ScreenFold

The problem it solves

Closing a laptop is a decision: it sleeps the machine, drops the call and ends whatever was running. So when someone walks into the room, or a colleague starts talking, people do a half-measure instead. They push the lid down a few inches and hope the moment passes, while the audio keeps playing and the screen keeps showing whatever was on it.

That gesture already means something to the person making it. ScreenFold gives it an effect.

What it does

• Watches the lid angle continuously and acts the moment you cross your threshold.
• Mutes audio and pauses media, so a video or a track stops rather than plays on.
• Darkens the displays, so what was on screen is no longer readable across the room.
• Restores the previous state when you tilt the lid back up.
• Runs in the menu bar and does nothing else.

Who it is for

People who work on a laptop around other people: in an open office, a shared flat, a cafe or a meeting where the screen is a distraction rather than the point. It is also a fast privacy gesture, which is the reason most people install it.

How it is built

ScreenFold is a small native Swift app for macOS. It reads the lid angle the hardware already reports and responds locally on the machine. It has no account, sends nothing anywhere, and is priced pay-what-you-want because a utility this narrow should not need a subscription.