ExtraDock Simplifies Remote Work

On the computer, where I get most of my work done, I have a dual monitor setup dialed in over a period of time to match my preferences for the apps and processes that I use daily. I am partial to a keyboard-centric workflow. I have used keyboard-driven launchers for many years, including LaunchBar and currently Raycast. However, I deal with a great many files, primarily photographs, videos, music, and eBooks, moving them from different locations in my file system to other locations. This requires me to use a mouse and to do quite a bit of application switching. When I am away from home, whether at a coffee shop or on an extended trip, I prefer to remote into my primary workstation to get things done rather than use the native interface on the MacBook Air I carry with me. This can be problematic because, rather than having two 27-inch monitors, I'm limited to one 15-inch Retina display. I've tried a variety of remote access applications, but right now, what works best for me is native screen sharing through a Tailscale network.

I am constantly switching not only between applications but also between monitors. For various reasons, using the native Mac dock is not always practical because of screen space and window placement. Likewise, using a keyboard-driven launcher is also difficult, and the same goes for application switchers. Depending on the last thing you clicked on, you may activate an app on the remote machine, or you may activate something on your local machine. It can be a coin toss.

I've started using ExtraDock from Appitstudio as a way to simplify application access and switching when working remotely. I had been switching and launching apps with Start from Innovative Bytes, a menu bar app, but it takes too many fine motor skills to access the menu bar on a shrunk-down remote display for my liking. ExtraDock lets me create a variety of dock-like launchers for different workflows and activate one or more of them when needed.

## Features I Like

- Different docks for different displays without interfering with the native dock
- Custom-sized dock icons
- Custom dock orientation (horizontal or vertical)
- Autohide or always on top choice
- Widgets in the dock (Finder, Time, Trash are the ones I use)
- Appearance customization for colors, borders, and spacing

Using ExtraDock in conjunction with Stay from Cordless Dog, an app that lets me configure apps to launch to assigned positions on different monitors, has been a real game changer. Getting to the apps I need when I need them while working remotely is no longer aggravating.

A lifetime license for ExtraDock is available for €31.99, or if you prefer, a one year subnoscription €9.99 . Both options have a 14-day money back guarantee.

https://redd.it/1ovbzqg
@macappsbackup

HazeOver

Is there a difference between the version from the App Store and the version from the website? Also what's the licensing model on the version from the website? (use on all owned macs etc)

Thanks.

https://redd.it/1ovccck
@macappsbackup

New app: Book 'em Danno

I've just released [**Book 'em Danno**](https://widgetworx.com/apps/bookem.html)**,** an app for cataloging one's E-Book and digital comic collection. I came up with the idea after getting feedback from some of my users on what to build next, so I started tinkering and here we are...

You can drag and drop most EPUB, MOBI/AZW3 and CBZ files onto the program's window and it will attempt to extract most of the relevant E-Book metadata like noscript, author, genre, publisher, ISBN, denoscription, and generate cover thumbnails and add it to its database.

Once your E-Book and comic metadata have been imported into the program, you can browse, search for, sort, and filter items in various ways:

https://preview.redd.it/hfbxkbap8v0g1.png?width=1824&format=png&auto=webp&s=564c819df6f8fa9f25aab1b3c8efff9c32b63d6a

After the metadata is in the program, you can make changes to incomplete or missing information, replace specific cover thumbnails, and add custom tags, notes, numeric ratings, and more using the built-in editor:

https://preview.redd.it/jadgwgov8v0g1.png?width=1424&format=png&auto=webp&s=2f267af7bda3f5bc5aeab7e5b38d41c05a17feeb

In addition to the above, you can view basic analytics on your collection (e.g., breakdowns of your collection by genre, author, etc.). You can also export your data to CSV and JSON for further analysis:

https://preview.redd.it/gegiuzix8v0g1.png?width=1504&format=png&auto=webp&s=19675581c0953be4e2a2d80f6c1bb947002cc2b3

**Book 'em Danno** is free to use, but the first time you run it, it will ask you for a small, one-time donation if you find it useful. If not, you can set it to not prompt you again.

If there's enough interest, I'll continue enhancing it; perhaps even offering a pro version at some point, but that really depends on feedback and overall user interest.

