Developer here. I make Mainspring (Caretopia Network Private Limited, https://trymainspring.com), so flagging that up front.
I got tired of the usual routine with macOS settings. You find a defaults write command on a blog from 2014, paste it into Terminal, and then have no idea what it actually changed or how to put it back. Half those posts never mention the undo command.
So I built Mainspring. It turns 90+ hidden macOS settings into labelled toggles, and every one has an undo button. Flip it, see what it does, flip it back.
Some of what is in there:
- Finder: hidden files, path bar, real file extensions, folders on top
- Dock: instant auto-hide, no bounce, hide recent apps, size and magnification
- Keyboard: fast key repeat, no autocorrect or smart quotes, F1-F12 as function keys
- Privacy: turn off analytics, personalised ads, Siri suggestions, Spotlight data sharing
- Screenshots: change save location, JPG instead of huge PNGs, drop the shadow
- Speed: cut animations and transparency, trim login items
Two things that go past being a defaults write wrapper:
Recipes apply a whole set at once, so setting up a new Mac is one click rather than an afternoon.
Clean Mode locks the keyboard and trackpad for 30 you can physically wipe your Mac without typing gibberish into whatever is open. The screen dims to near black, which also Hold Esc to unlock early.
Details: native Swift, not Electron. Universal for Apple Silicon and Intel,
macOS 13 Ventura or later. Signed and notarised dollars, no subscription, no account needed for the trial.
Genuinely interested in what settings you would want added. A fair few of the current ones came from people telling me what by hand.
I got tired of the usual routine with macOS settings. You find a defaults write command on a blog from 2014, paste it into Terminal, and then have no idea what it actually changed or how to put it back. Half those posts never mention the undo command.
So I built Mainspring. It turns 90+ hidden macOS settings into labelled toggles, and every one has an undo button. Flip it, see what it does, flip it back.
Some of what is in there:
- Finder: hidden files, path bar, real file extensions, folders on top
- Dock: instant auto-hide, no bounce, hide recent apps, size and magnification
- Keyboard: fast key repeat, no autocorrect or smart quotes, F1-F12 as function keys
- Privacy: turn off analytics, personalised ads, Siri suggestions, Spotlight data sharing
- Screenshots: change save location, JPG instead of huge PNGs, drop the shadow
- Speed: cut animations and transparency, trim login items
Two things that go past being a defaults write wrapper:
Recipes apply a whole set at once, so setting up a new Mac is one click rather than an afternoon.
Clean Mode locks the keyboard and trackpad for 30 you can physically wipe your Mac without typing gibberish into whatever is open. The screen dims to near black, which also Hold Esc to unlock early.
Details: native Swift, not Electron. Universal for Apple Silicon and Intel,
macOS 13 Ventura or later. Signed and notarised dollars, no subscription, no account needed for the trial.
Genuinely interested in what settings you would want added. A fair few of the current ones came from people telling me what by hand.
