Hey everyone,

I’m on a mission to clean up, enrich my photo library and properly geotag a massive backlog of photos that are missing locations.

I feel like I'm going crazy trying to find a tool that does what I want, so I'm hoping someone here can point me in the right direction, or tell me if I'm completely missing something obvious in Apple Photos.

Here is what I'm looking for:

1. Filter easily: Automatically find and isolate all photos that do not have a GPS location attached.
2. Works across formats: Aool that works directly with Apple Photos, but can also handle normal pic files sitting in folders on an external local drive.
3. Batch manual tagging: Select a bunch of photos taken at the same event/trip and drop a single GPS location onto all of them at once. Bam, done! Right now, I've done this with keywords e.g. Sweden for all photos taken in Sweden (even the ones that already have a location).
4. The "Holy Grail" / bonus feature: Are there any apps that use AI visual search / landmark recognition (like recognizing the Eiffel Tower or a specific national park) to automatically suggest or add GPS coordinates to untagged photos? That would save a ton of time vs me having to manually search for the location. So 2010isch 🙄

What I've tried so far:

• Apple Photos: It's okay, but searching/filtering for untagged items natively on iOS/macOS feels limited unless you set up complex Smart Albums on a Mac. Even then, the actual process of bulk-tagging locations isn't as seamless as I'd like.
• PowerPhotos: Better for library management overall, but still doesn't quite hit the exact geotagging workflow I'm looking forr.
• HashPhotos (iOS): I’ve been trying to use it because people recommended it, but for the life of me, I can't figure out how to filter photos that don't have GPS in HashPhotos. (If anyone knows how to do this in HashPhotos, please save me!).

TLDR:
Am I missing a super obvious native feature in Apple Photos? Or is there a 3rd-party app (Mac or, if it has to be, iOS) that actually handles missing-GPS filtering and batch tagging smoothly across both Apple Photos and standard disk folders, ideally with some AI smarts thrown in to save time?

Would love to hear what apps or workflows you all use for this!

Hi r/macapps, I'm Viktor, a designer and developer based in Amsterdam.

I made Lodestone, an AI journal for Mac, available on the Mac App Store.

Problem

I kept my journal in Obsidian on my Mac. Plain text, my raw thoughts, nothing else on the page. I liked it that way and didn't want a different way of journaling. What I did want was help making sense of it all, and a way to think things through.

AI journals exist, but they take a very different approach. They want to hold your hand, with questions popping up while you write, chat as the main experience, scores and streaks. I didn't want any of that in my journal. I wanted my entries clean, and mine.

So I pasted entries into Claude. One at a time, it only knew that one entry. It didn't know who the people were, what had happened before, or what I'd already tried. Claude has a memory, but it isn't made for something as deep as a person's inner life. Pasting in everything, hundreds of entries in one chat, was bad in a different way. The answers lost focus and got generic, and it used up all my limits.

What I wanted was to keep writing the way I did in Obsidian, while something in the background kept a working understanding of my life. When I asked for help, it would start from everything I'd written.

What it does

• Write: a blank page, like a notebook, with nothing in the way. Writing works offline.
• Nudge: stuck on an empty page or mid-entry? Ask for a short question that takes your writing a step further, based on what you've written before. It shows up in a small bar, never on your page, and fades away once you start writing again, so you don't have to answer it.
• Reflect: after writing an entry, ask for a reflection. It reads the entry against everything you've written before, so it can connect today to something from months ago, or ask the question you were circling but hadn't put into words. You can reply and follow the thread as far as you want.
• See and correct what it knows: the people in your life, the situations you keep coming back to, where you stand on things. Your entries stay exactly as you wrote them; what it builds from them is an interpretation, and you can fix it: Correct (a note in your own words), Split (two people or situations got run together), or Merge (two are really the same).
• Nothing from the AI appears unless you ask, and it never writes on your page. No streaks, reminders or mood scores.

How it works

The pasting problem is what shaped the engine. I wasn't sure it would work at all, so I tested and iterated on it with my own journal before even considering building an app around it. I tried vector search and other ways of picking out the relevant entries up front, but they kept missing things. You can't know what's relevant before you've made the connection. What worked was boiling everything down first, into a memory that nudges and reflections both read from. Here's how it's built:

1. After you write, Lodestone reads the entry in the background, usually within a few hours (or right away if you ask), and pulls out what matters in it, keeping your exact words.
2. It sorts that into topics, like people, ongoing situations and where you stand on things. Each topic gets a short summary of how it developed and where it stands now. Together, those summaries make a compact overview of your life.
3. When you ask for a reflection, an agent (Claude Opus) starts from that whole overview plus the entry you just wrote. Since it sees everything at once, it can connect things that don't look related. When it needs detail, it pulls up a topic's timeline, the exact quotes, or the original entry. That keeps the answers specific across hundreds of entries, which is where pasting fell apart for me.
   

Comparison

• Day One: a great notebook, with search, photos, and apps for iPhone, Android, Mac and web. If you mainly want a record, it's still what I'd recommend. Its AI came later, as a separate tier: highlights, summaries, and a chat that turns into an entry, each working on the entries you select. Lodestone was built the other way around. The understanding of everything you've written came first, and the notebook is deliberately simple.
• Rosebud and Mindsera: the best-known AI journals. Both are phone-first (on a Mac, Rosebud runs as its iPad app and Mindsera has a web version), and both are built around guidance. Rosebud is a conversation, with real-time guidance as you write, plus mood and goal tracking. Mindsera has 50+ frameworks and templates, AI "Minds" that comment on your entries, emotion analysis and streaks. Lodestone does none of that. You write however you want, and the AI is always off the page, only showing up when you ask. In the background, it builds an understanding of you that you can read and correct. It's also a native Mac app, so you get a real keyboard and a big screen for longer entries.

Privacy

• In the cloud, everything is encrypted with a key unique to your account (AES-256-GCM), protected by a master key in secure hardware in the EU. Servers are in Amsterdam.
• The AI runs on Claude, through Anthropic's API. Your writing is never used to train any AI.
• The app sends no usage analytics.
• Sign in with Apple, no password.
• Deleting your account destroys the key, so nothing can be recovered.

Pricing

It's a subscription starting at $14.99/month, with a 3-day free trial. I made it a subscription to cover the AI costs, since every reflection, nudge and background update is a paid call to Claude. If you cancel, you keep your notebook and everything you wrote; only the AI features stop.

Mac App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/lodestone-ai-journal-diary/id6789075104?pt=127915339&ct=reddit&mt=8

Requires macOS 15.7 or later.

Links

• Website: https://lodestonejournal.com/?c=reddit
• Privacy policy: https://lodestonejournal.com/privacy
• Terms: https://lodestonejournal.com/terms
• Contact: [info@amsterdamtechcompany.com](mailto:info@amsterdamtechcompany.com)

Happy to answer questions, and I'd love to hear what you think.

Hi r/macapps, I’m the developer of Screen Folders. I’ve got inspired by the folders on the mobile and decided to make similar ones for macOS. That’s why I made this app.

The problem: I don’t like when my desktop is piled up with a bunch of files. Keeping a Finder folder created additional friction. I wanted something like iOS Home Screen folders: a small preview that opens in place when I need it.

What it does:

• Puts real Finder folders on your desktop as compact icon-grid tiles
• A tile expands in place when you hover
• You can link folders you already have, or create new ones the app manages. Either way they’re ordinary files in ordinary locations, and Finder stays the source of truth.
• Works like Finder: drag and drop in and out, Quick Look with Space, context menus, keyboard selection, shortcuts
• Multi-display support, with placement remembered per folder
• Stick to the side of screen
• Hide every folder from the menu bar in one click
• It sits on top of the Finder desktop; your normal desktop icons keep working

How it differs from other desktop organizers

Apps like iCollections and File Zones are mostly about dividing the desktop into areas and organizing it. Screen Folders is more about fitting a lot of files into a small space while keeping them one hover away. It never moves or reorganizes your files on its own; Finder stays the source of truth.

