🪶 Under 1 MB — zero dependencies

Your keyboard.
Your monitor.

Control your external display's brightness and volume with the keys that should have worked all along. Free, open source, invisible.

⬇ Download for Mac View on GitHub
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Everything you need. Nothing you don't.

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Hardware Brightness

Controls your monitor's actual backlight via DDC — not a software overlay or gamma trick.

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Smart Volume

Uses DDC when audio goes to HDMI, DisplayPort, or USB-C (even through hubs). Falls back to system volume for built-in speakers, headphones, or Bluetooth.

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Cursor-Aware

Brightness keys adjust only the display your cursor is on. No more changing every screen at once.

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Sync Mode

Syncs all displays to the same brightness on first press, then adjusts every screen in lockstep.

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Invisible Mode

Hide from the menu bar and dock entirely. Completely out of sight, always listening.

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Featherweight

Under 1 MB, zero dependencies, negligible CPU/memory. Pure Swift + IOKit.

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Debug Logging

Optional diagnostic log records every DDC command and audio routing decision. Reveal in Finder with one click.

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Private & Secure

Zero telemetry, zero tracking, zero analytics. No server infrastructure — Glint works entirely on-device. Security audited to ensure your data never leaves your Mac.

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Free & Open Source

MIT licensed. No accounts, no subscriptions. Read every line of code on GitHub.

<1
megabyte

No Electron. No frameworks. Just your keyboard and your display.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Glint work with my monitor? ▼
Most external monitors support DDC/CI. If your monitor has an OSD with brightness/volume controls, it almost certainly supports DDC. Works over HDMI, DisplayPort, and USB-C/Thunderbolt — including through USB-C hubs and docks. Glint automatically detects monitor audio routed through hubs.
Why does Glint need Accessibility access? ▼
To intercept media key events before macOS processes them, Glint uses a CGEventTap, which requires Accessibility permission. Without it, Glint can't detect brightness/volume key presses. This is a standard macOS security requirement for any app that reads keyboard input. After enabling access, you'll need to quit and relaunch Glint for it to take effect.
Is this safe? Why isn't it on the Mac App Store? ▼
Glint is open source (read every line!) and notarized by Apple (malware-scanned). There is no telemetry or tracking of any kind — no analytics, no crash reporters, no network calls home. No server infrastructure is used or needed for Glint to work; everything runs entirely on your Mac. The app has been security audited to ensure the utmost care in being a safe app for use. DDC requires IOKit I2C access, which the App Store sandbox blocks. This is the same reason BetterDisplay, MonitorControl, and Lunar distribute outside the Store.
How do I get settings back after hiding the menu bar icon? ▼
Open Glint from your Applications folder (or Spotlight search for "Glint"). When the app detects it's being re-opened, it automatically shows the settings window.
Can I control multiple monitors? ▼
Yes! Glint detects all connected external displays. With sync mode off, brightness keys adjust only the display your cursor is on. With sync mode on, all displays (including the built-in screen) are synced to the same brightness on first press, then adjusted together.
What's the CPU/memory usage? ▼
Effectively zero when idle. Glint uses a CGEventTap which is interrupt-driven — no polling, no timers, no background threads. Memory footprint is under 15 MB.
Does it conflict with BetterDisplay / MonitorControl? ▼
Possibly — if two apps both intercept the same media keys, they may interfere. We recommend using one DDC controller at a time.