Aperture

Capture, annotate,
file. Natively.

Aperture is a menu-bar screenshot and recording app for the Mac. Every capture lands in a small popup you can copy, name, annotate or file into a folder — from the keyboard, without leaving what you were doing.

Download for Mac v1.7.48 · macOS 14+ · Apple Silicon · free while in early access

This looks like an Intel Mac — the Intel build is coming soon. Get notified.

Everything is a keystroke

All-in-One⌘⇧5
Capture area⌘⇧4
Capture window⌃⇧W
Capture fullscreen⌘⇧3
Capture text (OCR)⌃⇧T
Capture & translate⌃⇧G
Redact secrets⌃⇧R
Smart capture⌃⇧V
Record area⌃⇧6
Record fullscreen⌃⇧5
Record (auto-trim)⌃⇧E
Stop recording⌃⇧S

All shortcuts are remappable in Settings. Hover a capture popup and press ⌘C, ⌘S, ⌘E or a digit to file it.

What it does

Capture

  • Area, window, fullscreen, timed, previous area
  • Live overlay with an optional magnifier
  • All-in-One: select once, then choose screenshot, video, GIF, OCR or pin
  • Text recognition and translation, on device
  • One-shot secret redaction (keys, tokens, card numbers)
  • Pin any capture to the screen

Edit

  • Arrows, lines, shapes, highlighter, pen, step counter, text
  • Blur, pixelate, spotlight, redact, crop
  • Editable annotations: move, resize, restyle, duplicate
  • Screen recording with pause and resume
  • Trim and export video or GIF

Organize

  • Popup that stays until you act — nothing is silently deleted
  • Name captures with a template, or by dictating
  • Folders with digit shortcuts and auto-filing
  • Searchable history of everything you captured
  • End-of-day sort to file the leftovers
  • Runs without a Dock icon; updates itself

Opening it the first time

Drag Aperture to Applications from the disk image, then eject the disk image. Run Aperture from Applications, not from the disk image — that's what lets it update itself.
Open it. macOS asks once whether to open an app downloaded from the internet — click Open. Aperture is signed and notarized by Apple, so there's nothing to allow in System Settings.
Grant Screen Recording when Aperture asks, then relaunch. Aperture lives in the menu bar; press ⌃⇧A to take your first capture.

Questions

Why do I need to sign in or enter a code to download?

Aperture is in early access. Sign in with Google or use an invite code, or leave your email and you'll get access when the doors open wider.

Is it free?

Yes, while in early access. Aperture will become a paid app; early users will be told well ahead of time.

Does anything leave my Mac?

No. Captures, history, OCR, translation and dictation all run on device. The only network calls Aperture makes are to check this site for updates.

Which Macs?

Apple Silicon Macs running macOS 14 Sonoma or later. An Intel build is planned.

How do updates work?

Aperture checks for updates in the background and installs them in place. You can also pick Check for Updates… from the menu bar.