Just Black Screen
Makes your screen look asleep while your Mac keeps working.
One-time purchase. Yours to keep. 7-day free trial. macOS 13 or later.
- Year
- 2026
- Category
- macOS
- Role
- Design, macOS
A menu bar app that covers every screen in black. Downloads, builds and remote sessions keep running, and anyone walking past sees a sleeping Mac.
Move the mouse and a PIN pad appears. Enter your 4-digit PIN to get back to work. The screen fades out gently, and it can cover itself on a timer or every weekday at lunch.
Built with Tauri and Rust, with a few direct AppKit calls so the cover sits above the Dock, the menu bar and notification banners.
- macOS
- Tauri
- Rust
What it does.
Looks asleep, keeps working
Every screen fades to black over two seconds. Downloads, builds and remote sessions keep running.
A PIN to come back
Move the mouse or press a key and a PIN pad appears. Enter your 4-digit PIN to get back to work.
Now or later
Cover the screen right away, or in 3, 5, 10 or 30 minutes, or in an hour.
Every weekday at lunch
Pick days and a time, and the screen covers itself every week.
Stays on top
The cover sits above the Dock, the menu bar and notification banners. Cmd+Tab and Cmd+Q are blocked.
Lives in the menu bar
No Dock icon and no window to manage. Turn on Open at Login and forget about it.
Pricing.
$4.99
One-time purchase. Yours to keep.
- 7-day free trial with every feature. No account and no card.
- One license covers up to 3 Macs.
- Changed your mind? Full refund within 14 days.
- Payment, tax and receipts are handled by Polar, our reseller.
- Requires macOS 13 or later.
See the terms and the refund policy.
Questions.
- Does it keep my Mac from sleeping?
- No. It only makes the screen look off. If your Mac goes to sleep on its own, use a keep-awake app such as Amphetamine together with it.
- Is it a lock?
- No. It hides the screen from people walking past. Holding the power button removes the cover. When you need real security, use the macOS lock screen (Ctrl+Cmd+Q).
- What happens when the free trial ends?
- Cover Screen and Cover Later open the license window instead, and Scheduled Cover skips. Your settings stay. Enter a license key and everything works again.
- How do I move my license to another Mac?
- Open License… from the menu bar icon and choose Deactivate on This Mac. Then enter the same key on the other Mac.
- I forgot my PIN.
- Quit the app and delete ~/Library/Application Support/com.kareui.justblackscreen/config.json. The PIN goes back to 9920. Your license is kept in a separate file and stays.
- Does it need the internet?
- Only to activate a key, for a short license check about once a week, and to look for updates once a day. Offline is fine. The app never removes a key just because it could not connect.
Need help?
Email one@ashsoft.us with any question. Your license key is in your receipt email, and in Polar’s customer portal.