Privacy: the app is sandboxed and gets folder access only through standard macOS pickers. No account, no ads, no tracking, and file contents never leave your Mac. The only data sent out is a limited crash or hang report and some feature use anlytics.

Pricing: $15 one-time for lifetime access, with no subscription. The 14-day free trial needs no account and no payment method. The App Store edition costs Apple’s local equivalent.

Requirements: macOS 26 or later. It’s a native Swift/AppKit app, not a web wrapper.

Links:

• Website and direct download: https://screenfolders.delitx.dev
• Mac App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/screen-folders/id6798784080

The website version gets updates sooner through the built-in updater. It also has a Liquid Glass background, because the App Store doesn’t allow the private API that effect relies on.

Happy to answer anything, and if you hit a bug I’d genuinely like to hear it.

I’ve just upgraded to Little Snitch 7 beta to try out the new features.

For anyone unfamiliar with it, Little Snitch lets you monitor network connections from individual apps and create rules to allow or block them.

Here are a few changes worth checking out:

• Live Connection Log: This is my favorite addition. You can watch network activity as it happens, filter by app or server, and see which connections are allowed or blocked. It’s particularly useful when you want to see what an app connects to while you’re using it.

• Redesigned Control Center: You can check recent network activity, apps using your connection, and recently denied connections right from the menu bar. When an app isn’t working as expected, this gives you a quick way to check whether a blocked connection might be the cause.

• Rules at a Glance: Selecting a connection in Network Monitor now shows the rules that apply to it. If you have quite a few rules, this makes it easier to understand why a connection was allowed or blocked. Previously, I would usually open a separate Rules window to check.

• AI Assistant: I’ve tried this feature too. When you encounter an unfamiliar process or hostname, you can ask the AI to explain what the connection might be for, what could happen if you block it, and what it recommends. I imagine some people will have concerns about the AI integration, but it doesn’t run automatically. Connection details are only sent when you explicitly ask and confirm, and you can review what will be sent beforehand. I treat the answer as a reference, with the final decision to allow or block still up to me.

• DNS fallback and statistics: You can configure a secondary DNS resolver to step in when the primary one has problems. The Dashboard and Log also show lookup success rates, response times, and the steps involved in processing individual queries. I like having actual numbers to check when I suspect DNS is slow or failing.

Version 7 is still in beta. These are my first impressions, rather than a verdict on long-term stability. If you’re trying it on your main work machine, back up your rules first. The developers also advise against using the beta on mission-critical machines.

For me, Little Snitch is one of those Mac apps that’s worth paying for. Being able to monitor and control connections helps me understand what’s happening on my machine and gives me the tools to investigate when something goes wrong. That value was enough for me to upgrade my license while version 7 is still in beta.

Alfred is another favorite of mine. I’m happy to pay for useful software like these two apps, both for the value I get from using them and to support the developers who keep maintaining and improving them.

FOSS app. I'm not the developer or affiliated in any way. But it's a great app that is fast and nice to use. UI is also beautiful.

https://writer.computer/

I produce music at home and run two very different speaker systems off one external sound card with three stereo outs: a passive pair through an amp, plus active Adam Audio monitors and a sub. When I mix I want to A/B between those speaker characters, and when I just listen I want both playing together. I did not want to park an external mixer on the desk just for that. Hardware minimalism should mean software minimalism. I kept thinking there has to be a setting for this. There was not, so I built it.

What it does: send one source to several outputs at once (fan-out), pick the channel pair on multi-channel devices (Ch1-2, Ch3-4, Ch5-6), master volume plus per-output volume, signal meters, and it reconnects automatically when a device is plugged or unplugged. Last setup is remembered.

Honest comparison:

1. Audio MIDI Setup (built-in, free): can do a Multi-Output Device, but you lose your volume keys and have to rebuild it every time devices change.
2. Loopback (~99 USD, Rogue Amoeba): the right tool if you want to mix several sources. Overkill if you only need several outputs.
3. BlackHole (free, open source): closest in spirit, but it is a virtual driver aimed at recording and app-to-app routing, with more setup steps. Different job.

It does not mix sources and has no per-app routing. That is on purpose.

Pricing: free and open source. Optional tip jar (coffee or beer), no subscription.

https://apps.apple.com/app/audiorouternow/id6787215635

https://github.com/mauriciomorkun/AudioRouterNow

https://audiorouternow.mauriciomorkun.com

Needs macOS 14.4 (uses the Process Tap API). There is a v3 legacy build as a direct download for macOS 11+.

Full disclosure since it’ll come up: I’m not a programmer by trade. I work in education in Luxembourg, and I'm an artist. I built this as the product owner using AI-assisted development. Criticism of the code is genuinely welcome; that’s partly why it’s open source.

Hey, Julian here, I make StepGrab. I study business informatics and work on this next to uni. I posted 1.5 here in September and a lot of what's new in 1.6 came out of the comments on that post.

Codes up to 100% off Lifetime here. There are a few levels between 10% and 100% and the page shows how many of each are left. There's only a handful of 100% ones, so whoever is first gets them. They're for the license from my website (Mac download and Windows). They don't work in the Mac App Store.

PROBLEM

At my working student job I was the one people came to with "where is that setting again" or "what do I click after this". Every time I ended up taking fifteen screenshots, cropping them, drawing red arrows in Preview and typing the steps underneath. Half an hour per guide easily, and three weeks later half of it was outdated anyway.

StepGrab is what I use for that now. You hit record and do the task once. Every click becomes a screenshot with a numbered arrow and a sentence about what you did. After that you fix things up in the editor if you need to (move an arrow, change a sentence, add a shape, black out an email address) and export as PDF, HTML, Markdown, GIF, MP4 or a portrait video. It's a native app for macOS 14 and newer. You don't need an account and nothing gets uploaded.

What's new since 1.5

• There's a direct download from my website now (.dmg, notarized, updates itself). It only goes online for updates and the license check. If you give it Accessibility access it reads the name of the button or menu you clicked from the app itself, so the step says "Click Save" instead of guessing from pixels. The App Store version can't do this because of the sandbox and uses text recognition on the screenshot instead.
• Recording a single window now gives you only that window, even if other windows are on top of it. Context menus, lists and popovers still show up.
• A project is one file now. With Save As you can burn the redactions in, so the copy you send doesn't still contain the original screenshots.
• There's a Windows version in the Microsoft Store and projects open on both.

COMPARISON

Scribe and Tango are the big ones. If you mostly work in the browser and your team needs a shared library with links, use those. They're better at that and there are real companies behind them.

I wanted something that captures the whole Mac and not just the browser, like System Settings, right click menus or the little pickers that close as soon as you click anywhere else. I also didn't want my screenshots on someone else's server, which gets important fast once customer data is in them. And I'd rather pay once than every month.

No team library and no browser extension so far. Also, most of the code is written with AI (Claude Code). I decide what goes in, test it on real apps and fix what breaks.

PRICING

Free: unlimited recordings, 15 steps per guide, GIF export and the whole editor, no account. Pro on my website is $2.99 a month or $12.99 a year (3 day trial), or $44.99 once. In the Mac App Store it's an in-app purchase and Family Sharing works there. A purchase on my website doesn't carry over to the App Store and the other way round.

Mac App Store · Direct download and codes · Microsoft Store

If something is annoying or broken, tell me in the comments. Most of 1.6 started as a comment here, so it really does go somewhere.

Hey r/macapps! My colleague and I build small Mac utilities, and DisplayShift came out of an annoyance we've both had with macOS for a long time.

