Note: ReplayMac on the Mac App Store is called ReplayCap — same app, different name (see above). It's a one-time purchase that supports development.
ReplayMac is a macOS menu bar instant-replay clipper.
It continuously buffers recent screen/audio capture and saves the last N seconds to an MP4 when triggered. Recording and save state stay visible in the menu bar so you always know what the app is doing.
- Instant replay — Continuously buffers the last N seconds (15–300) of screen and audio; save retroactively with a click or hotkey.
- Session recording — Record until you stop, then save one file with screen, system audio, and microphone (menu bar or hotkey). Video is saved without re-encoding, so saves are near-instant and keep the capture codec.
- Automatic game recording — Opt in to stay idle until a game launches, record only while you're playing, and stop when the last game quits. Games are detected by their App Store category, with a manual bundle-identifier list for titles that don't declare one (many Steam games).
- Dual display support — Capture one or two monitors, saved as a side-by-side composite or as separate files.
- Hardware-accelerated encoding — HEVC or H.264 via VideoToolbox, with configurable resolution, frame rate, and bitrate.
- Retina-aware recording — Record HiDPI displays at their backing pixel resolution while keeping the macOS UI at its comfortable scaled size.
- System audio + microphone — Capture all apps, no audio, or one selected app. Mic and system audio merge into a single track by default; optionally keep as separate tracks inside the MP4.
- Live audio level meters — Real-time RMS-based level meters for system audio and microphone in audio settings.
- Ring buffer memory management — Configurable memory cap (256 MB–4 GB) shared across all replay buffers, with automatic eviction under memory pressure.
- Extended replay buffer — Optionally roll 5, 10, or 30 minute replay windows to disk, with SSD write and disk usage warnings before enabling.
- Configurable hotkeys — Save clip, toggle recording, save last 15s, save last 60s, save extended replay, start/stop session recording, open clip library.
- Clip library — Browse, preview, trim, crop, export, or export as GIF; rename, tag, favorite, delete, and batch-act on multiple clips at once.
- Crop on export — Drag a crop area directly over the preview, or snap it to 16:9, 1:1, 4:3, or 9:16; the crop applies to both MP4 and GIF exports.
- Clip sharing — Open the macOS share sheet or copy a clip file for pasting into another app.
- Clip organization — Search clips, mark favorites, add display names, tags, and notes.
- Storage cleanup — View total library size and move non-favorite clips to Trash by age or in bulk.
- Capture profiles — Save named video/audio/buffer configurations and switch between them on demand.
- Customizable file-name templates — Name clips with
{app},{date}, and{time}tokens, with selectable date and time formats and a live preview in Settings > General. - Quality presets — Performance, Quality, Ultra, and Custom modes that tune resolution, frame rate, and bitrate together.
- Live settings — Capture, encoding, and audio changes apply while recording; no restart required.
- Reliable save flow — Preflight checks block saves when not recording, while the buffer is filling, or when disk space is too low.
- Clear menu bar status — Live badge shows recording state, buffered time, and save progress. Last saved clip is one click away from the menu.
- Notifications — Optional sound and banner on save, with Open and Reveal in Finder actions on the notification; operational alerts for failures and capture events.
- Launch at login & auto-start — Optionally begin recording automatically on login.
- Update availability check — Checks GitHub Releases on launch and shows a download link in the menu when a newer version is available.
- macOS 15+
- Apple Silicon or Intel — builds from 1.6.9 onward are universal binaries. Earlier releases are Apple Silicon only.
- Swift 6
Grab the latest release from the Releases page. Updates are manual — download new releases from GitHub when you want to upgrade.
ReplayMac is notarized by Apple, so it opens like any other app — no Gatekeeper workarounds needed.
Prefer the App Store? The same app is published there as ReplayCap, a one-time purchase that helps fund development and updates itself through the App Store.
./build-app.shThis compiles the app and outputs dist/ReplayMac.app.
Saved clips are written to:
~/Movies/ReplayMac/
ReplayMac exports MP4 clips. It does not create a separate .aac sidecar file; when audio merging is turned off, the system and microphone audio are stored as separate audio tracks inside the saved MP4.
When the extended replay buffer is enabled, ReplayMac also writes temporary rolling segments to a hidden .ReplayCapLongBuffer folder inside the output directory. Those segments are rotated automatically and removed when extended replay is disabled or recording stops.
Clip library notes, tags, display names, and favorite state are stored in a hidden .ReplayCapClipLibrary.json file inside the output directory. (These internal names are shared with the App Store edition; existing .ReplayMac… files are migrated automatically.)
ReplayMac shows display sizes as macOS logical resolutions, which can be lower than the physical pixel resolution on Retina and other HiDPI displays. In Settings > Video:
- Current records at the logical resolution macOS reports.
- Retina records HiDPI displays at their backing pixel resolution when available, without changing the macOS UI scale.
- Half records at half of the current logical display size.
- Custom forces the saved video to the exact width and height you choose, rescaling the capture if needed.
For dual-display recording, Retina is applied per display. HiDPI displays use their backing pixel size, while non-Retina displays stay at their current size before ReplayMac saves either a side-by-side composite or separate files.
Screenshots
These screenshots were captured before the ReplayMac rename and may still show the former ReplayMac name. They will be refreshed with the next release.
| General | Audio |
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| Video | Video extended replay |
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| Profiles | Profile details |
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| Advanced | Hotkeys |
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| Clip library | Clip details | Storage cleanup | Batch actions |
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Can't record a hotkey in Settings? Some macOS versions (currently the macOS 27 "Golden Gate" betas) have a system bug that stops the shortcut recorder from registering key presses. You can set every hotkey from the Terminal instead — see Setting ReplayMac Hotkeys from the Terminal.
If you like ReplayMac and want to support its development, consider leaving a tip on Ko-fi. 🙂
ReplayMac is free and source-available.
You may download, use, inspect, build, and modify it for personal use, but you may not redistribute modified builds, publish renamed forks, sell the app, or use the ReplayMac name/icon/branding without permission.
See LICENSE.md.