Haze v2.0 Beta

Haze v2.0 Beta Release

What is New in v2.0

Transformed Haze from a static overlay into a dynamic focus environment. Introduced new optical effects, rebuilt the rendering pipeline, and added audio signaling.

Dynamic Radial Blur

Introduced Dynamic Radial Blur. Instead of a flat, uniform blur across the screen, the blur overlay now reacts to the active window.

• How it Works: Creates a clear focal portal around the active application, leaving it sharp, while increasing the blur radius into the peripheral vision.
• The Engineering Journey: macOS natively forces an alpha blending ghosting effect when masking standard blur layers. To achieve a clean transition without using Screen Recording permissions, the implementation uses a frosted glass cutout approach. This technique applies a sharp mask transition that cuts a defined hole through the blur layer, preserving 0% CPU usage while eliminating ghosting artifacts.
• Inverted Mode: Supports inverting the Dynamic Blur, keeping the center heavily blurred (to hide distracting content) while keeping the edges sharp.

Chromatic Aberration

Added a Chromatic Aberration shader to separate the red, green, and blue color channels, simulating the optical imperfections of a physical camera lens.

• Intelligent Masking: Adapts its behavior based on the Dynamic Blur settings. In Normal mode, it masks to the edges of the screen. In Inverted mode, it shifts to fill the blurry center portal while fading out at the edges.

Dual Window Compositing Architecture

Split the Haze rendering engine into two synchronized, stacked windows to support complex masking for Dynamic Blur and Chromatic Aberration. This isolates the layers and prevents macOS WindowServer clipping bugs, allowing the film grain and dimming layers to composite flatly before being masked.

Animated Film Grain

Upgraded the film grain from a static texture to a dynamically animated shader. The grain now continuously shifts and updates in real-time, providing a more authentic and tactile visual noise profile.

Audio Signaling

Implemented auditory feedback for toggling Haze on and off. Utilizes programmatically generated sine wave oscillators rather than static audio files. The deactivation sound incorporates a mid-range octave harmonic and an amplitude boost to provide a distinct audio signal when exiting a focus session.

Haze Beta Release

Haze Beta Release

What's New

• Zero-CPU Architecture: Completely rebuilt the rendering engine to use native macOS CoreAnimation APIs (CABackdropLayer). Haze now runs at a continuous 0% CPU footprint while delivering buttery-smooth realtime blur.
• Radial Dynamic Blur (Vignette): The blur overlay now smoothly falls off around the active application, leaving your center of focus crystal clear and gracefully blurring your peripheral vision.
• Tactile Soot Grain: Custom-engineered Film Grain shader uses subtractive blending to render rich, dark texture specs that never wash out contrast or increase display brightness.
• Intelligent Window Stacking: Haze now automatically detects the exact internal window level of your active application (even floating panels) and perfectly slips underneath it.
• Shake to Activate: Quickly toggle your focus mode by shaking your cursor left and right.

Known Issues

• Because this is an unsigned developer build, macOS will require you to re-approve Accessibility permissions if you recompile the app from source.