After some brainstorming and tinkering we've created DisplayShift, an easy to use software for all your window management needs

Cool Features

• Glide: a live map of your screens shows each window flying to its new spot while it moves. No flashing, and Mission Control and the Dock never pop up.
• Full screen apps stay full screen when they change screens, and a Split View pair comes back as a pair in about 3 seconds.
• The right desktop, every time: layouts put windows back on the desktop they were on, even after macOS reorders your desktops.
• 3 or more screens: a third monitor, an iPad over Sidecar, or an AirPlay display.
• A shortcut for each saved layout, like Coding or Writing.
• Asks before opening apps a layout needs, and opens the right Chrome profile.

The problem

We dock our MacBooks to external monitors every day, and one part of that has always been frustrating: windows don't go where we want them.

Plug in a monitor and macOS decides where everything goes. Some windows jump to the big screen, some stay behind on the MacBook, and we end up dragging them around one by one. Full screen apps are even more tedious. Move to a different desk, or wake the Mac from sleep, and it starts all over again.

We wanted something that lets us choose where our windows go and remembers each setup.

What DisplayShift does

When you connect a display, a panel drops out of your MacBook's notch listing every open window, including full screen apps and windows on other desktops.

Tick the windows you want to move and pick the screen. They glide across while a live map of your screens shows each window flying to its new spot. The screen doesn't flash, and Mission Control and the Dock never pop up. You can also move everything at once or leave things as they are.

Features

• Window picker in the notch: pick individual windows and the screen they go to, or move everything at once.
• Full screen apps: they change screens without leaving full screen. A Split View pair moves together and comes back as a pair in about 3 seconds.
• Saved layouts for each desk: save one per desk, like Coding or Writing, and bring it back with a keyboard shortcut. Windows go back to the right display and the right desktop, even after macOS reorders your desktops.
• 3 or more screens: works with a third monitor, an iPad over Sidecar, or an AirPlay display.
• Asks before opening apps: if a layout needs an app that isn't open, it asks first, then opens it, including the right Chrome profile.
• Recovery after sleep: puts your windows back after sleep or a dock hiccup, with an Undo for every move.
• Keeps your screen arrangement: if macOS swaps your monitors or the main display, DisplayShift puts the arrangement back.
• Per-app rules: keep an app on the MacBook, always send it to the external display, or never move it.
• Window tiling: up to four apps side by side, in halves, thirds or a grid. Drag one bar and the neighbours resize together.
• Lost windows: finds windows that ended up off screen and brings them back.
• Keyboard shortcuts for every action.

How it compares to existing tools

Moom is excellent for saving and snapping window layouts, but you trigger those layouts yourself.

Display Maid restores layouts when your display setup changes. DisplayShift does that too, and adds a picker for choosing individual windows, moves full screen apps and Split View pairs without leaving full screen, and puts windows back on the right desktop.

Rectangle and Magnet are great for snapping windows into position, but they don't focus on moving windows when a monitor connects.

DisplayShift is made for people who dock a MacBook regularly and want their windows where they belong without the manual work.

Privacy

• No account required and no analytics.
• Saved layouts store a hash of each window title rather than the actual title.
• The app only connects to the internet to check its license and look for updates.

Pricing

DisplayShift comes with a 7-day free trial. After that, pick one:

• $6.99 once (lifetime)
• $1.49 a month
• $4.99 a year

Every plan is the full app on 1 Mac. Prices exclude tax.

For r/macapps: code REDDIT110 takes 10% off the lifetime license (not the monthly or yearly plans) for the first 15 people who use it.

Requirements

• macOS 14 Sonoma or later
• Apple silicon and Intel Macs
• Notarized by Apple
• Updates itself, or install with Homebrew: brew install --cask aqibjavedzeepalm/tap/displayshift

On Macs without a notch, the window picker drops from under the menu bar.

About

Website: https://aqibjaved.dev/apps/displayshift

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/aqib-javed-494ba8285

Contact: https://aqibjaved.dev/contact

Privacy policy: https://aqibjaved.dev/privacy

Terms: https://aqibjaved.dev/terms

We'd love to hear what you think. If you connect your MacBook to a monitor regularly, is this something you'd use? What would you change or add? Feedback and bug reports are very welcome.

Hi,

This is a tip-post to all who complain that their favourite apps don't add the features you want.

I'm a software dev (26yrs of service 😉) work with software every day (albeit not with swift). I know how difficult it is to make a good app. I also know how difficult it is to keep it alive (supporting users, patching, fixing & updating), not to mention adding more features. That's probably why I never bothered with that (in full-scale scenarios).

I also work with AI (since its early days), have "some" understanding how it works and what it can & cannot do. Which is why I mostly skip the vibe-coded "apps".

That said, several well-known devs that I follow have recently started making small ai-generated apps for themselves. Improving apps that they were using, or apps that they always wanted but had no time to make.

Encouraged with their success, I tried that.

Goal: make a modern Contexts replacement. Yes, there are dozens of window switchers, but none of them is fast enough, reliable enough and performant enough. I basically needed Contexts, without the sidebar, and with modern UI.

• Firstly, I tried the overhyped reverse-engineering tool. That was a waste of tokens & time. Might as well gave Claude a screenshot. But with lots of "tweaking" I finally got a working prototype.
• Then I started tweaking it more. Improving performance, fixing the ugly and bad.
• Finally, after several hours of churning, I've got an app!
• I've been improving it even more for the past couple of days, but it's already in a better state than most window switchers that I've tried.

Is it vibe coded? Maybe. I haven't written a line of code. I have read a bit of what's generated, but I'm not a swift expert. So LGTM 😉

But to me, a vibe coded slop is more like this: "random dude, with no software experience, using 1-shot prompt to make something that works". Or even worse: "slapping a subscription on it".

Making my app was an effort, with lots of testing, refactoring, redesigning, lots of back & forth, guiding the development towards my own priorities: fast, performant, small footprint, minimal permissions (only accessibility - no window previews, so no screen recording).

And here it is: 3MB app, using ~25MB of RAM, and 0-0.1CPU at idle. Shows up instantly, every time. And looks like it's part of macOS.

It's on github and free, but I'm not posting a link, as I really don't want people to use it (PM me if you really want to see it). I'm not planning to support anyone using it 🙂

I only want to encourage you to try and make apps for yourself. With the features you want. It's really easy these days. Claude was able to make the app, launch it, test it, fix it, then release it (on github releases, and homebrew).

One thing I can share, that's very helpful when making mac apps is the skill that I used (not mine): SwiftUI Pro.

Hey everyone,

I shared Cloak here a while ago, and since then I've been working on quite a few improvements. Cloak 2.0 is now available, so I wanted to share what's changed.

Problem

macOS does a good job protecting your Mac when it's locked, but once someone has access to an unlocked Mac, they can open your apps and files.

I originally built Cloak to solve that problem by letting you lock individual apps with Touch ID, hide apps, and encrypt private folders without locking the entire computer.

With 2.0, I've added more ways to control when and how those apps are protected.

What's New in Cloak 2.0

• Fake Crash: Instead of showing a lock screen, a protected app can appear to have crashed when someone tries to open it. You can hold Option and click Reopen to unlock it.
• Scheduled Locking: Choose specific days and hours when an app should stay locked. Outside those hours, it opens normally.
• Instant Lock Shortcut: Press a custom keyboard shortcut to immediately close and lock whichever app you're using.
• Finder Integration: Right-click files or folders in Finder to lock or hide them without opening Cloak.
• Hidden App Launching: Open and use hidden apps directly from Cloak without making them visible again.
• Seven Skins: Glass, White, Dark, Bubble, Daisies, Night Drive, and Sakura, along with adjustable text sizes.

I've also redesigned the interface to make everything easier to navigate.

Other updates since the original release include individual file encryption, intruder photos after failed unlock attempts, USB and network drive support, and the option to disable Mac password fallback.

Full changelog: https://trycloak.app/blog/changelog/

Comparison

I originally looked at apps like AppLockr and Cisdem AppCrypt when building Cloak.

