Frame is a native macOS capture utility for a faster local screenshot and recording loop: press a shortcut, select an area, then copy, save, preview, or recover the result locally.
It is intentionally small. Frame is not a full screenshot workspace, a cloud library, or an annotation suite. Its first job is to make the everyday screenshot path feel short, reliable, and quiet.
Screenshots are often a tiny step inside a larger workflow: explaining an idea, reporting a bug, saving a visual state, or sending context to someone else. Frame keeps that step out of the way:
- Lives in the menu bar without a main window.
- Starts region capture with
Command+Shift+A. - Works across multiple displays.
- Shows a small Quick Access preview after screenshots and recordings.
- Lets you copy, save, or close from hover actions.
- Keeps a local Capture History so recent captures can be recovered.
- Region capture: drag to select part of the screen, then press Enter to capture.
- PNG output: saved files use the
Frame yyyy-MM-dd HH.mm.ss.pngfilename format. - Clipboard copy: copy the captured image for pasting into chat, docs, or other apps.
- Desktop save: save the PNG to the current user's Desktop.
- Selection recording: switch the selection HUD into recording mode, choose MP4 or GIF, show or hide the cursor, pause or resume, and stop from the HUD or the red menu bar recording item.
- Recording output: copy the recorded file, download it to the configured save folder, or open a playable preview. Edit is visible but pending.
- Local capture history: recover recent captures from the menu bar. History is enabled by default, keeps captures for 7 days, and uses a 2 GB local cache limit.
- Multi-display selection: show capture overlays across connected displays and account for Retina scale and screen coordinates.
- Permission guidance: explain missing Screen Recording permission and open the relevant system settings.
Frame uses macOS screen capture APIs, so it needs Screen Recording permission.
The capture flow runs locally. Frame does not upload screenshots or recordings, require an account, or sync captures to a cloud service. Capture History stores recent captures only in Frame's local Application Support cache and can be disabled or cleared from Settings. Save or Download writes a separate file only when you choose to save. Copy writes either image content or a recording file URL to the system clipboard.
If macOS says Frame can directly access screen content, that is the standard system wording for screenshot utilities. See macOS Permissions for details.
Frame currently does not include:
- audio recording
- annotation tools
- cloud sync or share links
- scrolling capture
These can be considered after the core local capture experience is stable.
Frame is in MVP development. Current work prioritizes menu bar lifecycle, global shortcuts, Screen Recording permission handling, single-display selection recording, PNG/MP4/GIF output, and Quick Access interactions.
This README is a product overview. Development, architecture, and verification details live in: