Most Mac users can relate: my daily workflow involves taking a massive amount of screenshots. Some days I'm taking 100 to 200. And as anyone in a similar situation knows, this gets chaotic fast.
My first solution was saving screenshots to a desktop folder and copying the latest one to my clipboard. That worked for a bit, but the inefficiency piled up. If I needed to take more than one screenshot at a time, I had to screenshot, paste, go back, screenshot again, paste again. Or I'd open Finder, dig through my folder, preview each file to find the right one. It was slow, clunky, and frustrating.
Nothing ruins a flow state faster than "where did this file go?"
I hate wasting time on things that should be simple.
Looking for Solutions
I knew third-party Mac apps existed for this problem, so I tried a few. They were good. Thousands of people love them. But I still wasn't satisfied.
My workflow improved, but I was still bogged down moving files from point A to point B. And the other thing that never clicked for me: they weren't beautiful. The UI was rigid and Windows-like. Too corporate.
My favorite software is fast, beautiful, and just works. I believe a product needs to solve a problem first, but it also needs to feel like something you can make your own. Not just in functionality, but in aesthetics. If I'm going to use a tool every day, I want it to feel unique to me.
Version 1: The Screenshot HUD
So I built SnapShelf.
The first version was simple: a glass HUD summoned via hotkey that displayed a grid of my recent screenshots. When I took a new one, it appeared automatically. No more fighting with files.
Need to take 5 screenshots of a product design and send them on Slack? Take the screenshots, hit the hotkey, drag into Slack. Done.
My frustration with managing screenshots dropped immediately. I used this version privately for months.
Version 2: Beyond Screenshots
The more I used SnapShelf, the more I thought: this can do more.
Screenshots weren't the only thing disrupting my workflow. Quick access to all types of files was a problem too. I audited all the files I'd created in the past month and realized how messy my Mac really was. PDFs everywhere. Documents, code, design files scattered across folders. Even organized folders were a nightmare to dig through.
So I expanded the HUD to support all file types. I added customization settings for colors, tints, highlights. I optimized it for different scenarios.
Now anything I saved or dragged into the HUD was instantly accessible with one button press. Able to be quickly dragged, copied, or saved anywhere else.
I used this version for a few more months. Life was good.
Version 3: File Type Filtering
But I still wasn't satisfied.
Having all my files in one HUD was great for speed, but PDFs, screenshots, code files, and videos were all mixed together. I had to scroll through everything to find what I needed.
So I added filtering by file type. Now instead of one merged, messy HUD, I could hit the hotkey, click "PDF," and instantly see only my PDF files. Code? One click. Videos? Same.
This was the single biggest improvement to my workflow.
Version 4: Keyboard Navigation
I've always been a huge fan of Excel. The simplicity and complexity of that software blows my mind. But what stands out most is the keyboard-only navigation. If you use Excel, you know how much more effective it is when you never touch the mouse.
The mouse is the enemy of speed.
So I thought: I shouldn't need to click around my HUD to interact with files. I should be able to open it and fully navigate without ever leaving my keyboard.
This was by far the biggest challenge I'd faced. Countless hours of iteration. Many times it felt "pretty good," but pretty good and bad are very similar in my eyes. I wanted it to be Excel-great.
I refined. I polished. I tackled edge cases, especially focus issues. The keyboard not being recognized when the HUD opened. Mac not snapping focus to my app automatically. Competing logic between different features.
In the end, I created a version of SnapShelf that felt as good to navigate with a keyboard as Excel does. Hotkey the HUD, arrow over to any file type, preview, copy, delete, save, rename. Single files or batches. All without leaving the keyboard.
This was the point where I thought: this is starting to feel really good.
Version 5: A Floating Workspace
Originally, the core logic was simple: watch a folder, display its contents in the HUD. Version one watched my screenshots folder. New screenshot? It's in the HUD.
I thought that was as far as SnapShelf would go. I was wrong.
I started changing the watched folder to other locations. Downloads, desktop, documents, coding projects, design projects, photo folders. And it blew my mind how much easier it was to organize these locations.
Batch delete, rename, save to other locations while removing the originals. Night and day better than Finder. 10x faster, easily.