AppLockr focuses on locking apps and folders with Touch ID or a password, while Cisdem AppCrypt combines app locking with website blocking and scheduled restrictions.

Cloak focuses on privacy for an already unlocked Mac. Beyond Touch ID locking, it lets you completely hide apps, encrypt files and folders with AES-256, and now use features like Fake Crash and Finder integration.

Cloak isn't meant to replace FileVault or separate macOS user accounts. It's an additional privacy layer for everyday use.

The macOS app works locally. No account, no cloud sync, and no analytics or telemetry. Network access is used for license activation and recovery.

Pricing

Cloak is a one-time purchase with no subscription.

• $9.99 for 1 Mac
• $14.99 for 2 Macs
• $24.99 for 5 Macs

These are the current launch prices, with free lifetime updates. Requires macOS 13 or later.

Website: https://trycloak.app

Transparency

I'm Femi, the developer of Cloak.

GitHub: https://github.com/ceorkm

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/femi-akindehinde-985607431

X: https://x.com/ceorkm

Privacy Policy: https://trycloak.app/privacy

Terms: https://trycloak.app/terms

Contact: [support@trycloak.app](mailto:support@trycloak.app)

Hey everyone 👋

First time posting FileOctopus here. I'm Max Luong, the solo dev behind ShiftPlus, and this is my second indie Mac app.

Fair warning up front. I know this sub has seen a lot of Finder alternatives, and a few of them are really good. The one thing I'll say about mine: it's for people who don't want to learn a new file manager. Finder's shortcuts, views and menus stay the default. You open it and your hands already know what to do.

Problem

I use Finder all day and I actually like most of it. What wears me down is the stuff it leaves to me.

Moving files between two folders means juggling two windows. ⌘F gets slow on big folders and doesn't get what I mean when I type. A long copy can't be paused. When a name clashes, it's easy to replace something you didn't mean to. And when I quit, the layout I had is gone.

I've been building macOS apps for 12+ years, and I've tried most of the alternatives. I didn't want a dual-pane power tool with its own keyboard language. I wanted Finder, just quicker and more careful with my files. And it had to stay light: fast to open, fast to scroll, and not eating RAM in the background. So that's what I tried to build.

The parts that matter most

- Split view, up to 16 panes: Split any pane left, right, up or down. Drag files between panes like you would in Finder, or press ⌃⇧⌘C / ⌃⇧⌘M to copy or move the selection to the other pane. ⇧⌘↩ gives one pane the whole window, and pressing it again brings the layout back.

- Search that's fast and takes plain phrases: Type "pdfs from last week" or "videos larger than 1 GB" and it becomes filters you can see and edit. It's rule-based and runs locally. No AI, and nothing leaves your Mac. It only indexes folders you approve.

On my test (146k files, M3 Max) I timed each search from the moment it starts until the results are done and you can actually work with them. FileOctopus took 0.27 s and Finder's ⌘F took 7.7 s (median of 12 searches). To be fair, Finder's default search also looks inside files and mine searched names only, so it's not quite apples to apples. Searching inside PDFs and text in screenshots (on-device OCR) is a separate opt-in per folder.

Careful with your files: This is where most of my time went.

- When a name is already taken you see both versions, with the newer one marked. Keep Both is the default. Nothing gets replaced unless you pick Replace.

- Copies and moves show speed and time left, and you can pause and resume them.

- Moving to another drive copies first and checks the copy. The original is removed only after that.

- ⌘Z undoes the last file operation, even after you quit and reopen the app (last 20 steps, for 24 hours). It checks the files first and tells you if something changed.

- Merging two folders shows how many items are new, clash or are already there, before anything changes.

It picks up where you left off
Windows, tabs, split panes and Back history come back after you quit. You can also save a layout as a named workspace and reopen it from the Window menu or the toolbar.

Native and small

Swift and AppKit, no Electron. About 10 MB to download and 22 MB installed. Apple Silicon, macOS 15 or later.

About RAM, since someone will ask. While it builds the search index for the first time, memory used to climb to about 3 GB. That was too much, so 1.0.3 keeps indexing under 1.1 GB max. Once indexing is done it sits around 400 MB, even with several panes open. On the same Mac, Finder usually sits around 800 MB. It moves around depending on what you're doing, but most of the time that's the picture.

Everything else that's in there

Not headline stuff, but it's there when you need it:

- Icon, List, Column and Gallery views, Quick Look with Space, tabs

- Quick Open (⌃⌘P) for recent folders and favorites, and a Command Palette for every menu command

- Go to Folder with suggestions as you type, and a clickable path bar that copies the pathname

- Google Drive and Dropbox in the sidebar, with cloud status and Download Now / Remove Download

- Batch rename with a preview of every new name, undo with ⌘Z

- Compress to ZIP (the archive is tested before it shows up)

- Get Info with size on disk, tags, lock and permissions

- Custom sidebar: your own groups, renamed favorites, hidden disks

- Your own shortcuts, plus optional Windows Explorer and Total Commander profiles

- Mouse side buttons and trackpad swipe for Back and Forward

- Search by where a file came from ("downloaded from github")

- A Problems list with Retry when part of a copy fails

- File Shelf to collect files from different folders, then copy or move them in one step

- Copy and move queue: start more while one runs, and drag them into order

- Saved searches pinned in the sidebar

- Homebrew: `brew install --cask nghialuong/fileoctopus/fileoctopus`

What it can't do yet

I'd rather say this before someone finds out the hard way. No linked panes or duplicate finder yet. Quick Actions like Rotate and Create PDF aren't there. The Shelf lasts for one window. A paused copy has to be resumed or stopped before you quit. It also doesn't replace the Desktop or the Open/Save dialogs, so Finder keeps running alongside it.

Full list: https://www.fileoctopus.com/limitations

Comparison

The closest alternatives for my use case are ForkLift, QSpace, Commander One and Marta.

ForkLift is great if a lot of your work is on remote servers. It connects to SFTP, S3 and network shares, and it can sync folders. FileOctopus doesn't do that yet. Cloud support today is Google Drive and Dropbox through their own desktop apps. SFTP, S3 and network shares are next on my list, and they're the first big thing I'm building after this post.

QSpace is the one I'd point to if you want lots of panes and you prefer an App Store app. Commander One and Marta lean toward the Total Commander style, keyboard first.

The thing all of them have in common, for me, is that none of them feel like Finder. Each one has its own way of doing things, so you end up relearning where stuff is and which keys do what. That's fine if you want a power tool. It's not fine if you just want Finder to be better.

FileOctopus is aimed at that second person. The views, menus, Quick Look and shortcuts work the way Finder's do. The extras (panes, faster search, pause and undo for file operations) sit on top of that.

I don't think it's the right pick for everyone. If you live in SFTP or need folder sync right now, ForkLift is more complete today.

The use case I'm building around is: "I want Finder, but I want it to stop making me do the careful parts by hand."

Pricing (no subscription, no account)

- Free forever: no daily limits, and nothing to buy to keep using it.

- 14-day PRO trial: every feature unlocked, no card. It starts the first time you open the app.

- PRO: pay once, 1 Mac at a time, lifetime updates, 30-day money-back.

Launch pricing for PRO:

- First 100 licenses (founding): $14.99

- Next 200 (early bird): $19.99

- After that: $29.99

As I write this, 99 of the 100 founding licenses are left. No code needed, the current price is applied at checkout. If you joined the waitlist on the site, you keep $14.99 whenever you buy.

What's next

Honestly, 1.0.3 is about 10% of what I have planned. I care about this one a lot, and the goal is simple: an app you can use instead of Finder every day without thinking about it. Remote connections (SFTP, S3, network shares) come first.

