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Hocus Focus
p/hocus-focus-2A Mac menu bar utility that hides your inactive windows
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Nial

Hocus Focus — A Mac menu bar utility that hides your inactive windows

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Nial
Maker
Hey guys! I'm the developer behind Hocus Focus. The application's been around since 2011 under the name of Houdini, but was recently rewritten from the ground-up and relaunched as a modern Yosemite-friendly application. I'll try my best to answer any questions people have!
Ria Blagburn
@nialgiacomelli This looks ace, Nial! I really like that you can alter the settings on a per-app basis. I also appreciate your love for BMO :) I saw on the Hocus Focus site that you decided to remove the app from the App Store - what impact has this had on your downloads?
Nial
Maker
@riaface It's a little too early to tell with regards to impact on downloads, but the Mac App Store is substantially less busy than the iOS variant - which meant Houdini would regularly chart fairly highly. I expect downloads to take a slight dip given that less people are likely to come across it while casually browsing the App Store.
Miles Varghese
@nialgiacomelli There's no menu associate with the app. how do I uninstall once it's open? Cant drag and drop.
Nial
Maker
@lwsmith10011 A fair point. I've renamed the file: 'hocus-focus-latest.zip'. Sorry for any confusion :-)
Chris Aljoudi
@measuredweighed Hi Nial! Just wondering: will this appropriately trigger App Nap for windows that get hidden?
Micah Baldwin
Interesting app - does it auto display a window that gets a notif or update? i.e., imessages/skype, email, etc. Love the dual use case of HF and Bartender to keep things clean and focused. Would be great to have the ability to hide a window for X time -- meaning that I can hide a window, and it will not become active for X minutes (sort of like Concentrate)
Nial
Maker
@micah Thanks for the kind words! Currently it won't auto display a window when it receives a notification. It'll bounce in the dock as normal and you can choose to redisplay it with a click. I like the idea of hiding windows for a certain period of time. One area I'm particularly interested in expanding is rule-based behaviour. i.e: if application X is in use, don't hide applications Y, Z, etc.
Micah Baldwin
@nialgiacomelli rules could be interesting ... I think about this use case: I am writing a document (working in excel, writing code, etc.) and as time passes, everything else fades (currently how app works). But what if I could set a rule that says, if I am in Pages for longer than X min, auto hide everything, and don't allow reappear for X min post idle.) I like the idea of having "focused moments" where I literally can't access other windows, websites, etc. (there are a few apps that do this--sort of--now, but are messy to use).
Gerbz
I use ⌘+H and ⌘+tab to hide/show windows all day long. Most people don't know about hiding windows. So much better than minimizing.
Brenden Mulligan
After using this for a day, I've found the closing of other windows more jarring and distracting than keeping them open ..
Nial
Maker
@mulligan It's certainly not for everyone. Thanks for giving it a shot!
Jordan Coeyman
Looks really awesome, but your server is over quota so I can't check it out :D
Nial
Maker
@acoyfellow Should be resolved now!
Peter Böttges
Love it! Finally a modern version of "spirited away", which's development stopped with OS X 10.4. The extended settings and profile features are a valuable add-on. I would love to have an option to exclude certain apps from getting hidden.
Nial
Maker
@boettges Hey Peter! I know you posted this a few days ago, but if you drag an applications slider down to zero Hocus Focus will leave it alone :-)
Patrick Rogers
Was really hoping this would reduce windows to 50% opacity so I could focus more. Having windows disappear on my screen after 30 seconds of non focused state is a jarring work flow. :( Add an Opacity filter?
Camille Ricketts
Top Product
Hocus Focus is my favorite new app of the year. I hate screen clutter, and it helps me think so much more clearly throughout the day. Super well done!
Ryan
I feel lost without Hocus Focus running. Essential.
Reony T
This is fantastic thank you! I get so distracted by other notifications or things, and think I can quickly get stuff out of the way. Not a good idea while I'm at work. :)
Tony (WooRockets)
Trying this tool, looks promising :) Like it!
Benjamin Lupton
Would be great if there was a video or animated image going over the features of it, so I don't have to install it to evaluate it.
James Bradfield
Hi @measuredweighed - Can you please explain a bit more about the app permissions Hocus Focus requires? It needs to and can access and all the documents and files of every app I am using?