A macOS screen reading highlight bar tool that helps you focus on the current line while reading documents.
Born out of personal necessity as someone with ADHD, this tool brings the familiar experience of physical reading guides to the digital world, making screen reading more manageable and less overwhelming.
- 🎯 Smart Tracking - Transparent highlight bar follows your mouse cursor
- 🎨 Customizable - Adjust color, opacity, and height to your preference
- ⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts - Quick toggle with ⌘T
- 💾 Auto-Save - Your settings are automatically saved
- 🖥️ Always on Top - Works over any application
- 🌙 Unobtrusive - Mouse events pass through the highlight bar
- macOS 12.0 or later
- Accessibility permissions required
- Download the latest release from Release
- Unzip the downloaded file
- Drag
HighlightHelper.appto your Applications folder - Double-click to launch
If macOS warns that the app is from an unidentified developer:
- Right-click
HighlightHelper.app - Choose Open
- Click Open again
On first launch, you'll need to grant accessibility permissions:
- macOS will prompt you to open System Settings
- Go to Privacy & Security → Accessibility
- Click the 🔒 lock icon to unlock
- Click the + button and add HighlightHelper
- Make sure it's checked ✅
- Restart the app
- Move your mouse - The highlight bar automatically follows
- Menu bar icon - Click to access settings and controls
⌘T- Toggle highlight bar visibility⌘,- Open settings⌘Q- Quit application
Use the menu bar icon → Settings to open the settings window.
Customize your highlight bar:
- Color - Choose any color you like
- Opacity - Adjust from 10% to 80%
- Height - Set from 20px to 150px
All settings are automatically saved and restored on next launch.
Note
In the current version, HighlightHelper → Settings... from the standard macOS app menu may not work correctly. If that happens, please open settings from the menu bar icon instead.
- Xcode 14.0 or later
- macOS 12.0 or later
- Swift 5.0 or later
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Mastind/Highlight-Helper.git
# Navigate to project directory
cd HighlightHelper
# Open in Xcode
open HighlightHelper.xcodeproj
# Build and run (⌘R in Xcode)HighlightHelper/
├── HighlightBarApp.swift # Main app delegate and menu bar
├── HighlightWindow.swift # Floating window implementation
├── SettingsView.swift # Settings interface
├── SettingsManager.swift # Persistent settings storage
└── Assets.xcassets/ # App icons and assets
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
- The app requires accessibility permissions to track mouse position globally
- On first launch, you may need to manually restart the app after granting permissions
- Depending on the build, keyboard shortcuts may only work while the app is active
- Unsigned builds may trigger a macOS security warning on first launch
- The standard macOS app menu entry HighlightHelper → Settings... may not open the settings window correctly in the current version. Please use the menu bar icon → Settings entry instead, which works reliably.
- Claude (Anthropic) - For the patient guidance and coding assistance throughout this project. As someone new to Swift development, I couldn't have built this without the step-by-step help and explanations. (Yeah, Claude himself wrote this sentence.)
- Inspired by physical reading guides and book highlighters
- Built with Swift and SwiftUI
Made with ❤️ for better reading experience
⭐ Star this repo if you find it helpful!