SmartShot

Capture, annotate, and record on macOS.

SmartShot combines smart block selection, region and long screenshots, an image editor, on-device OCR, and screen recording in a native macOS app. Capture processing stays on your Mac: no account, analytics, or cloud upload service.

English | 简体中文

macOS 14+ · Swift 6 · Preview releases

Features

Workflow	What you can do
Screenshot	Select a window or accessible content block, cycle nested candidates, or drag a region. Use a configurable global shortcut and optional capture delay.
Long capture	Stitch a fixed region while scrolling manually; use Automatic App Scroll (Experimental) for compatible native scroll areas; capture a whole webpage content block with the browser extension.
Edit	Crop, draw, add arrows, rectangles, ellipses, text, and numbered markers. Apply mosaic, blur, opaque redaction, spotlight, or magnifier effects. Move/delete annotations, undo/redo, and zoom from 100% to 400%.
OCR and redaction	Recognize text locally with Apple Vision, copy it, or cover recognized text. Sensitive-text assistance detects supported email, phone, payment-card, and Chinese-ID patterns. Review its results before sharing.
Save and pin	Copy the rendered screenshot, pin it above other windows, save PNG/JPEG, or Quick Save to a chosen folder. Flatten replaces the current image and its history copy with the rendered edits.
History and privacy	Browse, search, reopen, and manage local history. OCR search is opt-in. Private screenshots skip automatic history and clipboard copies while keeping explicit output actions available.
Record	Record a region or the current display to MP4, with optional system audio, microphone, and pointer. Choose 15/30/60 fps and a 1920/2560/3840-pixel maximum edge. Preview, Save As, or export a GIF.
Automate	Trigger capture, Quick Save, or Show through a URL scheme or the bundled command-line launcher.

Download

Download the newest SmartShot Preview. Each release supports Apple Silicon and Intel Macs in one universal application. Choose its assets below:

• macOS DMG: SmartShot-<version>-universal.dmg
• macOS ZIP: SmartShot-<version>-universal.zip
• Browser extension ZIP: SmartShot-Web-Selector-<version>.zip
• SHA-256 checksums: SHA256SUMS.txt

This preview is ad-hoc signed, without a Developer ID certificate or Apple notarization. macOS may block a downloaded copy until you explicitly approve it in Finder or Privacy & Security. The packaged app has no get-task-allow debugging entitlement.

Get Started

1. Move SmartShot.app to /Applications, launch it, and allow Screen Recording. Accessibility enables smart block selection; microphone access is optional.
2. Click Capture or press Control-Shift-2 (configurable in Settings), then choose a capture mode. Press Escape to cancel.
3. Edit, Copy, Pin, or Save. Save writes to your chosen folder; its arrow opens the save dialog. Close the screenshot to return home. Record through Record > Record Region / Record Current Display.

English is the default. Choose Settings > General > Language > 简体中文 and restart to switch to Chinese; the selection is saved.

Build Locally

Requires macOS 14+, Xcode with Swift 6, and XcodeGen.

git clone https://github.com/infinityf4p/SmartShot.git
cd SmartShot
xcodegen generate
xcodebuild -project SmartShot.xcodeproj -scheme SmartShot \
  -configuration Release -derivedDataPath DerivedData \
  build CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY=- DEVELOPMENT_TEAM= \
  CODE_SIGN_INJECT_BASE_ENTITLEMENTS=NO
open DerivedData/Build/Products/Release/SmartShot.app

This uses ad-hoc signing without a signing certificate; macOS may require new permissions. For Safari extension development, see Safari development builds.

Browser Extension

The extension selects one webpage content block and produces a PNG. It captures visible content directly or scrolls and stitches a bounded tall block, restores page state, then imports the image into SmartShot. If native import fails, it falls back to a browser download.

Chrome / Chromium / Edge / Brave

1. Install the complete normal app bundle at /Applications/SmartShot.app, then use Settings > Chromium Integration > Install to configure its native host.
2. Open the browser's Extensions page, enable Developer mode, and Load unpacked from the extracted browser extension ZIP or this checkout's BrowserExtension directory. Reload it after updating. The app's Reveal Extension button locates the copy packaged with an installed build.
3. Open a permitted webpage and invoke SmartShot Web Selector from the toolbar or Control-Shift-9 on macOS. Select a block and confirm with a click or Return.

Safari

Safari requires a compatible Apple development signature or the dedicated Sign to Run Locally build. The latter requires Settings > Developer > Allow unsigned extensions, extension enablement, and Website Access; Safari resets the unsigned override when it quits. A normal ad-hoc or custom self-signed build is not sufficient on its own. Safari capture/import is still awaiting full runtime acceptance.

See the extension guide for installation, permissions, capture bounds, and native messaging details.

Scope and Privacy

• Long capture has three distinct paths: manual fixed-region scrolling, experimental native AX scrolling, and browser DOM-block capture. Native automatic scrolling requires static content and a writable vertical accessibility scrollbar. Dynamic/infinite feeds, virtualized or nested scrolling, horizontal capture, and cross-display stitching are outside the current support scope.
• Browser selection includes fixtures for a single X post. It does not automatically capture a thread or multiple posts, and compatibility with the current public X site is unverified.
• Recording uses one display. GIF export is silent and capped at the first 30 seconds, 15 fps, a 1280-pixel long edge, and 450 frames. Camera capture, video trimming, click visualization, translation, and cloud sharing/sync are not implemented.
• Screenshot history is local. OCR indexing is off by default and never applies to Private captures. Private screenshot mode does not govern recordings or browser fallback downloads.
• Blur and mosaic are visual effects. Use opaque redaction for sensitive content and inspect the exported image; OCR-based detection is not guaranteed to find every sensitive value.
• Browser native import carries the PNG and limited technical metadata, including the site origin. It does not transmit page HTML, cookies, credentials, or URL paths. Safari's current named-pasteboard transport has documented same-user authentication and crash-cleanup limitations in the handoff.

Project Guide

• Architecture
• Requirements and scope
• Roadmap
• Test plan and evidence
• Browser extension
• Safari development builds
• Automatic preview releases

Maintained by infinityf4p.