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Show HN: Shade. A Free Mac App to hide your messy desktop.

16 points by pagliara 14y ago

humbyvaldes 14y ago
Cool app, I just installed it. Some feedback: Would be nice if double click shade desktop would show real desktop. Clicking the icon isn't always handy.
- pagliara 14y ago
  Thanks! That's a great idea actually.
callmevlad 14y ago
I've been using a Mac for over a year, and I've never had more than a few things on the desktop, whereas my Windows 7 boxes sometimes ran into the problem that Shade is addressing. Seems like OSX is much friendlier to organization and discovery. With Spotlight and tools like Alfred, all my apps and files are pretty much always a few keystrokes away, so storing stuff on the desktop becomes suboptimal.
- DeepDuh 14y ago
  I think you might have a point there. It appears to me now that my OSX desktop is only messy because I share it with my Windows VM, where the desktop is pretty much the goto place when you want fast access to your latest files.
- MaxGabriel 14y ago
  The desktop is the default for screenshots and iOS simulator screenshots; that's my undoing
dayzero 14y ago
Just earlier this week I was looking for an app that did exactly this. Installed it - works great. I'd also be keen to see a 'double-click to reveal' feature. Great work!
- pagliara 14y ago
  Thanks! I've got a few other nice features planned as well.
biscarch 14y ago
Cool idea, I would definitely use it, but it seems that when using Spaces Shade will only cover a single space at a time.
wells-riley 14y ago
Hey OP, I love the simplicity, giving it a try. I added your app to http://retinamacapps.com http://retinamacapps.com -- nice work!
msarnoff 14y ago
I hide/show my desktop icons with a couple of aliases in my .zshrc: alias dihide="defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop -bool NO && killall Finder" alias dishow="defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop -bool YES && killall Finder" This has a couple side effects: clicking on the desktop background doesn't steal focus from the current app, and you can no longer drop files onto the desktop. It doesn't have a pretty UI, but since I've got a terminal open almost all the time, it's just as convenient to me as a menu bar item.
- sodiumphosphate 14y ago
  I just leave the desktop function turned off and use Finder and terminals. I prefer a plain black background. Off-topic, but I will say it again anyway: I really wish I could disable all window decoration and personalize the way windows are managed like you can in many X11 window managers. ( I miss using compiz standalone on Arch. )
macarthy12 14y ago
Curious, how long that take to develop? You done many osx apps before?
notlisted 14y ago
Lacks dual screen support. Hence, I will still be stuck with BackDrop (works too, not as nice)
Yaggo 14y ago
I keep my stuff in ~/, not in ~/Desktop.

16 points by pagliara 14y ago

Cool app, I just installed it. Some feedback: Would be nice if double click shade desktop would show real desktop. Clicking the icon isn't always handy.

pagliara 14y ago
Thanks! That's a great idea actually.

callmevlad 14y ago

I've been using a Mac for over a year, and I've never had more than a few things on the desktop, whereas my Windows 7 boxes sometimes ran into the problem that Shade is addressing. Seems like OSX is much friendlier to organization and discovery. With Spotlight and tools like Alfred, all my apps and files are pretty much always a few keystrokes away, so storing stuff on the desktop becomes suboptimal.

DeepDuh 14y ago
I think you might have a point there. It appears to me now that my OSX desktop is only messy because I share it with my Windows VM, where the desktop is pretty much the goto place when you want fast access to your latest files.
MaxGabriel 14y ago
The desktop is the default for screenshots and iOS simulator screenshots; that's my undoing

dayzero 14y ago

Just earlier this week I was looking for an app that did exactly this. Installed it - works great. I'd also be keen to see a 'double-click to reveal' feature. Great work!

pagliara 14y ago
Thanks! I've got a few other nice features planned as well.

biscarch 14y ago

Cool idea, I would definitely use it, but it seems that when using Spaces Shade will only cover a single space at a time.

wells-riley 14y ago

Hey OP, I love the simplicity, giving it a try. I added your app to http://retinamacapps.com http://retinamacapps.com -- nice work!

msarnoff 14y ago

I hide/show my desktop icons with a couple of aliases in my .zshrc: alias dihide="defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop -bool NO && killall Finder" alias dishow="defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop -bool YES && killall Finder" This has a couple side effects: clicking on the desktop background doesn't steal focus from the current app, and you can no longer drop files onto the desktop. It doesn't have a pretty UI, but since I've got a terminal open almost all the time, it's just as convenient to me as a menu bar item.

sodiumphosphate 14y ago
I just leave the desktop function turned off and use Finder and terminals. I prefer a plain black background. Off-topic, but I will say it again anyway: I really wish I could disable all window decoration and personalize the way windows are managed like you can in many X11 window managers. ( I miss using compiz standalone on Arch. )

macarthy12 14y ago

Curious, how long that take to develop? You done many osx apps before?

notlisted 14y ago

Lacks dual screen support. Hence, I will still be stuck with BackDrop (works too, not as nice)

Yaggo 14y ago

I keep my stuff in ~/, not in ~/Desktop.