Prowser — Image Browser

Prowser is a native macOS image browser for Apple Silicon, built with Python, PySide6, and Qt. Browse folders of images in a thumbnail grid or fullscreen, manage files, search and sort, run slideshows, and optionally generate images locally from the Create menu.

The latest DMG is at the website.

The first time you use AI-based features (similarity sort, text search, or Create) the app downloads and caches models; that pass can be slow, later use is much faster.

What you can do

• Browse images in a grid or fullscreen with keyboard and mouse
• Move, copy, rename, delete (to Trash), lock files, and undo deletes
• Sort, filter, find similar images, text search, and find duplicates
• Slideshows, EXIF tools, external editor integration, set desktop wallpaper
• Optional local image generation (Create menu) when dependencies are installed

Press F1 or / in the app for keyboard shortcuts for the current view. See KEYBOARD.md for a full list.

Requirements (running from source)

• macOS on Apple Silicon
• Python 3.14 (python3.14 on your PATH — see setup.sh and .python-version)
• Dependencies listed in minimal_requirements.txt (installed by setup.sh)

Install and run — app from the DMG

1. Open the DMG and drag Prowser.app to Applications (or another location).
2. Launch Prowser like any Mac app, or set it as your default image viewer.

To run the bundled app from Terminal:

~/Applications/Prowser.app/Contents/MacOS/Prowser <options>

Use -h or --help for command-line options.

Install and run — from source

The DMG includes a source folder with the project files. Use this if you want to run or hack on the code without rebuilding the app bundle.

1. Copy the source folder from the DMG to somewhere on your Mac (for example ~/Prowser-source).

2. Open Terminal.

3. Go to that folder:

   cd ~/Prowser-source

4. Run setup once (creates venv_image_browser and installs dependencies):

   ./setup.sh

   This can take a while the first time (PySide6, optional Create-menu packages, etc.).

5. Start Prowser:

   ./run.sh

   You can pass a folder or other arguments, for example:

   ./run.sh ~/Pictures

If you change the code in an editor, run ./run.sh again after saving. You only need ./setup.sh again when dependencies change.

Build your own app bundle

From a source directory that already has a venv from setup.sh:

./pyInstallerBuild.sh

The app bundle appears under dist/ (for example dist/Prowser.app).

Settings

Settings and caches live under ~/.prowser/ by default. Open the settings dialog with ⌘. (Command–period).

To use a different profile directory:

./run.sh -p ~/.prowser-test

Supported formats

Common formats include JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, WebP, SVG, HEIC, and HEIF. Not every feature (for example all EXIF operations) applies to every format.

More documentation

• KEYBOARD.md — shortcuts
• API.md — pipe API for controlling a running instance
• IMAGE_CREATE_PLUGINS.md — Create menu and local generation

License

See LICENSE (Business Source License).