Show HN: Zen Mode – a global focus mode for macOS

cafebeen

Author here, I made this macOS tool "Zen Mode" to provide a global focus mode that works across apps. There are plenty of things approaching this (HazeOver, Stage Manager, built-in full-screen mode, etc.) but nothing quite like I imagined. The basic idea is to have a shortcut to bring the current window front and center and fade everything else to black like a spotlight, and when you're done, the window returns home, and the lights come back up. A simple solution with about 250 lines of Hammerspoon Lua, built with Fable, though with many iterations to get the UX right. Happy to answer any questions or hear any feedback.

daft_pink

I wish I could have a tool like this that would focus multiple windows from different apps this way. My workflow just requires different apps at the same time.

loughnane

As someone who has been on i3/xfce/debian for years and hasn’t opened Mac since 2013… can someone explain this to me? I hear “bring current window to front and fade everything else” and it feels like how it ought to be by default. Is it not?

desktopentree

I agree with other comments that a multi-app version would be great. Overall, very simple and functions well. I like it.