After that, mostly whatever comes out of this thread. ShiftPlus got shaped a lot by feedback here, and I'd like the same for this one. There's a public roadmap where you can vote or add ideas: https://www.fileoctopus.com/roadmap.html

One specific question: if you've tried a Finder alternative before and went back to Finder, what made you go back? That's exactly the thing I'm trying to get right.

Download: https://www.fileoctopus.com

Thanks for backing indie devs ❤️

I'll reply to every comment, might just be slow about it. I tend to overthink replies.

Trust & Transparency

This is my first post for FileOctopus, so here's everything about me and the app:

- Privacy Policy: https://www.fileoctopus.com/privacy-policy.html

- Terms: https://www.fileoctopus.com/terms.html

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nghia-luong/

- GitHub: https://github.com/nghialuong

- Support: [support@fileoctopus.com](mailto:support@fileoctopus.com)

FileOctopus is notarized by Apple and updates are signed (Sparkle). It's unsandboxed and not on the Mac App Store. A file manager has to browse, copy and move wherever you go on your disk, and a sandboxed app can only touch the folders you hand it one at a time. Full Disk Access is optional, not required.

No account. The filename index stays on your Mac and only covers folders you approve. Usage stats (PostHog) are opt-in: you're asked on first launch, and they never include file names, paths, search text or contents. Crash reports (Sentry) are a separate opt-in, off by default, and names and paths are scrubbed before a report leaves your Mac.

---
UPDATE: A lot of you asked about using FileOctopus on more than one mac, so pro now covers 2 macs per license. It's live.

If you already bought, you don't need to do anything. Your existing key has already been upgraded to 2 macs, just activate it on your second mac. Same for anyone buying now or later, every license covers 2 macs.

One more thing so nobody gets surprised: launch pricing now has an end date. $14.99 runs until the first 100 are gone or nov 2, $19.99 until the next 200 are gone or nov 30. After that the regular price goes up for 2 macs.

Thanks for all the feedback, it's been really helpful.

Hi r/macapps,

Ethan here, the developer of TranscribeX.

A lot of TranscribeX users found it through this sub, and many of the features in the app today started as comments here: requests, bug reports, and "MacWhisper does X, why don't you?" So first, thank you. This community has shaped the app more than anything else.

Today TranscribeX launched on Product Hunt. If you've been using it, I'd love to hear how, either here or on the Product Hunt page:

https://www.producthunt.com/products/transcribex

So here's a quick recap for anyone who hasn't tried it:

- Detects Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, Slack and Discord calls and records on your Mac. No bot joins, nothing is uploaded.

- Transcribes locally with Whisper, NVIDIA Parakeet, Nemotron or Qwen3, with speaker labels and live captions in 30+ languages.

- Summaries and chat from a built-in local LLM, no API key.

- Global Chat: ask questions across every meeting and recording you've had ("what did we decide about pricing last month?"), with answers that link back to the source transcripts.

- Also does audio/video files, push-to-talk dictation into any app, and has a CLI + MCP server.

The free version has unlimited transcription with no time limit or watermark. Pro is $39 once, no subscription, and adds the bigger models, speaker labels, summaries and Global Chat.

And if something annoys you or is missing, tell me. That's how most of the roadmap gets made.

Problem

Most meeting transcription tools upload your audio to their servers, so confidential calls end up on someone else's machine, and you pay a monthly subscription for it. Some also add a bot to your call. And after the meeting, the notes still sit in a web dashboard while you copy summaries into emails by hand.

Comparison:

Granola, Otter and Fireflies automate notes and follow-up emails well, but they process your conversations in the cloud, charge monthly, and some join your calls with a bot. TranscribeX does the same pipeline (auto-record, transcribe, AI summary, calendar context, emailed recap) entirely on your Apple Silicon Mac, with local ASR and local LLMs like Qwen and Gemma. No uploads, no token costs, and a one-time payment. It also has a CLI and MCP server, so Claude, agents or your own scripts can use your transcripts directly.

App Store version: If you prefer the App Store, you can find it here. https://apps.apple.com/nz/app/transcribex/id6752823664?mt=12

Thanks again,

Ethan

Problem

I posted MD Flow here five weeks ago. The top comment was not about my app, it was whether Quick Look is extendable, now I am happy to say that it is.

Press space on a .md file in Finder and you get the rendered document instead of raw hashes and asterisks. Headings, tables, code highlighting, callouts, KaTeX math. It is in the free tier.

No Mermaid in the preview, because 2.5MB of JavaScript in an extension the system kills for being slow is a bad trade, so diagrams fall back to highlighted code. Wikilinks do resolve inside the app now, which was the gap pointed out last time. [[Note]] finds the file by name, nearest folder first.

Comparison

QLMarkdown and Glance are free, open source, and better at the Quick Look half than I am going to be. If a rendered spacebar preview is the whole of what you want, install one of those.

What they do not do is the folder. MD Flow is a reader with the tree on the left and the rendered file on the right. Connect a folder once, arrow through everything in it, search inside the files.

Marked 2 ($13.99) is still the better buy if you work on one document at a time with an editor open beside it. It is document-first and Mac only. Obsidian is free and far more powerful if you live in a vault. MD Flow opens any folder with no vault and no plugins, and it never writes to your files unless you rename or trash something yourself.

Pricing

Free: 2 connected folders, 5 recents, the Quick Look extension, all the rendering, offline, no account.

Pro: $7.99 one time, not a subscription. Unlimited folders, PDF export, email drafts from a to: line in frontmatter.

https://apps.apple.com/app/id6762501714

Happy to answer anything.

Hey everyone 👋

Our last post here was back in August, when we released Paperman 3 and brought full-screen support to the app.

Since then, we've kept building. Some updates add entirely new ways to use Paperman, others fix the little things that can make a big difference when an app is running on your Mac every day. Quite a few came from feedback we've received along the way.

A quick reminder for anyone new here

Paperman adds a paper-like texture to your Mac's display, softening its glossy appearance while keeping your screen's colors natural. It's designed for people who spend a lot of time reading, writing, or working with text and would like their screen to feel a little less like a sheet of glass.

So, whether you've been using Paperman for a while or are just coming across it now, here's what's changed.

What's new in Paperman

Art Mode

Step away from your desk, and your Mac turns into a framed artwork instead of going dark. Pick a piece, and Paperman pairs the right paper texture, mat, and frame to match it.

Desk Lamp Mode

Paperman now has an ambient lighting mode inspired by the glow of a desk lamp. You can choose from six lighting presets, adjust the warmth and position, and give your screen a different feel without tinting everything orange.

A new texture, and a familiar one brought back

We've added Monastic Felt, a soft, close-cropped texture inspired by pressed wool.

We also rebuilt Classic Matte to keep its grain sharp and consistent across different displays, from high-DPI screens to ultrawide monitors. And after hearing from people who missed the original, we brought that version back as Classic Matte Legacy. Both are now available.

A little more character

Texture changes now come with six animated reveal styles, accompanied by subtle sound effects. We also gave the Settings panel a bit of polish along the way.

Lots of small things that make Paperman easier to live with

Paperman now survives sleep and wake more reliably, adjusts automatically when your display setup changes, and handles MacBook notches more gracefully. You can also keep it running while making App Store purchases, and app exceptions now behave more predictably, with separate lists for included and excluded apps.

There have been plenty of other fixes and refinements too, including improvements to macOS compatibility and everyday reliability.

You can find the full history here if you'd like to dig into the details: https://paperman.cc/changelog

Comparison

Where Night Shift and f.lux simply tint your display orange to cut blue light, Paperman changes the surface feel. Instead of washing out your colors, it adds micro-texture grain and ambient lighting over the glass, cutting glare and making text feel printed rather than digital.

Pricing

It's $11.99 for a lifetime license (excl. tax), and is also available through Setapp.

You can find it at paperman.cc.

And what's next?

We've also been working on Paperman Slate, a new iPad experience for reading, writing, annotating, and taking notes. iPadOS doesn't let us bring the same system-wide texture overlay to the iPad, so we're taking a different approach. More on that when it's ready.

