Stash

Stash is a macOS utility that hides apps and controls at the edges and corners of your screen, staying out of sight until you reach for it. It lives in your menu bar, so you set up your apps and controls once and then reach for them at the edges and corners of your display. Stash is built for Mac users who want their favourite apps and system controls within reach without cluttering the screen, and it extends that idea to the iPhone through Stash Deck, which is free to download and works with Stash for Mac. Most Mac users end up with a screen full of scattered controls and a Dock that holds far more apps than they need at any one moment. Adjusting volume, brightness, keyboard backlight, audio output or appearance usually means leaving what you were doing and hunting through menus or the menu bar. Stash takes the opposite approach: instead of adding more clutter to the desktop, it hides controls and apps at the places your pointer already travels — the edges and corners of the display — and reveals them only when you reach for them. The result is a Mac that feels like it has always had these controls built in, while the centre of your screen stays clear for actual work. Two of the core Mac features are Edge Sliders and Corner Dials. Edge Sliders let you assign the left or right edge of your screen to volume, brightness or appearance, so a swipe along that edge adjusts the setting you chose. Corner Dials place controls in the corners of your screen for volume, brightness, keyboard backlight and audio output — the everyday system settings you reach for constantly — so they are available as tactile sliders and dials rather than buried away. Because Stash is configurable, you can decide which edge and which corner does what, and these assignments can be changed at any time from Settings. The Hidden Dock keeps your favourite apps within reach without adding a permanent row of icons to your desktop. Instead of replacing the macOS Dock, it works alongside your existing Dock: as you move to the edge of your Dock, Stash slides out to show the apps you want nearby but not always visible. For everything else there is the expanding App Launcher, which gives you access to the rest of your applications when you need them. Together they mean the apps you use most are only a gesture away, while apps you reach for less often stay available but out of the way. App Profiles make Stash adapt to what you are actually doing. Rather than making you reconfigure the same controls for every kind of work, Stash can automatically change your apps and controls depending on which app you are using. Switching between a design session, a writing session and a media session changes what Stash offers you, so the controls on screen reflect the task at hand. Edges, corners, apps and the accent colour can all be adjusted later from Settings, and Stash can be recalibrated from the menu bar if your Dock changes. Stash Deck is the iPhone companion to Stash for Mac, and it follows what you are doing on the desktop. From your phone you can control your Mac, throw an app from your phone to open it on your screen, and keep widgets for the things you keep reaching for — the site names Spotify, Timer, Claude Code and Codex as examples. It is free to download and works with Stash for Mac, turning the iPhone into an extension of your Mac setup rather than a separate device. Stash Deck is described as a tactile remote for your Mac with quick controls, app launching and configurable widgets. Creative Pro is part of Stash Deck and is included with Stash. When you are working inside a creative application, the Deck becomes contextual tools, precise sliders and colour controls for that specific program. The site lists Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Premiere Pro and Blender as the applications Creative Pro supports. The idea is that the same iPhone deck you use for everyday Mac control turns into a set of controls matched to the creative app in front of you, giving you precise adjustment without hunting through panels and menus on the desktop. Stash's approach is deliberately minimal: it lives in the menu bar, hides itself at the edges of the screen, and reveals controls only when you reach for them. Setup happens once — you decide which edges and corners hold which controls and which apps live in the Hidden Dock — and after that Stash stays out of sight until you need it. There are no tiers or add-ons to think about: Hidden Dock, App Launcher, Edge Sliders, Corner Dials, App Profiles and Stash Deck with Creative Pro are all included in a single purchase, and the 24-hour free trial includes everything as well. For users, the benefit is a Mac that stays uncluttered while remaining fully controllable. System settings that normally require a trip to menus sit at the edges and corners of the display, so they are physically closer to where your pointer already is. Favourite apps stay one gesture away rather than taking up permanent screen space. App Profiles mean the same setup adapts to different kinds of work without manual reconfiguration. And because Stash Deck extends the same philosophy to the iPhone, the controls you rely on follow you to a second screen, including contextual tools for creative apps. Concrete scenarios include adjusting volume, brightness, keyboard backlight or audio output from a corner of the screen without leaving the app you are working in; swiping the left or right edge to change volume, brightness or appearance; sliding out the Hidden Dock to reach a favourite app you do not want permanently visible; using the App Launcher for the rest of your applications; letting App Profiles switch your controls automatically when you move between apps; and controlling your Mac from your iPhone with Stash Deck, including throwing an app from the phone to open on the Mac screen and keeping widgets such as Spotify, Timer, Claude Code and Codex on hand. Inside creative work, Creative Pro turns the Deck into contextual tools, precise sliders and colour controls for Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Premiere Pro or Blender. Stash is aimed at Mac users who want quick, unobtrusive access to apps and system controls, and at creative professionals who want precise, contextual control over the applications they work in. It requires macOS Tahoe; older macOS versions are not supported. Pricing is simple: everything in Stash is free for 24 hours, after which Monthly costs $3.99 per month and can be cancelled at any time, or Lifetime costs $19.99 once at the launch price. Both plans include everything and work on up to 3 Macs. If a Monthly subscription is cancelled, Stash keeps working until the end of the period you have paid for, after which it locks until you renew or buy Lifetime. Existing owners receive this update and Creative Pro under their existing licence, on the same number of Macs as before. Stash is best understood as a hidden control layer for the Mac: it keeps apps and system controls at the edges and corners of your screen, adapts them to the app you are using, and extends the same experience to the iPhone with Stash Deck and Creative Pro — all included, with no tiers or add-ons.