreen control, widget overflow settings, launch at login, and a handful of smaller things people asked for. # Problem The Dock macOS ships with has barely updated in a decade, and Apple lets you change almost nothing about it. Size, position, magnification, and that is it. You cannot change its color or shape. You cannot put your own artwork on an app icon. You cannot see an app's open windows without going through Mission Control. You cannot put anything in it that is not an app, a folder or the trash. In short, you can customize it. DockFix replaces it with one you control. You can: * Set colors, opacity, size, spacing, corner radius and position * Apply your own artwork to any app icon, including the native ones macOS will not usually let you touch * Put widgets in the dock: media playback, a clock, shortcuts, and more. * Hover an app to see its open windows, live, and jump straight to the one you want * Add folders, website shortcuts and individual files * Apply custom themes to the dock: Modern liquid glass or a nostalgic 3D macOS Yosemite Dock. * Install docks built by other users from the community store, in one c
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Sep 8, 2026
Find the answer before you buy the app
Start with the page you already have open. Turn it into evidence-backed Mac app Research.