MacEdgeLight 3.0.2 · Native macOS
An adjustable screen ring light and a display brightness boost. Two independent ways to make your Mac work better for you.
macOS 13+ · Apple silicon & Intel
Free for permitted uses · No account required
01 / Screen ring light
Add a soft, adjustable border of light for video calls, recordings, and presentations. No extra ring-light hardware to carry.
⌘ Shift L Toggle the ring light
Set up your ring light →02 / Display brightness boost
Use the extra brightness available on compatible EDR displays. For people who benefit from a brighter screen, that can make everyday content easier to see.
⌘ Shift B Toggle brightness boost
Check display compatibility →A personal reason to build
Brightness is more than a visual effect. Richard Crane uses MacEdgeLight’s brightness feature because it helps him see his screen. That experience guides the focus on simple controls and reliable recovery.
Extra brightness helps some people with low vision. The right setting is personal, and the available boost depends on the display and macOS.
“I am vision impaired and this helps me see my screen.”
Included in version 3.0.2
New in 3.0.2: clear ON/OFF indicators across the menu and toolbar, synchronized menu-bar modes, and controls that stay consistent after shortcuts and resets.
Your brightness preference should survive an interruption. Version 3.0.2 improves how boost recovers after sleep, screen lock, user switching, and display reconnection.
The app remembers that you enabled boost, even while the renderer is temporarily suspended. Recovery keeps checking until the session and display are ready.
Each compatible display uses its own available headroom, so a display with less range does not reduce the boost on another.
Gamma maintenance repairs system resets, and the app checks for stalled rendering. Turning boost off stops recovery and restores the display profile.
The rest of your toolkit
Bring a floating magnifier to the details under your cursor.
Reveal content beneath the glowing border as your cursor moves.
Hide desktop icons, choose menu-bar behavior, and position the floating toolbar where you need it.
Get started
Signed and notarized for macOS. Prefer a ZIP? Download the ZIP archive.
Compatibility & control
App and ring light: macOS 13 Ventura or later, on Apple silicon or Intel.
Brightness boost: a display macOS reports as EDR-capable. Examples include Liquid Retina XDR MacBook Pro displays and Pro Display XDR. Unsupported displays are marked in the app.
Color response: boost bypasses Night Shift, True Tone, and hardware calibration while active. Turning it off restores the ColorSync profile.
macOS controls available headroom and thermal limits. Boost cannot run on a sleeping display or after logout ends the app. About Apple’s EDR headroom.
Straight answers
MacEdgeLight is a native macOS menu bar app with two independent tools: an adjustable screen ring light for calls and recordings, and a display brightness boost for compatible EDR displays. It also includes a magnifier, cursor reveal, and desktop-icon controls.
The ring light adds a visible glowing border around your screen. Brightness boost changes how bright screen content can appear using available extended dynamic range. You can use either feature independently or use both together.
Extra screen brightness can make content easier to see for some people with low vision. Creator Richard Crane is vision impaired and uses the brightness feature to help see his screen. Results depend on your vision, display, settings, and available brightness headroom.
The app requires macOS 13 Ventura or later and supports Apple silicon and Intel Macs. Brightness boost additionally requires a display that macOS reports as EDR-capable. Liquid Retina XDR MacBook Pro displays and Pro Display XDR are examples. The app marks unsupported displays; the ring light works without EDR.
Version 3.0.2 keeps your enabled preference through sleep, lock, and display changes, and retries recovery until your display and user session are ready. Enable Launch at Login to restore it after logout or restart. The app cannot boost a sleeping display or run after logout terminates it. Version 3.0.2 also queues rapid manual re-enables until 30 seconds after boost was turned off; the controls show Waiting during that interval.
macOS controls the extended dynamic range headroom available above normal screen white. Brightness settings, display modes, ambient conditions, and thermal limits can change that headroom. MacEdgeLight adapts each display independently and uses a safety margin; it does not guarantee a fixed luminance or override hardware limits.
While boost is active, its synthetic gamma ramp bypasses Night Shift, True Tone, and hardware calibration. Turning boost off restores the display’s ColorSync profile. Disable boost when you need your normal calibrated color response.
MacEdgeLight is free for uses permitted by the PolyForm Strict 1.0.0 license. No account or subscription is required. Download the signed and notarized app from GitHub Releases. Read the license for the full usage terms.
Use Display Brightness Boost in the menu bar or control panel, or press Command–Shift–B. Command–Shift–L toggles the ring light separately. Five rapid, unmodified Q taps within two seconds quit the app and restore the display profile.
MacEdgeLight 3.0.2
Use the ring light, brightness boost, or both.