As always, thanks to everyone who's sent feedback and helped us track down the strange edge cases. A lot of these improvements started with something one of you pointed out, and we really appreciate it.

If you've been using Paperman, we'd love to hear how it's been working for you. And if you're new to it, feel free to ask us anything!

Zoé & Rudi

Hello Mac friends, it's finally available on the app store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/highlight-reel-save-scenes/id6814635712?mt=12

Problem: Every time I want to rewatch a memorable scene, I hate having to scrub through the movie to find the exact moment again. Even then, the film gets added back into my continue watching row, and its watch status reset. Searching on youtube yields clips in poor quality and bookended by ads or music. Why not just permanently bookmark those scenes when i already have a well managed Plex library?

Comparison: PotPlayer allows you to make bookmarks but only for local media. Not sure there's many apps out there that are trying to achieve the same thing.

Pricing: $49.99 lifetime option, with cheaper subscription pricing if you want to try it short term. Free to download and you'll be able to make up to 5 bookmarks for free to test it out.

Notable Features:

• Enriched Interface - Metadata like posters and cast info are automatically pulled from Plex to give you a beautiful browsing experience.
• Durable Bookmarks - If a movie file changes on Plex, timestamps are automatically mapped to the new file.
• Bookmark Import/Export - Export a CSV of your timestamps to archive them or take them to a different app. Share and import bookmarks from other users to automatically add scenes for movies you have. Designed to let you keep your bookmark timestamps even if the app dies.
• Subtitle Search - In the video player, press CMD+F to find a memorable line, it will take you directly to that scene (currently only supports external subtitles)
• Tags/Collections - Organize bookmarks with tags and sort them into collections for reference
• Reels Mode - hit up or down arrow keys while watching a movie to cycle through random highlights. Kind of like channel surfing if you're in the mood for a surprise.
• Clip Export - export and save bookmarked scenes as individual MP4 clips.
• Private by Design - Highlight data stays local, Plex credentials are stored in macOS Keychain, and exported data avoids exposing tokens or full media paths.

I’m a filmmaker and curator so it started as a tool for myself but realised people have been asking for a Plex feature like this for a long time. For a film freak like me, it's become the best way to rewatch and reference stuff.

Hope you like it and let me know how I can make it better!

Hiho,

as the title says Cacophony is a simple audio sink that allows you to route system audio to multiple Airplay speakers.

The reason I wrote this is quite simple; macOS only allows routing system audio to one Airplay speaker at a time. Apps like Music, Podcast and apps that implement Airplay, allow you to select multiple speakers, but that is only per app.

There are plenty of other audio apps out there (e.g. Airfoil, SoundSource and many more), that might do something similar. But they also have features I do no need, e.g. per-app volume control, EQ settings, per-app output routing and so on.

Since I only need a simple audio sink and a way to select the speakers I want to stream to, I really didn't want to deal with apps that come with tones of features I really have no use for.

Cacophony does one thing, is light on resources, lives in your menubar and is easy to use.

Requirements:

• macOS 26 or later (Apple Silicon Macs only)
• Administrator access and System Settings approval for driver installation
• AirPlay 2-compatible speakers on the same network
• Cacophony must run from /Applications

You can find the project on GitHub: https://github.com/stonerl/cacophony

The releases are signed with my developer key and notarized by Apple.

It is forked/uses code from other projects, see: Third Party Notice

Cheers,

…and let me know if you find the app useful.

Made this for fun because I was curious how many apps on my Mac were using Electron. Figured some people here might find it useful too.

It scans your Applications folders and gives you a table of the apps it finds, their versions, and their size on disk, largest first. Added some color and a few facts to make the terminal output a bit less boring.

It’s a single shell script. No Homebrew, no install, no admin password. It runs locally and doesn’t change your apps. You can read the whole thing on GitHub before running it:

https://github.com/macnative/electron-detector

One thing to clarify: the sizes are disk space, not RAM usage. And if it doesn’t detect Electron, that doesn’t automatically mean the app is native.

In case you are looking for alternatives you could check my website:
https://macnative.io

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclosure: I’m the developer of this script and of MacNative.io, a directory of native Mac apps. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohsenk-dev/

Hi Everyone,

We're einstein's legacy v2.0 and we would like to introduce you to Chapters MV.

We created a simple, interactive application for users to enhance the usability of a video assets by adding one or more chapter tracks. Chapters MV is a tool with a low-learning-curve for users who want to get immediate results.

Introducing Chapters MV

Chapters MV allows you to create, update and manage video markers within your digital movies. These markers make it easy to randomly access portions of your video content by marking specific events or places along the video timeline. Chapter Tracks contain a collection of markers. Tracks can be associated with a unique playback language or specific video track within their movie. Users also have a choice of formats for exporting their final video.

The Key Features

• Unlimited Chapters - Create and position an unlimited number of markers within any chapter track.
• Multiple Tracks - Create multiple chapter tracks to handle playback situations like internationalization and accessibility.
• Modern Codecs - Create new movies in a variety of formats for a range of devices and playback situations.
• Marker Previews - Thumbnails representing each chapter markers are displayed along with timing information.
• Background Exports - New movies are created in the background, enabling you to continue working without waiting.
• Internationalization - Select from almost 40 languages to assign as the default when displaying your new chapter tracks.
• Sharing - Share your output on YouTube, TikTok Vimeo, Facebook, Instagram and other popular internet services. 

Who Should Use Chapters MV

Chapters MV is perfect for educators sharing video, usability testers, podcasters, researchers, instructional development professionals, video producers and editors, marketing staff, medical observation specialist, and many others.

The Competition

MChapters, Chapter Editor, and Chapter Marker Editor Pro are all competing products available from the Mac App Store. None of these products offers the ability to add multiple chapter tracks or internationalize newly created tracks. The Chapters MV user interface is also a single window design that puts all the necessary tools at the user's disposal without having to manage windows.

Availability and Pricing

Chapters MV is a free download from the Mac App Store. The application Requires macOS 27 (Golden Gate).

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/chapters-mv/id6744279056​

This download runs in trial mode. The following in-app purchases are available to remove the trial mode watermarks.

• Annual Subscription: $19.99 per year
• Annual Subscription - Family Sharing: $29.99 per year
• Lifetime License: $39.99
• Lifetime License - Family Sharing: $49.99

Product Website

http://www.einsteinslegacy.com/products/chapters.html

Support

if you have any questions, suggestions or other feedback about the software, please email us at  [Support@einsteinslegacy.com](mailto:support@einsteinslegacy.com?subject=Chapters%20Support%20Question)

Thanks for checking out our new application. We hope you'll enjoy using Chapters MV. We look forward to hearing from you.

Problem

I work as a backend dev and I run into large json, csv, dat and what ever format files I need to open , format and edit. My typical ide's or text editors all froze or hang on my macbook m3 pro 18gb (VSCode even say straight out 100MB json is too big to format..).

So i decided to make a difference for myself. its available and latest version offers to open , format and edit datasets in hundreds to thousands of megabytes of dataset files.

It's called Inkline, built in Swift and AppKit for macOS. Version 1.6 is out now, with improvements to selection, switching between files and stability.

Most of my everyday files are around 1 to 300 MB. API responses, exported datasets, configuration files and logs. I usually want to open something, format it, find what I need, make a change and save it. I've spent a lot of time on keeping scrolling, searching and editing responsive after loading too.

Some numbers from benchmarking on my M3 Pro MacBook Pro with 18 GB RAM:

• 100 MB JSON: open in 168 ms, format in 84 ms. Peak memory (RSS): 0.49 GiB.
• 300 MB JSON: open in 393 ms, format in 262 ms. Peak memory (RSS): 1.44 GiB.
• 1.07 GB JSON: open in 1.237 seconds, format in 1.604 seconds. Peak memory (RSS): 4.31 GiB.

