u/klotzbrocken

Image 1 — RetroMac: Turn your Mac into a time machine (CRT, VHS, Macintosh & more
Image 2 — RetroMac: Turn your Mac into a time machine (CRT, VHS, Macintosh & more
Image 3 — RetroMac: Turn your Mac into a time machine (CRT, VHS, Macintosh & more
Image 4 — RetroMac: Turn your Mac into a time machine (CRT, VHS, Macintosh & more
Image 5 — RetroMac: Turn your Mac into a time machine (CRT, VHS, Macintosh & more

RetroMac: Turn your Mac into a time machine (CRT, VHS, Macintosh & more

Hey!

I built RetroMac, a little macOS app that applies real-time retro shader effects to your entire screen. Think glowing CRT monitors, VHS tape glitches, classic Macintosh aesthetics, Game Boy green... all live, one click.

What it does:

  • 30+ shader presets (CRT, VHS, Game Boy, Macintosh, and more)
  • Auto-matches looks per app
  • Custom dock styles & themed screenshots
  • Eco modes to keep your system smooth

Pricing: Completely free (8 shaders included). Unlock additional presets for a one-time €8.88. The rest of the app is free!

 https://myretromac.app

(Disclaimer: I'm the developer)

If you like, please vote hear: https://www.producthunt.com/products/retromac

u/klotzbrocken — 1 day ago
▲ 18 r/macapps

[OS] [Update] simplebanking 1.50: SEPA transfers, wider EU/UK bank support, still free and open source

Hey everyone,

quick update on simplebanking, the tiny macOS menu bar banking app I posted here back in April. We're now at version 1.50, and a few things have changed since then.

I'm the developer, so this is self-promotion, disclosing that up front.

For anyone who missed the first post: simplebanking is a lightweight macOS menu bar app that shows your live balance and recent transactions without opening a heavy, window-based banking app. As of 1.50 it's no longer Germany-only: bank support now covers Germany plus Austria, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and the UK.

Problem

Most Mac banking apps in Germany and Europe are heavy, window-based, often tied to a single bank or a subscription. The most common request since April was simple: people wanted to actually send money, not just look at it. And people outside Germany wanted in. Both happened in 1.50.

What's new in 1.50

The big one is simplesend: SEPA transfers directly from simplebanking. This is completely optional. The free version of simplebanking is not restricted in any way and works exactly like before. If you want to start transfers from inside the app, you can unlock simplesend once for 15 euros. No subscription, no recurring anything, one-time unlock.

Wider bank support. simplebanking is no longer Germany-only. New countries: Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and the UK. That includes banks like Bank Austria, BAWAG, Raiffeisen Bank, ING, Deutsche Bank Italia/España/Belgium, N26, Revolut, Finom and Viva.com, alongside the German banks from before (Sparkasse, Volksbank and others via Open Banking). This is the groundwork for the international rollout.

On the overview side simplebanking got more useful too. Next to balance, Money Mood and the GreenZoneRing there are new metrics like Money Age, plus forecasts: what's still going out before your next paycheck, how much is actually available until then, and a daily spending guideline. Less guessing, more of a feel for whether the month stays relaxed.

For people working with AI agents: MCP and CLI got built out further, so agents can generate reports, analyze spending or prepare a small account overview. Only if you deliberately enable it.

Full changelog since April:

  • simplesend: SEPA transfers directly from the app (optional, one-time 15 euro unlock)
  • Wider bank support: new countries AT, FR, IT, ES, NL, BE, LU, UK (Bank Austria, BAWAG, Raiffeisen, ING, Deutsche Bank Italia/España/Belgium, N26, Revolut, Finom, Viva.com and more)
  • Left to Pay: forecast of expected outgoing payments until your next paycheck
  • GreenZoneRing: visual read on whether you're in the green, including overdraft logic
  • Money Age and paycheck forecasts: available money until payday and a daily guideline
  • Filter pills in quick access: better filtering directly in the transaction list
  • Stay-on-top: transaction list can stay above other windows
  • Dock mode: simplebanking can optionally run like a normal dock app
  • Import system: Deep-Sync 180/365 days, OFX and CAMT.053
  • SimpleReport: better basis for compact financial reports and agent-driven analysis
  • MCP and CLI: expanded for agent workflows (reports, spending analysis), opt-in

Comparison

Still a lightweight macOS menu bar app, now with multi-country bank support via Open Banking. Fully open source, read-only by default, runs locally on your Mac. No telemetry, no ads, no tracking. simplesend is the only paid part and it's an optional one-time unlock, not a subscription.

