Big, loud, unmissable calendar alerts for macOS. Free, open source, 100% local.
LoudCue is a native macOS app that solves one problem: standard calendar notifications are too easy to ignore. When your meeting is about to start, LoudCue takes over the screen with a full-screen alert and a sound that won't quit until you respond.
Download for macOS · Discuss on GitHub · Sponsor
If you've ever missed a meeting because Slack notifications buried your calendar reminder, this app is for you. Built for remote workers, ADHD brains, and anyone who hyperfocuses and loses track of the time.
- Multi-stage alerts: stack up to 3 lead times per meeting (e.g. 30 min, 5 min, 1 min)
- Quiz-gated dismiss: optional question before you can dismiss, defeats reflex muscle memory
- Full-screen takeover that overrides every other app, even full-screen ones
- Multi-display sync fires on every connected monitor at once
- Loud, repeating audio: 14 system sounds or import your own
- Smart silence on join: auto-dismisses when Zoom, Teams, or Webex launches
- Conflict warnings surface overlapping events in the alert itself
- Work hours filter: silence outside your daily window
- Pre-meeting Shortcut runs any macOS Shortcut N min before (Focus, mute, open notes)
- Apple Reminders get the same full-screen overlay
- Event filters: skip declined / solo / no-URL events, title blocklist
- Per-calendar lead times plus travel-time padding
- One-click join for 40+ meeting services (Zoom, Meet, Teams, Webex, Slack Huddles, Discord, BlueJeans, Jitsi, ...)
- iCloud settings sync between your Macs
- Four alert styles: Midnight, Daylight, Glass, Spotlight
- Global hotkeys: trigger / dismiss / snooze (1, 2, 5, 10 min) / open settings
- 100% local: no accounts, no servers, no telemetry. Your calendar never leaves your Mac.
- Swift 6, SwiftUI + AppKit
- EventKit for calendar + reminders
- AVFoundation for audio
- Sparkle 2 for auto-updates
- KeyboardShortcuts for global hotkeys
- Universal binary (Apple Silicon + Intel), hardened runtime, notarized
Easiest: download the latest signed .dmg from loudcue.com or Releases.
Homebrew:
brew install --cask bnjreece/loudcue/loudcue(Hosted on a custom tap until LoudCue clears Homebrew's official cask
repository's notability threshold; once it does, plain brew install --cask loudcue will work too.)
Build from source:
brew install xcodegen
git clone https://github.com/bnjreece/loudcue.git
cd loudcue
xcodegen generate
open LoudCue.xcodeprojCLI build:
xcodebuild -project LoudCue.xcodeproj -scheme LoudCue -configuration Release buildRequires macOS 14+ and Xcode 26+.
| Metric | Target | Measured |
|---|---|---|
| Cold launch | < 100 ms | ~70 ms |
| Idle CPU | ~0 % | ✓ |
| Idle memory | < 60 MB | ✓ |
| Universal binary | arm64 + x86_64 | ✓ |
See docs/release.md for the full release runbook (Sparkle keys, notarization, DMG creation).
./scripts/make-dmg.shBug reports, feature ideas, and PRs welcome. Open an issue or start a discussion.
If LoudCue saves you from missing a meeting and you'd like to support development, GitHub Sponsors is the cleanest way.
MIT © 2026 Benjamin Reece.
- Website: loudcue.com
- Privacy: docs/privacy.md
- Email:
benjamin@reece.is