TIL there are apps that can control your monitor without touching the buttons on it

This page summarizes the projects mentioned and recommended in the original post on /r/todayilearned

Our great sponsors
  • WorkOS - The modern identity platform for B2B SaaS
  • InfluxDB - Power Real-Time Data Analytics at Scale
  • SaaSHub - Software Alternatives and Reviews
  • MonitorControl

    🖥 Control your display's brightness & volume on your Mac as if it was a native Apple Display. Use Apple Keyboard keys or custom shortcuts. Shows the native macOS OSDs.

  • The best apps on macOS are BetterDisplay and Lunar by far in terms of features. MonitorControl is a strong offering as well, the gold standard in this field and is open source but it does not support recent M2 macs or any of the built-in HDMI ports of Macs since 2018 (note: BetterDisplay is the only macOS app that supports everything - Intel, M1, M2, USB-C, HDMI - even the HDMI port of the 2018 Mini).

  • Lunar

    Intelligent adaptive brightness for your external monitors

  • The best apps on macOS are BetterDisplay and Lunar by far in terms of features. MonitorControl is a strong offering as well, the gold standard in this field and is open source but it does not support recent M2 macs or any of the built-in HDMI ports of Macs since 2018 (note: BetterDisplay is the only macOS app that supports everything - Intel, M1, M2, USB-C, HDMI - even the HDMI port of the 2018 Mini).

  • WorkOS

    The modern identity platform for B2B SaaS. The APIs are flexible and easy-to-use, supporting authentication, user identity, and complex enterprise features like SSO and SCIM provisioning.

    WorkOS logo
  • BetterDisplay

    Unlock your displays on your Mac! Flexible HiDPI scaling, XDR/HDR extra brightness, virtual screens, DDC control, extra dimming, PIP/streaming, EDID override and lots more!

  • The best apps on macOS are BetterDisplay and Lunar by far in terms of features. MonitorControl is a strong offering as well, the gold standard in this field and is open source but it does not support recent M2 macs or any of the built-in HDMI ports of Macs since 2018 (note: BetterDisplay is the only macOS app that supports everything - Intel, M1, M2, USB-C, HDMI - even the HDMI port of the 2018 Mini).

  • ddcutil

    Control monitor settings using DDC/CI and USB

  • ddcutil (a command-line tool, and what most UI tools are based on)

  • ddcctl

    DDC monitor controls (brightness) for Mac OSX command line

  • There are some other command line based open-source alternatives as well, like ddctl and m1ddc - the former only works on Intel, the latter on M1 Macs (M2 Pro and HDMI is not supported). Lunar has great CLI support as well for those who want a command-line based solution.

  • m1ddc

    This little tool controls external displays (connected via USB-C/DisplayPort Alt Mode) using DDC/CI on Apple Silicon Macs. Useful to embed in various scripts.

  • There are some other command line based open-source alternatives as well, like ddctl and m1ddc - the former only works on Intel, the latter on M1 Macs (M2 Pro and HDMI is not supported). Lunar has great CLI support as well for those who want a command-line based solution.

NOTE: The number of mentions on this list indicates mentions on common posts plus user suggested alternatives. Hence, a higher number means a more popular project.

Suggest a related project

Related posts