These are the median of 3 isolated Release runs, with files held in memory. “Open” means the editor is ready. These measurements are from 1.4; the current release is 1.6. It's due for an updated benchmark, any day now.. But it's improved since 1.4.

I also threw a ~10 GB CSV at the newer file-backed code and it opened in around 23 ms with roughly 119 MB peak RSS while working with the document. Not really the normal use case (for me but I read about others with this need), but nice to know there is some headroom.

There are also built-in tools for formatting and minifying JSON and XML, converting between JSON, JSON Lines, CSV and TSV, and filtering matching lines in or out of logs. I use the log tools to remove noise and highlight errors and warnings. There’s regex find and replace, split views, tabs, session restore, themes and custom shortcuts too.

Files are processed locally on your Mac, with no analytics or telemetry.

Comparison:

• BBEdit: an established Mac editor with extensive search, scripting and HTML tools. It has a free mode, and the full license costs $59.99. Inkline is a less expensive option focused on the large exports and logs I work with, with JSON/XML formatting, data conversions and log filtering built in.
• Sublime Text: a cross-platform editor with a package ecosystem, including tools like Pretty JSON. A personal license costs $99. With Inkline, the formatting, JSON/CSV/TSV conversions and log tools are included from the start. The advantage for my workflow is having those tools ready in a native Mac app, at a lower purchase price.

Pricing

149 SEK on the Swedish Mac App Store. One time purchase, no subscription.

Get Inkline on the Mac App Store

For more apps and web demo, check out :

https://viktornyberg.com

Web demo (WIP)

https://inkline.viktornyberg.com/?returnTo=app-inkline

Hi, I'm Pam from AA1Labs.

I'm happy to introduce Sciwand, an app for anyone who is a passionate reader, learner, or academic researcher.

It's a reference manager (like Zotero, Mendeley or EndNote, with 10,000+ citation styles) plus a built-in AI writer (think Jenni.ai), and your library stays yours. You can connect a local AI model for extra privacy.

What it does:

• AI columns: ask one question across all your papers (Yes/No, a 1-10 score or a short answer). Click any answer to see the exact passage behind it.
• Online search: PubMed, Google Scholar, arXiv and more, with the same AI columns for faster screening.
• Library chat: ask across all your PDFs and get answers with clickable citations.
• Writer: select a paragraph, find supporting papers in your library and insert the citations.
• Word add-in: cite, build your bibliography and rewrite with AI without losing citations.
• Works with Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote and Bookends.

Pricing:

• The reference manager is free, with every feature included.
• The AI has a free demo, with no card needed.
• After that, choose either an optional subscription ($10/m) that works out of the box, or a one-time lifetime licence (from $24 after discount) if you bring your own AI key.

This week only, REDDIT40 takes 40% off until 28 Oct.
Website: sciwand.com

Feedback is very welcome, especially on what would make it fit your workflow.

Hi all. I'm the developer of Upto, and I also make Looq, which is on the Mac App Store. Upto 1.0 is out now.

Problem

Mac apps update from a lot of places. The App Store's Updates tab only covers App Store apps. Apps with a built-in updater ask when you open them. Homebrew updates what it installed, when you remember to run it. Plenty of apps downloaded from a website never mention a new version at all.

Upto lists every app and command-line tool on your Mac with where it came from, checks for updates at that source on a schedule, and installs them in place.

• Checks the App Store, TestFlight, Homebrew, apps' own update feeds, and GitHub releases. Setapp apps are listed too and keep updating through Setapp.
• Finds an update source for most apps that don't have one, and asks you to review it when it isn't sure. Upto Index adds updates no source announces, from versions shared anonymously by people who use Upto.
• CLI tools in the same window: Homebrew formulae, global npm packages, Claude Code, Codex, and pipx or uv tools if you turn them on.
• Verifies every download against the developer's signature before replacing the app.
• Shows release notes in the list, translated on your Mac when they're in another language.
• A native, modern Mac design that looks at home on the latest macOS, in Light or Dark, with keyboard shortcuts for every main page.
• No analytics. Scanning, verification, and translation happen on your Mac.

Comparison

MacUpdater stopped being maintained on January 1, 2026, and its database server will be turned off at the end of 2026, according to its developer's FAQ. If you used it, there's nothing to import. Upto finds your apps the first time it opens.

Unlike the App Store's Updates tab or brew upgrade, Upto shows everything in one list. Homebrew apps still update through Homebrew, so its records stay correct.

Pricing

• Free trial with every feature except Upto Index, no account needed
• Yearly: $14.99 a year for up to 5 Macs. Subscribe during the launch and that price holds for as long as you stay subscribed. After the launch, new subscriptions are $19.99 a year.
• Pay once: $39 for up to 3 Macs. Upto Index is yours to keep, and every update until the next major version is included, plus a discount when you upgrade to it. Sold only during the launch.
• 20% off with the education discount
• macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later

Why a subscription: finding updates is ongoing work. Sources change, download pages move, and Upto Index runs on servers. If you cancel, you keep the version you have, and Upto keeps checking your apps.

https://macupto.com/
Also in: https://parcse.com/upto

Who's behind it

Upto is made by Parcse (PARCSE, LLC).

• Mac App Store developer page: https://apps.apple.com/us/developer/parcse-llc/id1883571520
• Privacy Policy: https://parcse.com/privacy
• Terms of Use: https://parcse.com/terms
• X: https://x.com/parcsehq
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/parcse
• Contact: [hello@parcse.com](mailto:hello@parcse.com)

If Upto can't find an update source for an app you use, tell me which one and I'll look into it.

Hi Everyone,

We're einstein's legacy v2.0 and we would like to introduce you to Jukebox MV.

We originally built this project to support an automotive-industry kiosk project, but soon realized that a video playlist tool could solve a lot of problems in digital signage, sales, marketing, and the arts. If you need your playlist displayed in a specific order or at a specific time; or your videos support a promotional campaign convention event; or you have a kiosk in your office to provide vital information to your customer; or you are an artist that needs material displayed across multiple screens in your installation - we built this application for you.

Introducing Jukebox MV

Jukebox MV allows you to create, update and play a video playlist across one or more displays connected to your Mac without special hardware. After importing, you can drag'n'drop items to organize clips into the order you want, then trim individual videos to a desired length. The Playback Settings give you the option to automate playback and Watch Folders let you dynamically add items to your playlist.

Key Features

• Easy Organization - Drag’n'drop segments to position them in the order you desire for final playback.
• Watch Folders - Use Watch Folders to dynamically change your playlist without needing to edit your Jukebox project.
• Easy Integration- Use auto-start documents with iCal, AppleScript or as a Login Item to control scheduled playback.
• Multiscreen Playback - Send playback to any monitor attached to your Mac or combine all monitors as one continuous display.
• Simple Segmentation - Include all or part of a movie in the output by adjusting the in-point and out-point handles.
• Looping - Set playback looping to control whether your playlist plays just once or repeats indefinitely.

Who Should Use Jukebox MV

Jukebox MV is perfect for projects involving digital signage, advertising and marketing, corporate presentations, kiosk displays, entertainment venues, and many other content creation activities.

The Competition

Our competition includes products like Elmedia, IINA, and Vidhub. However, none of these products provides multi-screen playback support or watchlist for dynamic playlist creation. Also, as far as we can tell, these products cannot be integrated with iCal to provide automated/timed playback.

Availability and Pricing

Jukebox MV v1.1.1 is a free download from the Mac App Store. The application Requires macOS 27 (Golden Gate).

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/jukebox-mv/id6744278922​

This download runs in trial mode. The following in-app purchases are available to remove the trial mode watermarks.