Pricing

simplebanking itself stays 100% free, no subscriptions, no upsells, full source on GitHub, optional "buy me a coffee" link on the website. simplesend is a single 15 euro unlock if you want outgoing transfers. That's the only money involved anywhere.

Transparency / Safety

I'm the developer behind simplebanking.de (site includes imprint and privacy policy). The app connects to your bank via regulated PSD2/Open Banking using YAXI. Read access stays read-only and on your device. simplesend uses the regulated payment-initiation path, transfers are confirmed by you via your bank's normal SDK/TAN flow, the app cannot move money on its own. References to OpenAI and similar in the source power optional, experimental features and are not required for core banking.

Links

Website & download: simplebanking.de Source code: https://github.com/klotzbrocken/simplebanking

More about me and my LinkedIn are on the website.

Feedback very welcome, especially from Mac users across the EU and UK: does simplesend feel safe enough, how's the bank support in your country, what would make this a permanent fixture in your menu bar?

u/klotzbrocken — 3 days ago
▲ 110 r/macapps

Hi!

I use AI myself to ship code faster (Cursor / Claude / co‑pilot style) and I think vibe coding is awesome when you understand what you’re building. Shipping a usable Mac app in days instead of months is genuinely a big deal.

What feels weird to me lately: my r/macapps and r/vibecoding feed is full of small AI utilities. Chat wrappers, writing helpers, tiny menu bar tools, that were vibe‑coded in no time, but still come with a monthly subscription, even though there are already strong free or open‑source alternatives for 80–90% of these use cases.

Vibe coding isn’t the problem. The part I don’t fully get is charging recurring fees for every little helper app on top of the LLM subscription many of us already pay for.

So instead of promoting my own stuff, I’d love to flip it around and ask the sub:

Which free or open‑source tools do you use as alternatives to

  • paid AI chat clients (BoltAI / MindMac / Perplexity‑style wrappers),
  • writing helpers (rewrite, summarise, email assistants),
  • and small utilities (clipboard managers, menu bar tools, quick “send text to LLM” actions)?

In which scenarios do you actually feel a paid vibe‑coded Mac app does deliver enough extra value to justify a subscription?

If there’s interest, I’m happy to compile an overview of the best no‑BS free alternatives based on your recommendations and the current wave of vibe‑coded Mac apps being promoted here.

Cheers!

reddit.com
u/klotzbrocken — 20 days ago
▲ 3 r/MacOSApps+1 crossposts

Hey everyone,

I built a free, open-source banking menu bar app called simplebanking for macOS. I got tired of bloated finance apps that want access to everything and charge monthly fees.

The idea was simple: a lightweight app that lives in your menu bar, connects to your bank accounts via open banking standards, and shows you your balances and transactions at a glance.

Key features:

  • Native macOS menu bar app (stays out of your way until you need it)
  • Connects to multiple German banks via Openbanking
  • Open Banking integration for modern API-based connections
  • Read-only access by design! no transaction capabilities
  • Everything stays local on your Mac, no user data is sent to a third-party server
  • Built with Swift, native macOS UI
  • Free and open-source on GitHub

Repo: https://github.com/klotzbrocken/simplebanking

Homepage: https://simplebanking.de

I built this for myself first, but figured it might be useful for others too. Happy to answer questions and would love feedback on the UX and feature direction.

Disclosure: I'm the developer behind this project.

u/klotzbrocken — 22 days ago