

Show HN: Shade. A Free Mac App to hide your messy desktop. - pagliara
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/shade/id546881298?mt=12

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msarnoff
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
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. )

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

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humbyvaldes
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
Thanks! That's a great idea actually.

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callmevlad
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.

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MaxGabriel
The desktop is the default for screenshots and iOS simulator screenshots;
that's my undoing

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dayzero
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
Thanks! I've got a few other nice features planned as well.

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

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

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

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macarthy12
Curious, how long that take to develop? You done many osx apps before?

