Hi HN, I built Parall, a macOS utility that generates small shortcut app bundles.

In the new v2.0 update, those shortcuts can drive animated Dock icons and visual effects per shortcut. It is basically a way to "theme" the native Dock icon by icon, without replacing the Dock and without overlays. Effects include rotation, pulsing, opacity, grayscale, and transforms.

The interesting part is that effects are state-aware. You can set different visuals for each combination of: - AC or Battery - App Running or Closed

So you can keep icons fully normal while running, but fade and desaturate them when closed, or disable animation on battery.

Parall originally started as a way to run multiple instances of the same macOS app with optional data separation (useful for things like two Discord accounts, two Dropbox accounts, or separate Chrome environments). v2.0 keeps that, but the Dock effects are the "new capability" part.

It does not patch macOS or modify target apps. It just generates shortcuts that you can pin to the Dock, and you can remove them to revert.