**Known Caveats:**

* The app is very new, so there are likely bugs that I haven't found and there are still plenty of optimizations to make
* Importing many files will use a lot of RAM. I've successfully imported \~150 files at a time with no issues, but your mileage could vary...
* I haven't tested it with large libraries. My entire library is a few hundred items, so more than 500 or 1,000 items may be uncharted territory in terms of performance or memory use
* Importing MOBI/AZW3 files can be very slow compared to EPUB and CBZ files with a decent chance that **Book 'em Danno** won't capture the correct cover artwork from them
* I have not tested the program with E-Books that use DRM, so I don't know how it will behave if it encounters a protected E-Book

**Privacy & Security**

* The app operates 100% locally. All data is saved on your Mac in SQLite3 database stored in a standard and documented location.
* The app only connects to the Internet to take you to my donation page or website to access the User Guide or check for updates.
* The app does not modify your E-Books in any way; it merely scans them for metadata.
* I'm a registered developer; the app is signed and notarized.

**Other**

I'm well aware that **calibre** can catalog E-Books and a lot more, but **Book 'em Danno** is a fraction of size of **calibre** and a bit more tailored for this particular use case.



Thanks for your time and attention!

https://redd.it/1ovfli7
@macappsbackup

I’m looking for an app that can lock any applications window size and position on screen.

Some apps when you reopen them reset to a default window position and size. I am looking for an app that can change the default and then always open the app in the size and position of my choosing.

https://redd.it/1ovhkfo
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Dial8 Native Private macOS Text-to-Speech & Speech-to-Text

Hi everyone,

We've been working diligently to release the latest version of our app, which now offers realistic, instantaneous text-to-speech as well as speech-to-text capabilities. We find it personally highly beneficial and believe it is a valuable addition to our toolkit. I am excited to share this with the community of macOS app enthusiasts. I look forward to hearing your feedback. There's a fully unlocked 14 day free trial but for the first 100 people who sign up, I will unlock the full app for free, allowing you to experience its capabilities and potentially share it with others who may find it useful. Additionally, if you have any disabilities and wish to use this app, please reach out to me directly, and I will unlock it for you at no cost.

If you enjoy the app after 14 days, please consider unlocking it. If you truly like it and are open to providing feedback, I will unlock it for free for a lifetime. I aim to gather as much feedback as possible to improve it during these early stages.

Looking forward to your feedback!

Here is a video walkthrough:

https://youtu.be/yMZWrEfwkcE?si=PURoYMX5FgeLY\_8R


Link to download:

https://www.dial8.ai

https://redd.it/1ovh3ei
@macappsbackup

Need Help: Looking for an app that auto-records zoom meetings

Hello everyone! Usually I'm answering questions on this sub, not posting! I am looking for something that I am sure exists, BUT I am struggling finding. I need a mac app or windows (I don't care at this point) that I can set up for the sole purpose of joining zoom meetings on a schedule. And recording that meeting (the audio of that meeting). I am so tired of doing this manually and I'm not interested in otter or any of those other assistants that require zoom host permission and no one can figure out how to get it to work. What I'm looking for is super simple, but I can't find it.

https://redd.it/1oviwbq
@macappsbackup

Best app for icon changing?

Looking for an icon changer that keeps the same custom icon after app update and can do native Apple apps too?

Are there any out there or is that asking for too much

https://redd.it/1ovmis9
@macappsbackup

Let me build a macOS app for you

Hi everyone!

I’m seeking suggestions for building a simple macOS app that you use daily but is overpriced. If it’s simple enough, I’m willing to build it for free and publish it here. I’m a software engineer by profession and am trying to build more macOS apps to learn and also help others. Please let me know what you’d like, and I’ll choose the most popular one and build it in the next two weeks and give it away :)

PS : I am the creator of FluidVoice :D https://github.com/altic-dev/Fluid-oss

Thanks!

My top pick for now : a ScreenStudio alternative.

https://redd.it/1ovony9
@macappsbackup

Roast the UI of our text expander app “PhraseExpress”

TL;DR: What parts of our UI look not Mac-like to you?

https://preview.redd.it/1k8crenhkz0g1.png?width=1980&format=png&auto=webp&s=6be211a7ebf4872c7c9d528a3f8b9dff53b21746

We launched PhraseExpress for Windows back in 2002, and the macOS version followed about 9 years ago. It’s a text expander with a generous free tier for personal use and paid editions for pro/power users. People generally love the features – but every now and then we hear that the UI looks “dated” or “not Mac-like.”

