Tether
A ball for boring meetings to keep you busy
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Tether - A ball for boring meetings to keep you busy

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A ball hangs from your Mac menu bar on an elastic tether. Drag it, fling it, slingshot it. It bounces off your actual app windows, rolls along their edges and settles into the Dock. Cut the rope and it goes loose across the desktop. Real physics, not a canned animation, so it never does the same thing twice. One key hides it the instant somebody says your name. No account, no subscription, nothing leaves your Mac.

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Maker
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Hey Product Hunt. I was looking for something to keep my hands busy during long work meetings. Pens, cables, the corner of a notebook, the usual. So I made this instead: a ball that hangs off the Mac menu bar on an elastic tether. What it does: - Drag it, fling it, slingshot it. The tether stretches and snaps back. - Real physics against your real windows. The ball lands on their top edges, rolls along them, and reacts when you move them. - Cut the rope and it comes loose across the desktop, bouncing off whatever is in the way. - Seven balls, each with its own weight, grip and bounce. - Tune gravity, bounce, size and rope length live, or leave the presets alone. - One key hides it the instant somebody says your name. - No account, no subscription, no telemetry. Nothing leaves your Mac. It is a one-time purchase on the Mac App Store, and it is built for macOS 14 and later. Happy to answer anything. If the physics feels wrong somewhere, tell me, that is the part I will keep tuning.

:D Good launch on Monday when we have Sprint :D

Maker

 :D Sprint planning is the natural habitat for this thing, so consider Monday a field test.

 today's launch list feels like Sunday 🙈 but I love it, let's enjoy last calendar's summer day!

 I work every day :D

On long calls I end up peeling the label off whatever bottle is nearest. Does it stay quiet enough for a call with the mic on?

Maker

 Completely silent, no audio anywhere in the app. Your bottle label never

stood a chance. :D

This instantly caught my attention for today's launch. I have ADHD, and I usually need something to tinker with while listening. haha I can also imagine my students using this.

Maker

 Thank you, that is exactly the case I built it for. Hands busy, ears free!

I literally have one hanging next to my desk in my home office. Didn’t thought I would ever need it for screen. That’s crazy :D
Maker

 The physical one might have better bounce, but mine has never rolled under the desk

mid-call. :D

Yes! Clearly I'm going with the basketball. Congrats on a really fun launch!

Maker

 Correct answer. The other six exist mainly to make the basketball feel chosen. :D

love this so much!

Maker

 Thanks! Super fun making it, too.

Sooo interesting... I need a point system and a global leaderboard. It would be explosive.

Maker

 Now THIS is a great idea. Let me look into this :)

Is there a way to download this on PC?

Maker

 Not at the moment. Just Mac for now! Sorry.

this is such a dumb-fun idea and I mean that as a compliment. curious how it behaves with multiple monitors - if I fling the ball off the edge of one display does it actually cross onto the other, or does each screen have its own independent ball? also wondering if the physics loop is noticeable on battery at all when it's just sitting idle in the corner.

Maker

 Thank you! :) One ball, one canvas. The window spans the union of every display, so the ball

crosses between monitors and keeps its momentum. It only bounces at the outer edges of that combined area, and window top edges count as ledges on all screens.

On battery: when it comes to rest the display link is paused outright, so the physics loop stops rather than idling. Nothing runs until you touch it or a window moves underneath it. The only thing still ticking while it is on screen

is a 20Hz check for window geometry, and that runs off the main thread. Option-F hides it and even that stops.

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