So I leaned into it. I added the ability to save multiple watched locations and switch between them instantly. Working on a specific project? Set the location to that folder. Preview and organize everything for just that project without slowing down.
I added a pinned section at the top for anything important, regardless of which folder was being watched. I added the ability to drill into subfolders while interacting with all files inside.
File Previews
I believe things should not only work well but look beautiful.
Previews for every file type needed to be unique to that file type. No one-size-fits-all solution. Images, documents, PDFs, code, videos, audio, design files. All needed their own elegant treatment.
Images were the easiest. For videos and audio, I needed inline playback in multiple formats. For code files, I wanted syntax highlighting and fast OCR. For documents and PDFs, I needed inline scrolling.
SnapShelf today stands up to all of those tests.
The Screenshot Coordination Problem
At this stage, I had everything: recent files, instant location switching, pinning, previews, drag and drop in and out of the HUD, keyboard navigation.
But screenshots didn't follow me when I switched watched folders.
Two solutions surfaced. One: smart rules that detect screenshot filenames and force them into the HUD. Two: a shell command that runs when the watched folder changes.
I didn't want smart rules. Things should be simple. So I went with the shell command.
But my focus on the user told me people wouldn't be happy with this happening automatically. I needed to give them a choice. I needed to be transparent about what was happening so users could trust the platform. The user should always get the final say. It's their device, their workflow, their choice.
So I built it like this: SnapShelf monitors both the watched folder and the system's screenshot save location. When the watched folder changes, if there's a mismatch, the user is prompted. They can automatically redirect screenshots to the new location, deny, or trust the new location for future automatic switching. They can also disable this feature entirely in settings.
Performance Optimization
Now I was flying around my Mac at record pace. More productive, less frustrated, working efficiently.
Until I noticed the RAM bloat.
Viewing large directories, memory was spiking to 700-800 MB per session. CPU was fine, always zero at idle. But the memory footprint had to be solved.
This was one of the hardest problems to tackle. I needed to preserve functionality, keep the app snappy, and reduce memory usage.
I considered capping the number of files displayed, but hated that idea. Users would think files were missing or deleted if the HUD just cut things off. Not acceptable. (Though I kept it as an option in settings for older devices.)
So I stuck with it. Iteration after iteration. Finally I figured it out: decreasing thumbnail resolution without affecting source files, optimizing cache logic, and streamlining feature rendering. The result was a version with zero loss in speed or functionality, but a significantly smaller memory footprint.
Everybody wins.
Making It Your Own
Jumping back to those other Mac utilities I tried early on: they felt like the Pixies from Fairly Odd Parents instead of the fairies. Dull. Boring. Useful and impressive, yes. But why can't something be useful, impressive, and stunning?
I think it should be. Always.
So I made sure users could style their HUD however they want. I like blue. You might hate it. Why should I, as the creator, corner you into using my preference?
SnapShelf gives you a powerful tool, but it also gives you the opportunity to make it completely your own.
People always say "users don't know what they want." I disagree. They just need to be given the opportunity and ability to decide.
What Is SnapShelf?
It's whatever you want it to be.
An instant HUD for anything and everything. Fully customizable. Context switching, automatic screenshot coordination across directories, full keyboard navigation, drag and drop, batch rename, save, delete, folder and file pinning, instant preview for everything.
A floating workspace built for me. And you. And everyone else.
A Final Note
Growing up, I always hated messes. I hated clutter and disorganization. I wanted things only when I needed them, and gone when I didn't. Out of the way. Dormant until I needed them again.
I had two ideas along these lines as a kid. One was a bracelet you could tap to make a "magic shelf" appear. Set your phone, keys, or drink on it, tap again, and it disappears. Need them again? Tap and there it is. Obviously this competes with physics and isn't possible.
The second idea was similar. I'd be walking around thinking: it would be amazing if I could summon a bike right now to go down this hill, then get rid of it after. Like in Pokemon. Also not feasible.
But both ideas fit my desire: things I need only when I need them. Gone when I don't. In an instant. Magic.
SnapShelf is inspired by this. Except this time, I was able to bring the magic to life for real.
Join me and experience a little magic.