HazeOver Productivity Tips & Tricks

HazeOver runs in the background and adds a translucent dark screen behind a window you’re using at the moment. When you switch to a different window, HazeOver automatically shades previously used window. You can select between instant switch or a smooth animation. The application is energy-efficient and does not get in your way.

You can improve the experience by letting HazeOver use OS X Accessibility features of your Mac. HazeOver will instantly react when you switch between windows. It will also disable itself when you click on the Desktop. Here are detailed instructions:

• Open “System Preferences” application;
• Click “Security & Privacy” item;
• Select “Privacy” tab;
• Click “Accessibility” item;
• Click a lock icon in the bottom left corner to allow changes;
• Enable “HazeOver” in the app list.

When you close or minimize all windows of an app, OS X does not switch to the next app. See the app name in the top left corner of the screen. HazeOver dims everything because the front app has no focused window. Highlighting a window from a different app would be misleading.

Toggle HazeOver dimming by double-clicking HazeOver icon in the menu bar. Or press ^⌥⌘H (Control, Option, Command and H) to turn HazeOver on or off. This keyboard shortcut can be changed in advanced app settings.

Use trackpad rotation gesture to literally turn the brightness of your distractions down. Or place mouse pointer over HazeOver menu bar icon and scroll to adjust dimming intensity.

Tap “fn” key when dragging a file to temporarily disable dimming. Clicking on Desktop also disables dimming.

To reduce app memory usage and potentially improve animation performance enable “Hardware Acceleration” option on Advanced tab. HazeOver will use graphics card memory instead of RAM for dimming. Please contact the developer if you notice any unexpected dimming appearance.

HazeOver can be fully controlled using AppleScript. Here’s how to try it out:

• Launch “AppleScript Editor” application;
• Select “File” > “New” menu;
• Paste this text into the script window:

tell application "HazeOver" to set intensity to 70

• Select “Script” > “Run” menu

HazeOver should instantly change dimming intensity. To find out all supported properties you need to add HazeOver app to AppleScript Editor library:

• Locate “HazeOver” application in your “Applications” folder;
• Drag-n-Drop “HazeOver” app on the “AppleScript Editor” Dock icon.

Available scripting properties can be found in “HazeOver Suite” > “application” section.