for macOS

drain
the color out.

A macOS focus tool with one mechanic: the apps you want to work in stay vivid. Everything else fades to gray the moment you switch to it.

Nothing is blocked. Nothing is logged. The distractions you used to crave just feel… less alive.

Download on theMac App Store
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on the focus list — alive
01 — the pitch

Not
blocked.
Less alive.

Blockers fight your willpower head-on. They build walls, count streaks, lock you out, and shame you when you slip.

Drain does the opposite. Your distracting apps are still right there — one switch away. You just won't want to be in them as much, because their color, their motion, their dopamine — it all goes flat.

The friction is aesthetic, not punitive. There's nothing to push against.

02 — how it works

An honest mechanic, not a magic trick.

Drain doesn't have its own grayscale engine. It runs the one already in macOS — which means it works in every app, including full-screen games, video, and screen-sharing.

01

Install two Shortcuts

Drain uses two macOS Shortcuts to flip your Color Filter accessibility setting on and off. That's the whole engine. No kernel extension, no screen overlay.

02

Pick your focus apps

Add a few apps that should stay in color — your editor, your writing app, your CAD tool. Or invert it: list the apps you want to drain, and leave the rest alive.

03

Forget it exists

When you switch to a focus app, color comes back. Switch away, and the world fades. No notifications. No streaks. No nags. Just the visual nudge, every time.

04 — what it is, what it isn't

A short list of
what we don't do.

Blocks distracting apps
No. They're still there — just drained.
Tracks your screen time
No tracking. Nothing leaves your Mac.
Requires an account
Not even an email.
Streaks and shame loops
No gamification. You're an adult.
Works in full-screen video
Uses the system accessibility filter.
One toggle to disable
Off is off. No 5-minute "are you sure" timer.
05 — questions

Honest answers.

No. Drain never prevents you from opening or using any app. It only changes how your screen looks. You're always one switch away from anything.

macOS ships with a built-in Color Filters accessibility setting (Settings → Accessibility → Display). Drain just toggles that setting on or off based on which app is in front. It's the same filter Apple uses for color-vision accommodations.

Yes. Because Drain uses the system accessibility filter rather than a window overlay, it works everywhere — including full-screen video, games, Mission Control, and screen sharing.

Accessibility permission (to read which app is frontmost) and permission to run two Shortcuts. Nothing else. No screen recording, no network, no contacts.

No. The filter is GPU-accelerated by macOS itself; Drain just sends a “flip” message every time you switch apps. CPU usage is effectively zero when nothing's happening.

It lives in a local plist file on your Mac. There is no server, no account, no analytics, and no telemetry. We literally don't know who you are.

Yes — one toggle in the menu bar, or quit the app entirely. macOS resets its own accessibility filter when Drain stops.

Let the rest
go gray.

One toggle. No accounts. No nags. The distracting apps stay one switch away — they just won't feel as alive.

Download on theMac App Store