We all love that new Mac feeling.

Then, slowly, it starts feeling tired.

Meet Shiny.

Shiny lives quietly in your menu bar. It notices when your Mac is struggling and lets you polish it all with a single click.

Meet Shiny

A menu bar app that helps your Mac breathe again.

Shiny lives quietly in your menu bar. It notices when your Mac is struggling and lets you polish it all with a single click.

Shiny
Your Mac is feeling great.
and
are using the most right now.
In your menu bar

How Shiny looks after your Mac.

Why your Mac slows down

Your Mac fills up over time.

Forgotten apps, quiet background work, things you saved months ago. Year by year, it all adds up.

Day 1
Years later
Running apps Background helpers Open windows Cached data Login items Hidden processes
Plain English

The apps you forgot were running.

Every background app, named in plain English. Pause the ones you don't need.

Dropbox Known
Logi Options Hidden
Adobe Updater Hidden
At a glance

A quiet dial that tells you how your Mac feels.

Twelve ticks fill up as your Mac gets busier. Green, amber, red. A glance is enough.

From anywhere

One shortcut, always to hand.

Summon Shiny from any app. The default's good, but yours to change.

⌥ + ⇧ + C
Without you asking

Polishes itself when memory fills up.

When things get tight, Shiny quietly acts on its own.

Knows the culprits

The apps quietly hogging your Mac.

Shiny finds the apps you haven't touched in hours but are still chewing through memory. One tap pauses the worst.

Photoshop
Idle 23m
0.8 GB
Yours alone

Everything stays on your Mac.

No telemetry, no tracking, no data ever leaves your machine.

Subtle warning

Edges glow when your Mac is struggling.

A soft warm tint at the edges of every display. Hover to see it.

‹ ›
Downloads
Name Size Kind
dropbox.png 123 KB PNG
logi.png 25 KB PNG
Invoice.pdf 168 KB PDF
Carousel.pptx 38 KB Keynote
Handout.docx 22 KB Word
Macintosh HD › Users › Downloads
Under the hood

Quietly doing the work, so you don't have to.

Behind that one tap, four small things happen in turn.

Shiny only works with the parts of macOS that are safe to touch. Your files, apps, and data are never opened, read, or changed.
From people like you

Real Macs. Real relief.

I was three clicks away from buying a new MacBook. Two weeks of Shiny later, I'm still on the same one.

🇬🇧Margaret Worthing, UK

I don't usually pay for software. This one was actually worth it.

🇺🇸Bill Phoenix, Arizona

I open about thirty tabs while I'm planning lessons. I used to restart my Mac three times a day. Now I just press Polish and carry on.

🇺🇸Karen 4th grade teacher · Austin, Texas

The corners of my screen go gently orange when my Mac is about to fall apart. It's the kindest way anything has ever told me to slow down.

🇺🇸Diane Charleston, South Carolina

Worth the money just for the Teams calls. My Mac actually stays usable now.

🇸🇪Maja Stockholm, Sweden

I'd forgotten what my Mac was like before the spinning rainbow wheel. Massively helpful.

🇸🇬Wei Ling Singapore
Yours forever

One small price. No catches.

Shiny
Menu bar app for Mac
  • Shiny License Personal
  • Updates Forever
  • All your Macs Included
  • Subscription Nope
  • Hidden costs Nope
  • Account required Nope
Total (one-time) $4.99
Get Shiny.
Questions

Things people ask.

Safety

Is Shiny safe to install?

Yes. Shiny is notarized by Apple, meaning Apple scans it for malware before you download. It runs as a normal app, same as Notes or Calendar.

Trust

Can I use Shiny while working?

Yes. Shiny only pauses apps idle for hours, the same way macOS Sleep does. Switch back and they resume instantly. Nothing lost, nothing closed, nothing surprising.

Performance

Will Shiny make my Mac faster?

If your Mac feels sluggish from memory pressure, yes, usually noticeably. If it's slow from a full disk or aging hardware, Shiny can't fix that.

Privacy

Does Shiny send data anywhere?

No analytics, no telemetry, no tracking, no ads. The only outbound call checks for new versions. Verify it yourself with Little Snitch.

Pricing

Subscription or one-time payment?

One-time. $4.99 once, on up to three Macs, forever. No recurring charges, no auto-renewals, no "Pro tier" upsells, no surprises later.

Comparisons

Is this just another CleanMyMac?

No. CleanMyMac scans your disk and deletes files for around $40 a year. Shiny frees memory, costs $4.99 once, and never touches files.

Search the rest, or browse by topic.