• Annual Subscription: $29.99 per year
• Annual Subscription - Family Sharing: $39.99 per year
• Lifetime License: $49.99
• Lifetime License - Family Sharing: $69.99

Product Website

http://www.einsteinslegacy.com/products/jukebox.html

Support

if you have any questions, suggestions or other feedback about the software, please email us at  [Support@einsteinslegacy.com](mailto:support@einsteinslegacy.com?subject=Jukebox%20Support%20Question)

Thank you for checking out our application. We hope you'll enjoy using Jukebox MV. We look forward to hearing from you.

Hi Everyone,

We're einstein's legacy v2.0 and we would like to introduce you to Lightbox PX. 

We built Lightbox to address the needs of photographers and other visual professionals who need the digital equivalent of a physical light table to inspect, arrange, compare, and analyze their digital images. These users are often looking for a companion application to augment their current workflow.

Introducing Lightbox PX

Lightbox PX allows you to create an infinite digital canvas to layout, inspect, compare, and experiment with the story your images can tell in a two-dimensional space. Lightbox provides a variety of options to layout, align, and resize your images, along with tools to add visual effects as needed. Your canvas can also be easily exported or printed.

Key Features

• Unlimited Canvas - The virtual canvas automatically expands to accommodate any number of images.
• Layout Tools - Align, resize or re-order items or groups of images relative to the canvas or other images.
• Canvas Automation - Duplicate, replicate, uncover and re-align items using built-in canvas automation functions.
• Interoperability - Drag’n drop (or copy) high-resolution images directly from Lightbox to another application or the Finder.
• Image Effects - More than 70 built-in image effects are available to apply to items on the canvas.
• Canvas Export - Capture the entire canvas layout as a single image which can then be exported in a variety of formats.
• Sharing - Share your canvas with other applications, the Finder, or various internet services.
• Effect Settings - Use the copy and paste features to quickly replicate effect settings from one canvas item to another.

Who Should Use Lightbox PX

Lightbox PX is perfect for photographers, graphic designers, content creators, digital artists, media service and marketing professionals, and many others.

The Competition

The most direct competition for this application is Apple's discontinued Aperture application.

A number of open source tools, like DarkTable, DigiKam, and XNView claim to have light box functionality, but they don't provide the user with methods to position images in 2D or 3D. Applications like Apple's Freeform and various web-based whiteboard apps are available, however the apps tend to be very general and have image-editing-specific function or deep integeration with the Mac software environment.

Availability and Pricing

Lightbox PX v1.1.1 is a free download from the Mac App Store. The application Requires macOS 27 (Golden Gate).

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lightbox-px/id6744278985​

This download runs in trial mode. The following in-app purchases are available to remove the trial mode watermarks.

• Annual Subscription: $19.99 per year
• Annual Subscription - Family Sharing: $29.99 per year
• Lifetime License: $39.99
• Lifetime License - Family Sharing: $59.99

Product Website

https://www.einsteinslegacy.com/products/lightbox.html​

Support

if you have any questions, suggestions or other feedback about the software, please email us at  [Support@einsteinslegacy.com](mailto:support@einsteinslegacy.com?subject=Lightbox%20Support%20Question)

Thank you for checking out our application. We hope you'll enjoy using Lighbox PX. We look forward to hearing from you.

Hi Everyone,

We're einstein's legacy v2.0 and we would like to introduce you to Synopsis MV.

We developed this application to assist people who need to create a visual “contact sheet” for their video assets. These users also need annotation functions for adding text captions and more extensive notes; extraction functions that allow them to select frames arbitrarily or by algorithm; and keyword and filtering capabilities that help them organize their visual data.

Introducing Synopsis MV

Synopsis MV lets you extract, tag, organize, and annotate selected frames from a segment or the entirety of your digital video resources. These selected frames give you a visual overview of the action in your clips. Use filtering to restrict the collection of frames based on your annotation text or added keywords. Enhance collaboration by printing or exporting a contact sheet to share your observations.

Key Features

• Project Management - Project documents can reference multiple videos enabling you to keep related files together.
• Simple Extraction - Extract frames from a segment of your video using either a time-based or count-specific formula. Individual frames may also be extracted arbitrarily.
• Keywords - Tag frames with keywords to enhance the ease of searching for related content.
• Filtering - Filtering lets you display only the frames with keywords or annotations that meet your criteria.
• Interoperability - Drag’n'drop (or copy) high-resolution images directly from Synopsis to another application or the Finder.
• Printing - Print high-resolution source material with or without captions and annotations.
• The Big Picture - View your filtered images full screen for quick visual inspection and analysis.
• Sharing - Share images and contact sheets with local applications and other popular internet services

Who Should Use Synopsis MV

Synopsis MV is perfect for video editors, colorist, visual effects artist, archivist, film lovers, cinematographers, entertainment professionals, advertising and marketing, television and movie studios, creative agencies, and many others.

The Competition

MoviePrint is a good product. However, it does not offer any annotation functions. Capabilities for tagging images with keywords and organizing a frame collection based on metadata are not present in MoviePrint. MoviePrint has not been updated to be Apple Silicon native.

There are several browser-based applications (like Cutsio) that can produce a video contact sheet, but have no annotation or organization functions. Privacy and piracy may be a concern for users of browser-based applications.

Availability and Pricing

Synopsis MV v1.1.1 is a free download from the Mac App Store. The application Requires macOS 27 (Golden Gate).

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/synopsis-mv/id6744279063​

This download runs in trial mode. The following in-app purchases are available to remove the trial mode watermarks.

• Annual Subscription: $29.99 per year
• Annual Subscription - Family Sharing: $39.99 per year
• Lifetime License: $49.99
• Lifetime License - Family Sharing: $69.99

Product Website

https://www.einsteinslegacy.com/products/synopsis.html​

Support

if you have any questions, suggestions or other feedback about the software, please email us at  [Support@einsteinslegacy.com](mailto:support@einsteinslegacy.com?subject=Synopsis%20Support%20Question)

Thank you for checking out our application. We hope you'll enjoy using Synopsis. We look forward to hearing from you.

Hi r/macapps, I'm the developer. File Acture is a file toolbox for macOS (also on iPhone and Windows). It does the jobs people usually go to iLovePDF or Smallpdf for, but everything runs on your Mac.

Some tools:

• Compress PDFs to an exact target size ("under 5 MB" for that email or upload form)
• Compress, convert and resize images (JPG, PNG, HEIC, WebP, AVIF), with passport and visa photo presets
• Remove backgrounds from photos
• Edit and sign PDFs, black out sensitive text, OCR scanned PDFs
• Merge, split and rotate PDFs, add or remove passwords, PDF ⇄ images
• Convert PDF ⇄ Word, Excel and PowerPoint (no Office needed)
• Extract text from photos and screenshots
• Remove metadata (location, camera info) from photos
• Create AES-256 encrypted ZIPs, open ZIP, 7z and TAR archives

Problem

Most file tools are websites: you upload a contract, an ID scan or a payslip to someone else's server, wait, then download it again. The offline apps I tried each did one thing, so I had five of them.

How it works

Select files in Finder → right-click → Quick Actions → File Acture → pick a tool. It runs in the background and the result is saved next to the original. Originals are never changed. You can also drop files on the app window, and it suggests the tools that fit.

In the video: 3 photos go from 3.2 MB to 1.5 MB from the right-click menu, and a 40.7 MB PDF is compressed to 4 MB against a 5 MB target in about 2 seconds.

Comparison

Online tools like iLovePDF and Smallpdf upload your files, and most of them have daily limits or a subscription. File Acture works offline, has no account and no subscription, and keeps all 21 tools in one app.

Pricing

Free to try. Pro is a one-time purchase of $29.90 per device, no subscription: https://fileacture.com/pro

Requires macOS 14 or later.

Mac App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/file-acture/id6816028211

Website (Mac, Windows): https://fileacture.com

Happy to answer questions, and I'd love to hear which tool you'd want next.