An always-free, open-source macOS app built out of equal parts utility and spite.
The current Mac app ecosystem has a problem. Small tools are over-monetized, over-engineered, and increasingly churned out by subscription-powered “vibe coding” with very little care for quality or longevity.
Yes, anyone can pay for a tool to generate an app. No, that doesn’t automatically make it worth charging for.
Holos exists because of that frustration.
I got especially tired of things like menu bar managers charging real money for doing very little. There’s even an app called Bartender for organizing your menu bar. I don’t need a bartender for anything other than a drink, and I definitely don’t need to justify paying one to rearrange a few icons.
So instead of complaining, I built something.
Holos is:
- Always free
- Always open source
- Actually used by its creator
- Modular by design
- Built to be extended, not monetized
It starts empty. Nothing is forced on you. No features shoved down your throat, no “premium unlocks,” no artificial limitations.
You enable what you want. You build what you need.
- Build your own tools using a simple Python API
- Use a Scratch-style visual editor if you don’t code
- Extend the app to fit your workflow instead of adapting to someone else’s
Holos is designed to replace the need for a pile of small, single-purpose apps. If something is missing, you can add it yourself.
This project is evolving constantly.
It’s also still heavily under construction. A lot of modules in the app are marked Coming Soon—and at the pace I’m shipping, that’s a promise I mean literally.
- Features are being added hour by hour
- Things may change, break, or improve rapidly
- Stable builds will be released as often as possible for those who can’t (or don’t want to) build from source
If you can build it yourself, that’s strongly encouraged—you’ll always be closest to the latest version and full flexibility.
This project is:
- 95% spite
- 5% usefulness
- 100% yours to extend
It is intentionally not built around mass appeal or product-market fit. It’s built to be flexible, hackable, and personal.
If it becomes useful to others, that’s a bonus—not the goal.
If something’s missing:
- Open a PR
- Build it yourself
- Or reach out and I’ll try to help
No payments, no upsells, no “feature requests behind a paywall.” Just contribution.
If you can create even the smallest improvement—even something that only helps you—that’s exactly the point.
There is a donation link.
You probably shouldn’t use it.
Any money would go toward things like an Apple Developer license, which is… not exactly aligned with the spirit of this project. But it would help Holos reach its full potential.
If you donate anyway and you’d rather that money not go toward licenses or anything in that vein, I’d actually prefer that. I’m saving toward a cat, and that’s where I’d put it until that’s covered. After that—or if you ask that I not keep any of it—any donation you send with a “don’t support the system” request (or the same in a note) goes to my local animal shelter.
I’m a 24-year-old British developer.
Moved to the US in 2016 chasing a father, and that never pans out. Ended up discovering a love for electricity instead—hardware, then software. Spent years working in demanding environments (including Disney and government work), building a solid career while also developing a healthy distrust of “the system.”
Eventually burned out, hit a wall, spent time rebuilding, and returned to the UK to start over—broke, exhausted, and dealing with chronic insomnia.
Which, as it turns out, leaves a lot of time to build things.
Holos is what came out of that.
This project has a lot of me in it—good and bad.
If you get something out of it, contribute something back. Not money. Not marketing. Just effort.
Make something useful. Make something weird. Make something only you care about.
That’s the entire point.
