What is Lidhaze?

Lidhaze is a small app for your Mac. It lives in the menu bar – a laptop icon at the top right. There is no Dock icon.

The app reads the angle of your MacBook’s lid using the built-in lid angle sensor. As you close the lid, the picture gets blurrier from the bottom up and the colours fade. Then the end colour rises – black by default. When you open the lid again, the effect fades away in the shape you chose for opening.

Requirements

Works: MacBook Pro 14"/16" from 2021 (M1 Pro/Max and newer), MacBook Air from M2.
Doesn’t work: MacBook Air M1, MacBook Pro 13" with M1 or M2, Intel MacBooks. These have no readable lid sensor – the app shows a message at launch.
Uncertain: MacBook Pro 16" (2019) – please test with the free trial.
macOS 14 Sonoma or newer.

Not sure? Check your model.

Installation

Lidhaze comes as a DMG file.

Double-click the DMG file to open it.
Drag Lidhaze onto the “Applications” folder.
Double-click the app to launch it.

Lidhaze needs no special permissions – for example no screen recording access.

First launch

After launching, you’ll see the laptop icon in the menu bar. Click it to open the menu:

Einstellungen… (Settings…) opens the settings window.
Effekt aktiv (Effect on) turns the effect on or off.
Lizenz kaufen… (Buy licence…) opens the checkout page in your browser.
Beenden (Quit) closes the app.

Open the settings: you’ll see your lid angle live. Move the lid a little – the value changes immediately.

The app is available in English and German and follows your Mac’s language. This manual shows the German labels with the English meaning in brackets.

Settings

The settings window has two columns. Left: everything about closing (lid and effect). Right: licence, opening, sound and system. Everything is saved automatically.

Startwinkel (start angle): The effect begins at this angle. Adjustable from 20° to 130°, default 70°.
Aktueller Winkel (current angle): Shows your lid angle live.
Effekt aktiv (effect on): Turns the whole effect on or off. Also available in the menu bar menu.
Form (shape): Von unten / oben / links / rechts (from bottom / top / left / right): blur and colour travel across the screen from that side. Augenlid (eyelid): from top and bottom to the middle, like a closing eye. Tunnel: from the edges to the centre.
Stärke der Unschärfe (blur strength): How strongly the image blurs. 50 % to 200 %, default 100 %.
Abstand der Farbe zur Unschärfe (colour distance): How soon the end colour follows the blur. 0 % = immediately, 40 % = late. Default 10 %.
Endfarbe (end colour): Clicking the colour well opens the macOS colour picker – choose any colour. The “Schwarz” (black) button resets it.
Form beim Aufklappen (shape when opening): One of the six shapes (default: the same as when closing) or Kein Effekt (no effect, instantly clear).
Startwinkel beim Aufklappen (start angle when opening): Its own angle for opening, independent of closing. Up to this angle the effect runs; above it the picture is clear. Default 70°.
Effekt weg ab (effect gone at): Only with a custom opening shape: from this angle the picture is clear again. Default 70°.
Sound an/aus (sound on/off): Turns the sound when opening the lid on or off.
Sound-Winkel (sound angle): The sound plays when you open the lid past this angle. 10° to 130°, default 30°. Independent of the start angle.
Klang (sound): One of 10 built-in sounds or your own MP3/WAV file („Eigene Datei…“).
Lautstärke (volume): How loud the sound plays when opening.
Testen (test): Plays the chosen sound once.
Beim Anmelden starten (launch at login): Starts Lidhaze automatically when you log in to your Mac.

At 10° the effect is at its strongest: the screen is fully the end colour.

Licence

You can try Lidhaze free for 7 days. After that the effect and sound turn off until you activate a licence.

Buying a licence

Click “Lizenz kaufen…” in the menu bar, or the buy button in Settings → Lizenz.
Your browser opens the Lemon Squeezy checkout. Complete your purchase there.
You’ll receive your licence key by email.

Activating it

Open the settings and go to the “Lizenz” (licence) section in the right column.
Paste your licence key.
Click “Aktivieren” (activate).

Activation needs an internet connection. After that the app re-checks the licence every 7 days. Without internet it keeps running for up to 30 days.

One licence covers 2 Macs. The “Auf diesem Mac deaktivieren” (deactivate on this Mac) button frees the licence so you can use it on another Mac.

Trial time and licence are stored in ~/Library/Application Support/Lidhaze/license.dat.

Setting up sound

Open the settings.
Turn on “Sound”.
Pick one of the 10 built-in sounds in the menu next to it – it plays right away. Or choose “Eigene Datei…” (own file) and pick an MP3 or WAV file.
Set the volume.
Click “Testen” (test) to hear it right away.

The sound plays automatically when you open the lid – but only if the lid was at least 5° below the sound angle before and now rises above it.

Tips for a good start angle

A high start angle like 90° triggers the effect early – you only need to lower the lid a little.
A low start angle like 45° triggers it late – the lid has to be clearly closed already.
Try different values while moving the lid slowly.
The default of 70° suits most people.

Limits and notes

When the lid is fully closed, the Mac sleeps – the effect is no longer visible.
When you open the lid, the Mac wakes. Depending on how fast you open it, you’ll see the rest of the effect.
The effect only shows on the built-in display. External monitors aren’t affected.
The blur strength follows the angle. There is no white veil.
Mouse clicks pass right through the effect, so you can keep working.

Troubleshooting

I don’t see the effect when opening the lid.

When you close the lid, the Mac sleeps and locks the screen. No app may draw over the lock screen – that’s a macOS security feature. To see the effect anyway:

Open System Settings → Lock Screen (or click “Sperrbildschirm-Einstellungen öffnen” in Lidhaze).
Set “Require password after …” to e.g. 5 minutes.

Careful: during that time anyone can open your Mac without a password.

The angle shows “kein Sensor” (no sensor).

Your Mac most likely has no readable lid angle sensor. See compatibility.

There’s no sound.

Check that “Sound” is on, a sound file is selected and the volume is up. Click “Testen” to check.

The app won’t start.

Right-click the app and choose “Open”. Or go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click “Open Anyway”.

I don’t see an icon in the menu bar.

The camera notch can hide the icon when the menu bar is full. Simply open the app again by double-clicking – the settings window appears. Also check System Settings → Menu Bar: Lidhaze must be allowed there.

The effect gets stuck.

Open the menu bar menu and turn “Effekt aktiv” off and on again. If that doesn’t help, quit the app via “Beenden” and start it again.

Uninstalling

Delete the app from the Applications folder.
Delete the saved settings with this Terminal command: defaults delete app.lidhaze

Want to hear about new versions and tips? Enter your email address in the newsletter form at the bottom of any page and confirm the link in the email we send you. You can unsubscribe at any time via the link at the end of every newsletter. Details: Privacy policy.

Try free for 7 days