Isolator

Isolator is a small menu bar application that helps you concentrate. When you're working on a document, and don't want to be distracted, turn on Isolator. It will cover up your desktop and all the icons on it, as well as the windows of all your other applications, so you can concentrate on the task in hand.

Isolator is designed to stay out of your way, and so it isn't loaded with flashy features. However, it is customizable so you can get it to do exactly what you want. Options include:

• Hide the Dock when you activate Isolator (Mac OS X 10.5+ only)
• Customize the background window (including semi-transparency and blur)
• 'Hide' background windows, as well as covering them up (they're just covered up by default)
• Customize the shortcut key (normally shift-command-i)
• Disable the menubar icon
• Left-clicking the menubar icon can activate Isolator
• Automatically launch Isolator when you log in

Note: The methods that Isolator uses have not been ported by Apple for 64-bit applications. Since mac OS Catalina only supports 64-bit applications, Isolator will no longer work. A complete rewrite would be needed, and may not even be possible. Sorry!

Get Isolator!

Download here (for Mac OS X 10.4-10.14) only: Testing version (4.99beta). Isolator will not work on 10.15+

Install Isolator by mounting the disk image and dragging Isolator to the Applications folder.

Stay up to date by subscribing to RSS appcasts for stable versions only or all new versions (including betas).

Using Isolator

Start Isolator by double-clicking it in your Applications folder. It will install a small square icon in your menu bar.

To turn Isolator on, click on the menu bar icon and select 'Turn Isolator On' from the menu that appears. You can turn it off the same way. Alternatively, you can press 'shift-command-i' to turn it on and off.

You can always access the Preferences (even if you've disabled the menu icon) using the hotkey 'shift-command-option-i'. And, if you customized Isolator so that left-clicking the menu icon activates Isolator, you can still get to the menu using right-click or control-click.

FAQ

• Can Isolator cover up or dim the menu bar? No, this is only possible using dodgy techniques. This feature won't be added to Isolator.
• I have multiple monitors. How can I make Isolator only affect one of them? There is a hidden preference that makes Isolator only affect the 'main display' (i.e. the one with the menu bar on it). To use this, quit Isolator. Launch Terminal.app. Type:

  defaults write eu.willmore.isolator HideOnMainScreenOnly 1

  Quit Terminal and restart Isolator. To undo this later, do the same but with 0 instead of 1.
• Can I change the Preferences hotkey? You can, with a bit of effort! Download KeyCodes. Click in the 'Record Shortcut' box. Press your desired keyboard shortcut. Now quit Isolator, and run Terminal.app. Then type:

  defaults write eu.willmore.Isolator PrefsHotkey KEYCODE

  defaults write eu.willmore.Isolator PrefsHotkeyFlags COCOAFLAGS

  where KEYCODE is the value in the 'Key code' box in KeyCodes, and COCOAFLAGS is the value in the 'Cocoa flags' box. For example, to set the shortcut to shift-apple-J, you would type:

  defaults write eu.willmore.Isolator PrefsHotkey 38

  defaults write eu.willmore.Isolator PrefsHotkeyFlags 1179648

• Can I use a custom window filter instead of blur etc? Probably, but this is 'advanced use' and you may well end up with bad results. Example usage:

  defaults write eu.willmore.Isolator CustomFilter CIGaussianBlur

  defaults write eu.willmore.Isolator CustomFilterOptionName inputRadius

  defaults write eu.willmore.Isolator CustomFilterOptionMultiplier 2

  See the Core Image Reference for details of the filters you can use, but many don't work well in this situation.
• I got confused and messed up these hidden preferences. Help? Delete the file ~/Library/Preferences/eu.willmore.Isolator.plist in your home directory. This will get rid of all your Isolator preferences, and return you to a clean slate

Known bugs

If you experience a crash when using the Preferences window, it is because your preferences have become corrupt. Please send me a copy of the file ~/Library/Preferences/eu.willmore.Isolator.plist so I can debug the problem. Then delete your own copy. You'll have to set up your preferences again from scratch.

There are some glitches with when Exposé and Spaces are used.

Contribute!

The source code is on GitHub.

Contact & Donations

Bug reports, suggestions, etc to bdeb at willmore dot eu. If you like Isolator, please consider donating a few dollars. Donations are greatly appreciated!