Macscope is a new window manager and and app switcher for macOS built on the philosophy of enhancing, not replacing, your existing muscle memory.
It works by augmenting the familiar Cmd+Tab workflow. A quick tap of your shortcut instantly switches between recent apps, just like you're used to. A slightly longer hold, however, opens the full Macscope interface where you can manage all your open windows and tabs.
You can also use modifier shortcuts to enter Placement Modes, which let you instantly snap a selected window to the left/right/top/bottom/ half of your screen.
Here are some of the key features:
- Unified Search & Switch: A single interface to instantly find and switch to any window, browser tab (Safari, Chrome, Arc, etc.), or application just by typing.
- Live Previews: See a real-time preview of what's inside each window so you know exactly where you're going. You can also disable previews for a more minimal experience.
- Advanced Window Management: Go beyond just switching. Select multiple windows and arrange them into layouts like vertical/horizontal splits or grids.
- Scopes: Save collections of app windows as a "Scope" and instantly restore that entire workspace later. It's ideal for quickly switching between different projects or tasks.
It’s a native macOS app built with Swift and supports both Apple Silicon and Intel machines.
Launch Offer for HN:
There's a free trial with 250 actions. For the Hacker News community, I'm offering a 50% discount on the lifetime license.
Website: https://macscope.app
Discord Community: https://discord.gg/ehktEWr97K
I'll be here all day to answer questions and would be grateful for any feedback. Thanks for checking it out!
gprok•1h ago
For years, I've felt this low-grade friction using macOS. I live on the keyboard, but managing windows always felt like a mouse-first task. Cmd+Tab is great until you have more than couple of apps open, and then it's just this endless, frustrating cycle. Mission Control is a visual puzzle that offers no keyboard-driven way to filter the chaos, forcing you back to the trackpad every time.
Coming from tools like the terminal and code editors where you can jump between anything instantly with a few keystrokes, the OS layer felt slow and inefficient by comparison.
That's really where the ideas for Macscope came from. The "tap vs. hold" mechanic was born from wanting to keep my Cmd+Tab muscle memory but add more power on top. The "Scopes" feature came directly from my frustration of manually rearranging the same 5-6 windows every single time I started working on a specific project.
It started as a tool just for me, but I'm hoping it resonates with others who feel the same way about their workflow. I'm really curious to hear if others share these frustrations and what your own workarounds have been.
Thanks again for all the feedback so far!