Here’s the thing: the Mac version is 100% native, fully rewritten using Apple’s development frameworks. So now we’re genuinely curious: which specific details feel “un-Mac-like” to you? Icons? Layout? Menu behavior? Window structure? Something else?

When building the app, we noticed there’s no single, consistent UI pattern across Mac apps – especially compared to Windows, where the Ribbon paradigm dominates. On macOS, every developer seems to create their own flavor.

So we’d love your help: What exact parts of the PhraseExpress UI break your expectations of how a Mac app should look or behave?

https://redd.it/1ovvyq0
@macappsbackup

KloudUtils - a collection of developer tools that includes AWS and K8s features, plus a web version.

Hi everyone 👋

I am Austin, a developer behind KloudUtils.

I would like to introduce KloudUtils, which is like a collection of developer tools but also for AWS, K8s, and cloud operations.

I built KloudUtils because I was tired of constantly logging into multiple AWS accounts just to check VPC subnets, EC2 IPs, SG IPs, and other AWS resources and checking the Kubernetes YAML structure (health probes, configMapRef, secretRef, etc)

I needed a desktop app that could archive AWS data locally, remind me of K8s yaml structure and CLI commands, and also provide developer tools to help me work faster offline.

KloudUtils’s key features:

AWS offline access: Archive and search VPC data, EC2 instances, security groups, and Route53 across multiple accounts without logging in repeatedly. Generate CSV reports quickly.
Kubernetes YAML builder: Quickly create K8s YAML configs with a UI instead of memorizing syntax for deployments, pods, services, and secrets. Includes CLI command references.
Developer utilities: JSON/XML/YAML formatters, Markdown viewer, SMTP checker, IP tools, Web header analysis, Process & port manager, and more.
Shareable links: Create a shareable link in the Mac app that opens directly in the web version to share with teammates.



KloudUtils supports macOS Tahoe, Sequoia and older:

Free Mac trial with formatters, process manager, Markdown viewer, OG checker, etc.
Plus free web app with many tools and render results for shareable links.
Paid Mac app with lifetime license & 50% OFF (applied already) - \***$19.5 one-time purchase.

You can download the free Mac trial version with plenty of free utils for better performance and privacy or try the web version at https://kloudutils.com.

I am still working on more features and improvements, would love your feedback.

Thanks everyone!

https://redd.it/1ow0pq7
@macappsbackup

Custom Microsoft Teams & Slack Notification Sounds (per channel, per person, per keyword)

Slack & Teams only lets you pick one notification sound for everything — no way to customize it per channel, DM, or keyword.

I went down the rabbit hole:

\- No option to change it in the settings

\- You can’t add custom sounds

\- On macOS, you can replace the default sound file, but you have to disable SIP (System Integrity Protection) — just to overwrite one sound globally

Even then, everything still sounds the same

So I built a tiny macOS menu bar app to fix it properly.

It lets you:

\- Set different notification sounds per channel, DM, or keyword

\- Upload your own audio or pick from 70+ curated ones

\- Control volume for each rule

No Slack/Teams token or login needed — it just runs in the background

So if you want #prod-alerts to go bing and #random to have another sound... this does exactly that. Any feedback is welcome.

🖥️ macOS only for now: chirpy.pro
ℹ️ It's 3 day free trial, then $9.99 for lifetime access

https://redd.it/1ow0bvc
@macappsbackup

KloudUtils - a collection of developer tools that includes AWS and K8s features, plus a web version.

Hi everyone 👋

I am Austin, a developer behind KloudUtils.

I would like to introduce KloudUtils, which is like a collection of developer tools but also for AWS, K8s, and cloud operations.

I built KloudUtils because I was tired of constantly logging into multiple AWS accounts just to check VPC subnets, EC2 IPs, SG IPs, and other AWS resources and checking the Kubernetes YAML structure (health probes, configMapRef, secretRef, etc)

I needed a desktop app that could archive AWS data locally, remind me of K8s yaml structure and CLI commands, and also provide developer tools to help me work faster offline.