What happens when I press the button?
Shiny does three things: closes orphaned helper processes, asks macOS to release inactive memory, and pauses apps idle for hours that are hogging RAM. Then it shows you exactly what it freed.
How often should I press the button?
Whenever your Mac feels slow. Most people press it once or twice a day. There's no benefit to constant pressing; macOS handles memory well most of the time. Shiny is for when it doesn't.
What if Shiny doesn't free much memory?
Then your Mac wasn't under memory pressure, which is good news. Shiny shows the real number, including zero, rather than a fake "247 MB cleaned!" figure designed to make you feel something happened.
Will Shiny interrupt what I'm doing?
No. The work happens for a second or two when you click. The rest of the time Shiny is invisible. Apps that get paused are already idle, and resume instantly when you switch back to them.
Does Shiny run automatically or only on click?
Only when you click. Shiny lives in your menu bar doing nothing until you press the button. There's a tiny helper that lets it act instantly, but it sits idle whenever you're not using Shiny.
What does "no telemetry" actually mean?
It means I don't know how many people use Shiny, which features they tap, or whether they open it once a day or once a year. I trade that data for your trust.
Does Shiny read my files or photos?
No. Shiny only sees the list of running processes, the same one Activity Monitor shows. It doesn't open files, index your disk, or touch Photos, Mail, Messages, or your browser.
Does Shiny know which apps I run?
Only at the moment you click the button. Shiny reads the live process list to decide what to free, then forgets it. Nothing is logged, stored, or sent anywhere.
Does Shiny send anything to the internet?
Two requests, both visible in Little Snitch: a once-a-day check for Shiny updates, and a license check on first launch. No analytics, no usage data, nothing else.
Where does my email get stored?
Your email goes to Polar, the licensing platform that processed your purchase, and to THEODOREHQ for the customer newsletter. Nowhere else. The privacy policy lists every party in the chain.
Will Shiny work on my Mac?
Shiny needs macOS 13 (Ventura) or newer, on Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3, M4) or Intel. If you're not sure, click the Apple menu and choose About This Mac to check.
Will Shiny drain my MacBook battery?
No measurable amount. The helper that lets Shiny act instantly sits idle when you're not pressing the button. The real work runs for a second or two when you click.
Does Shiny work on Apple Silicon and Intel?
Yes, both. Shiny is a Universal binary, so it runs natively on M1, M2, M3, M4 chips and on Intel Macs. Same app, same license, no separate downloads.
Will I have to pay for new macOS versions?
No. Your $4.99 covers all future updates of Shiny, including ones that adapt to new macOS releases. I keep it up to date as Apple ships new versions.
Why does macOS warn me on first launch?
That's Gatekeeper, macOS being cautious about any app downloaded outside the App Store. It's not a problem with Shiny. Right-click the app, choose Open, and you're set.
How many Macs does one license cover?
Up to three Macs that you personally use. Desktop, laptop, work Mac, all fine. Family members each need their own license; sharing is for streaming services, not software.
Can I move my license to a new Mac?
Yes. Deactivate on the old Mac (or just stop using it), install Shiny on the new one, paste the license. Switching from Intel to Apple Silicon is fine; same license, same app.
What if I lose my license key?
Email support@theodorehq.com from the address you bought with and I'll resend it. Polar, the platform that processed your purchase, also keeps a copy you can recover from the receipt email.
Will the price ever change?
Maybe slightly over time, but never for you. Once you've bought Shiny your license stays valid forever at the price you paid. Future buyers might pay more; existing customers won't.
Are there any hidden fees or upsells?
None. $4.99 buys Shiny on up to three Macs forever. No "Pro tier", no in-app purchases, no auto-renewal, no add-ons. Same price you saw, same app you got.
Why not just use Activity Monitor?
You can. Activity Monitor shows what's eating memory; Shiny does something about it without making you figure out which Google Chrome Helper is the bad one. One click instead of detective work.
How is this different from Memory Cleaner apps?
Most of those just call macOS's purge command in a loop and show you a satisfying number. Shiny actually closes orphaned helpers and pauses idle apps, which is the part that matters.
Will Shiny delete any of my files?
Never. Shiny has no file-deletion code. It doesn't touch Documents, Photos, Downloads, Desktop, or anything on disk. It works only with running processes and memory.
What happens if you stop developing Shiny?
Your license keeps working forever. The current version keeps running on the macOS versions it already supports. I have no plans to stop, and I'd never leave existing customers stranded.
Why is Shiny cheaper than CleanMyMac?
Because it does one thing, not fifty. CleanMyMac is a suite that scans disks, manages updates, runs uninstallers, and more. Shiny just frees memory, only when you ask, for $4.99 once.
From the Theodore catalogue

More small Mac apps, made by hand.

Solace

Your Mac, in tune with the world around you. Light and dark modes switch automatically based on sun and weather.

Adds gentle screen warmth and wallpaper changes that follow the time of day.

Charm

Your private writing partner for Mac. Spelling, grammar, and prediction that learn how you write.

Text and emoji replacement, all running privately on your Mac. No subscription, no cloud.