A macOS menu-bar app: bind global keyboard shortcuts to applications and press one to jump to (activate/launch) that app.

A refined, modern macOS interface following Apple's guidelines — vibrancy materials, SF Pro, the system accent color, light/dark adaptive — across two surfaces:

• Menu-bar popover — a vibrant compact list. Tap a row to jump to that app; hover to reveal edit/delete; add or edit a shortcut inline without leaving the popover (native modifier toggles, key/app popups).
• Standalone window — a NavigationStack with a unified toolbar, search, and an inset list. Add/edit via a grouped Form sheet; right-click for context actions. While it's open the app is a regular Dock app; it returns to a menu-bar agent on close.

Bindings persist across launches; a fresh install seeds ⌃⌥S → Safari and ⌃⌥F → Finder.

Install

Requirements: macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later.

Homebrew (recommended)

brew install --cask jackuait/appear/appear

One trusted command, no Gatekeeper warnings — the cask clears the download quarantine on install, and brew upgrade keeps Appear current.

Manual download

Fetch the latest release, clear the quarantine (so it opens without a Gatekeeper prompt), and launch — in one command:

curl -L https://github.com/JackUait/appear/releases/latest/download/Appear.zip -o /tmp/Appear.zip \
  && ditto -x -k /tmp/Appear.zip /Applications \
  && xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Appear.app \
  && open /Applications/Appear.app

The Appear logo appears in the menu bar (no Dock icon). Multi-key chord shortcuts (e.g. L+R+G+N+M) need Accessibility access — Appear prompts you and links straight to the setting.

Note: Appear isn't notarized by Apple yet, so a plain double-click of the downloaded app would show a Gatekeeper warning. Both install methods above clear the quarantine flag so it opens cleanly. A fully notarized build (double-click, zero warnings) is planned.

Run from source

swift run Appear

The Appear logo appears in the menu bar (no Dock icon). Press ⌃⌥S to jump to Safari. Stop with Ctrl-C or the Quit Appear menu item.

Test

swift test

Package as a .app

Assembles a signed dist/Appear.app (menu-bar agent via LSUIElement, ad-hoc code signature):

scripts/package-app.sh           # release build
open dist/Appear.app          # launch it

CONFIG=debug scripts/package-app.sh   # debug build instead

Override metadata with BUNDLE_ID, VERSION, BUILD, MIN_MACOS env vars.