KloudUtils’s key features:

AWS offline access: Archive and search VPC data, EC2 instances, security groups, and Route53 across multiple accounts without logging in repeatedly. Generate CSV reports quickly.
Kubernetes YAML builder: Quickly create K8s YAML configs with a UI instead of memorizing syntax for deployments, pods, services, and secrets. Includes CLI command references.
Developer utilities: JSON/XML/YAML formatters, Markdown viewer, SMTP checker, IP tools, Web header analysis, Process & port manager, and more.
Shareable links: Create a shareable link in the Mac app that opens directly in the web version to share with teammates.

KloudUtils supports macOS Tahoe, Sequoia and older:

Free Mac trial with formatters, process manager, Markdown viewer, OG checker, etc.
Plus free web app with many tools and render results for shareable links.
Paid Mac app with lifetime license & 50% OFF (applied already) - \***$19.5 one-time purchase.

You can download the free Mac trial version with plenty of free utils for better performance and privacy or try the web version at https://kloudutils.com.

I am still working on more features and improvements, would love your feedback.

Thanks everyone

\---

JSON format and share links

Archive for AWS

Kubernetes Cronjob



https://redd.it/1ow34c2
@macappsbackup

Notepad (not Textedit)

I switched from Windows to Mac \~8 years ago. Not looking back.

The one thing I really haven't found a great replacement for is Notepad. Something where I can just quickly pop something open and have a scratch pad.

For whatever reason Textedit just doesn't do it for me. Maybe the right answer is telling me to get over it 🤣

Notes isn't the right answer, I want a plain text editor (just like Notepad).

Any suggestions? I honestly want 0 features. The fewer features the better.

https://redd.it/1ow7iya
@macappsbackup

Public Domain Slicer Launcher Tool for Mac users (Now Includes Bambu Studio, Elegoo Slicer, and More)
https://redd.it/1owcc8o
@macappsbackup

Stay is a Free and Useful Utility for Multiple Monitor Setups

Stay from Cordless Dog



When it comes to multi-monitor setups, users have wildly different demands. Some people make extensive use of spaces, while others won't; their applications must be tiled the exact same way at all times. My personal use case in the two-monitor setup that I use is that I want apps to open on the same monitor with each use. Although Stay does remember tiled window positions in its profiles, I don't care so much about that, because I tend to use most of my apps in full-screen mode. I absolutely do not want to have to drag windows around from monitor to monitor so that my muscle memory can take over as I work.

# Free Solution

To accomplish this task, I use the free utility Stay from Cordless Dog Software. The core idea is that Stay lets me snapshot window positions (size + location + display) for particular configurations (e.g., laptop display only, laptop + external monitor) and then restore them when my display setup changes. It's not so much a fully featured window management tool as it is a "put my windows where I left them" solution across display changes and reboots.

Stay is free, and it supports Apple Silicon. It does not need Rosetta.

It isn't perfect or bulletproof. Apple Spaces are flaky, and anyone who says they aren't hasn't made extensive use of them. Stay can sometimes get confused, placing a window sized correctly in the correct position on your monitor, but in the wrong space. Apps that use non-standard windows (Steam, X11, Adobe Creative Cloud) don't always work well with Stay. Stay works best with a static setup. If you often open and close various windows and want tiling, automation, and snapping, Stay is not the product for you.

# Caveat

Now, the biggest drawback for some people is that Stay appears to be abandonware. It's abandonware that works, so I'm fine with it, but some people won't invest 30 seconds of setup time in an app that hasn't been updated since 2021.

# Paid Alternative

If you want a top-shelf, well-maintained app to do what Stay does (plus a lot more), my recommendation is Moom from the great team at Many Tricks Software. It's more refined than Stay, featuring window-snapping and custom grid resizing. You can save and recall layouts, but it's less strict about returning windows to exact positions when changing monitors.

There is also a new player in the space, Snaps of Apps, which I have not personally tried yet.

https://redd.it/1owdk3q
@macappsbackup

I used to be able to play YouTube videos inline in Apple Notes, but not anymore. Now I’m getting this message: “This video is unavailable. Error code: 4.” Why is that?



https://redd.it/1owd9ps
@macappsbackup

Anyone want to join the waitlist for my Music Player app (MacTunes) for MacOS?

https://redd.it/1owki4l
@macappsbackup