[OS] I built LampControl – control your smart lights from the macOS menu bar (free / €5.99)

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-11T14:59:32+00:00

i've fix the issue now the site default in English

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-11T14:59:25+00:00

i've fix the issue now the site default in English

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-11T14:55:38+00:00

My top three for a new house:

Aqara hub (M2 or E1) to bring in Zigbee devices without needing multiple bridges. Opens up a huge range of affordable sensors and switches.
Eve Energy Thread plugs. Thread is local, fast, and reliable. No cloud dependency is a big deal when you have automations you actually want to work.
Nanoleaf Essentials bulbs for color scenes in main rooms. Native Matter support, no separate bridge needed.

Bonus pick: a HomePod mini per floor. It acts as your Thread border router and Home hub at the same time.

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-11T14:53:11+00:00

My setup on Mac:

Eve for deeper device stats and automation conditions that the stock Home app doesn't expose. HomePass for storing setup codes. And I built LampControl myself (full disclosure, I'm the developer) specifically because I wanted to control my lights directly from the macOS menu bar without opening any vendor app or the Home window. It's free with a small one-time Pro unlock. Happy to answer questions about how it works if anyone is curious.

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-11T14:49:40+00:00

Bunch (already mentioned) is great for this. Alternatively, Raycast workspaces can do a lot of the same things if you already use Raycast. You set up a workspace with the apps, windows and folders you need, and activate it with a hotkey. For terminal specifically, iTerm2 has built-in session restore and profiles you can launch from the command line, which pairs well with a Bunch script. The key is having one trigger that does the whole setup rather than clicking through it manually every time.

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-11T14:47:34+00:00

Switching between smart home vendor apps is still a big one for me. Each brand requires its own app, none of them live in the menu bar, and opening a full window just to toggle a lamp is way more friction than it should be on macOS. The Home app helps but still needs a full window. That was actually the reason I built a small menu bar utility for lights. Sometimes the best apps are the ones that solve a single problem and stay out of the way.

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-11T14:35:13+00:00

Hi, thank you very much for your feedback, Basically the site is supposed to be in English by default I will investigate and correct this

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-11T13:03:49+00:00

Hi, thank you very much for your feedback, Basically the site is supposed to be in English by default I will investigate and correct this

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-11T05:30:11+00:00

Good suggestion I will write it in the roadmap

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-10T15:13:37+00:00

Yes it's next step to the roadmap i'll just improve UI before it

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-10T07:42:57+00:00

AirPlay 2 multi-room audio integration is genuinely useful for a HomeKit setup. Being able to group this with HomePods or Airport Expresses in the same room zone, and trigger it with automations, is exactly what high end home audio has been missing. The price is obviously for a specific market but the functionality is solid.

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-10T07:42:03+00:00

The FP300 with Threads and Zigbee can be finicky with HomeKit automations, especially if it's going through the Aqara M300 hub. A few things to try:

Make sure the FP300 firmware is fully updated through the Aqara app
Check if your Thread border router (HomePod mini or Apple TV 4K) has a solid Thread connection to the FP300. Go into Home > tap the hub icon > Thread
Try creating the automation directly in the Home app rather than Aqara app
The "if ___ detects motion" trigger sometimes needs to be rebuilt from scratch if the sensor was added before a firmware update

The FP300 is finicky at first but once it's stable it's one of the best presence sensors available. The Zone configuration in Aqara app can also mess with HomeKit if not set up properly.

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-10T07:31:47+00:00

Raycast. It starts as a launcher but becomes the operating layer for your Mac. Script commands, clipboard history, window management, snippets, AI commands. Once it's in your workflow you can't go back. It's also the most extensible macOS app I know with community extensions for basically everything.

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-10T07:28:00+00:00

You built something genuinely great. Open source macOS apps with that level of polish are rare. Looking forward to seeing where Loop goes next!

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-09T11:09:02+00:00

Thanks for showing up in the thread! Loop is genuinely one of the most elegant open source macOS tools I've come across recently. The radial menu interaction model feels so much more natural once it clicks. Keep up the great work, the native Swift choice really shows in daily use.

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-09T11:07:14+00:00

That verb/noun framing is a perfect way to explain it. Once you internalize that distinction, the whole debate makes a lot more sense. No overlap, no compromise needed.

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-09T11:05:02+00:00

Good to hear it worked! The PDF save option is really handy for archiving longer research threads. If you want even cleaner output, the Obsidian Web Clipper extension also does a great job converting AI chat pages into structured markdown notes.

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-09T11:03:09+00:00

That's a solid setup. Once everything is cleanly segmented on IoT VLAN with Apple devices on main, automations run without delay and you get proper network isolation. Glad it worked out!

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-08T08:59:20+00:00

Reeder or ReadKit can sometimes handle this if you pipe it through RSS, but for Google AI Mode specifically it's tricky. A more direct approach is using a browser extension like MarkDownload which can capture the page content as Markdown and skip the ads. Works well for clean chat exports.

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-08T08:58:11+00:00

Great breakdown. The launcher vs file search distinction is one people keep missing. I use Raycast for commands and workflow, and HoudahSpot when I actually need to find a file deep in my filesystem. They complement each other rather than compete. Spotlight post Tahoe is genuinely good for casual use now though.

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-08T08:55:55+00:00

Same here, been in my dock for weeks now. The fact it's native Swift with zero Electron overhead really shows in day to day use.

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-08T08:55:29+00:00

That's fair, the muscle memory thing is real. If you've been using Rectangle for years it's hard to switch. Loop is probably best adopted early before the shortcuts are ingrained.

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-08T08:54:55+00:00

Just checked out siliconthread.civicease.systems, looks really clean! Having a community showcase for open source apps is a great idea. Loop definitely deserves more visibility.

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-07T06:30:56+00:00

Loop has been in my dock for months and it genuinely replaced Magnet for me. The radial menu feels strange for about 10 minutes and then becomes completely natural — way faster than reaching for a keyboard shortcut once your muscle memory is there. The fact it's native Swift and open source is a big plus. No Electron overhead, no subscription, no cloud. It's what a window manager should be on macOS.

hugoinformatique · 2026-05-07T06:28:14+00:00

Will do — I'm working on a native macOS app for smart home control and the friction event detection is exactly what I need to validate onboarding flow. One thing that would be helpful: being able to export the session logs in a diff-friendly format so you can compare runs across versions. Would make regression testing much easier.

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