Startup and permission status are now clearer and stay in sync as you move through Settings.
Improved
Launch at Login: The Startup setting now more accurately reflects the current macOS Login Items state when you return to General Settings.
Permission status: General Settings and Space details now refresh permission status where it is shown, so warnings and status messages stay more current.
Fixed
- Fresh installs no longer show a warning that Moodesk could not be found in Login Items before Launch at Login has been enabled.
- The Launch at Login toggle now remains available when Moodesk is ready to be added as a Login Item.
Onboarding is clearer and more polished, with better previews for permissions and Space setup.
Improved
Onboarding previews: The setup flow now shows clearer visual guidance while you enable Mac integration and configure your Spaces.
Space setup: The sample Space profiles are easier to understand while you switch between Desktops and see how Moodesk adapts each workspace.
Permission guidance: The Mac integration step now gives a clearer sense of what is ready and what still needs approval before continuing.
Fixed & Improved
- Refined onboarding layouts so the preview panels feel more balanced and easier to scan.
- Polished the sample profile presentation without changing how the presets are applied.
- Kept the same setup flow and navigation behavior while making the experience feel more finished.
Launch Moodesk automatically when you sign in, with a new startup option in onboarding and settings.
New
Launch at Login: Moodesk can now start automatically when you sign in, so your Space automations are ready without opening the app manually.
- Startup option in onboarding: New users can choose this during the final onboarding step.
- Startup option in Settings: You can turn Launch at Login on or off anytime from General Settings.
Small usability and reliability improvements for setup and everyday use.
Fixed & Improved
- Easier-to-use controls: Pickers and forms now have a little more room, making setup and settings adjustments easier to read and tap.
- Lighter app updates: Moodesk now uses a simpler update delivery path, helping keep downloads lean and the app responsive.
Set the Dock edge per Space for cleaner writing, coding, and presenting setups.
New
Dock Position per Space: Move the Dock to the left, bottom, or right edge automatically when you enter a Space.
Licensing experience polish for trials, checkout, and purchase recovery.
Fixed & Improved
- Clearer trial and checkout flow: Moodesk now keeps your current access status front and center while showing unfinished checkout actions separately.
- Smoother purchase recovery: If you start checkout and return later, Moodesk does a better job of keeping the right next steps available.
- More consistent license screen: Trial, license, and checkout controls now stay better aligned across Settings and onboarding.
- Improved activation cleanup: Activating a license key now clears any leftover checkout prompts more cleanly.
Notes
This update is recommended for anyone testing the trial or purchasing flow. It does not change your existing Spaces, rules, or automation settings.
Reliability update for Space detection, multi-display setups, and first-run onboarding.
Fixed & Improved
- Improved Space detection: Moodesk now detects regular Desktops more reliably when macOS reports incomplete Space details, including the first Desktop on a display.
- Better multi-display handling: Spaces on external and built-in displays are reconciled more consistently after refreshing the Spaces list.
- More reliable switching: Automatic and manual rules are less likely to be skipped after moving between Desktops in multi-display setups.
- First-run onboarding fix: The onboarding demo no longer shows a Live Space switching warning just because a fresh Mac has not created every related macOS preference yet.
- Diagnostics cleanup: Space detection warnings now map more directly to cases where Moodesk cannot identify the active regular Desktop.
Notes
This update is recommended for users running Moodesk with separate Spaces on multiple displays, especially if one Desktop did not appear in the Spaces configuration list.
Initial Moodesk release with per-Desktop automations for Dock, menu bar, appearance, Stage Manager, and custom actions.
Initial Release
Moodesk is a macOS menu bar utility for giving each Desktop its own working context. Configure a Space once, then Moodesk applies its rules automatically when you switch to it.
Per-Desktop Spaces
- Desktop-specific rules: Set each Desktop to either do nothing or apply its configured automations.
- Automatic switching: Moodesk detects the active regular Desktop and applies that Desktop's rules after a configurable delay.
- Manual apply: Run the current Desktop's rules on demand from the menu bar or settings window.
- Pause and resume: Pause automatic Desktop-switch automations from the menu bar without changing your saved settings.
- Custom names: Rename Desktops with labels like
Writing, Coding, Calls, or Presentation.
- Copy settings: Copy one Desktop's full configuration to another Desktop after confirming the overwrite.
- Unavailable Desktop handling: Preserve configurations for Desktops that are not currently detected, including Desktops on disconnected displays.
Built-In Automations
- Dock visibility: Show or hide the Dock per Desktop.
- Menu bar visibility: Show or hide the menu bar per Desktop.
- Appearance: Switch between Light Mode and Dark Mode per Desktop.
- Stage Manager: Turn Stage Manager on or off per Desktop.
- Do nothing state: Leave any built-in automation unchanged when a Desktop should not manage that setting.
Focus mode automation is not included in this release. Moodesk can run the other Desktop automations, but changing macOS Focus modes is deferred until the write path and permission model are reliable enough to ship.
Advanced Automations
- Shell commands: Run command-line automations when a Desktop becomes active.
- AppleScript: Run AppleScript automations after built-in rules.
- Shortcuts: Run macOS Shortcuts by name as part of a Desktop setup.
- Action controls: Enable, disable, reorder, preview, and delete custom actions per Desktop.
- Execution options: Set a working directory, environment variables, optional timeouts, and whether a custom action runs always or only after an earlier failure.
- Sequential execution: Built-in automations run first, followed by custom actions in order.
Settings And Diagnostics
- General settings: Configure automation delay and choose how Moodesk appears in the menu bar: icon only, icon plus Desktop number, icon plus Desktop name, or all three.
- Permissions view: Check Accessibility and Automation access from inside the app and jump directly to the relevant macOS settings panes.
- Import and export: Move Moodesk settings between Macs with local configuration import and export.
- Local diagnostics: Review recent warnings, failures, skipped runs, permission issues, timeouts, and verification results without sending logs anywhere.
- Crash report preference: Direct-download Release builds include a setting for privacy-scrubbed crash reports.
Privacy
- Local-first configuration: Moodesk stores settings locally on your Mac.
- No accounts or sync: There is no account system and no cloud sync.
- No analytics or tracking: Moodesk is designed to run quietly from the menu bar without collecting product analytics.