AirPointer

WatchPointer is an open-source macOS and Apple Watch application that turns an Apple Watch into a pointer for a Mac over a direct Bluetooth connection, without Wi-Fi or servers. The watch uses gravity and gyroscope readings to determine its aim, projects that aim onto the Mac display, and sends pointer, click, drag, scroll, pause, and device-information packets. Tapping clicks, holding drags, the Digital Crown scrolls, and a notch or menu-bar panel shows connection state, watch details, battery, and live aim. The Mac receiver smooths the watch timestamps with a 1€ filter and updates the cursor on its own thread; click positions are captured when the thumb touches the watch so the tap's movement does not shift the target. It also includes a small browser-based light-gun game called Sky Shot. The project requires macOS 14 or later, Bluetooth, an Apple Watch running watchOS 11 or later, and Xcode 16 or later for installing the watch app. It is licensed under the MIT License. The README notes that the Mac receiver currently does not request pairing confirmation, so it should be quit when not in use.

MousePods is an open-source Linux tool that turns motion sensors in AirPods 3 and AirPods Pro into a head-tracking mouse or simulator controller without an Apple device. It connects over Bluetooth through BlueZ, starts the appropriate sensor protocol—Apple RemoteHID for AirPods 3 or SensorDataWX for AirPods Pro—and sends the resulting motion data through a virtual uinput device for Wayland and X11. Its motion engine derives yaw, pitch, and roll from gyroscope and gravity data, re-estimates gyro bias while stationary, and applies One-Euro smoothing; cursor modes include head or bud movement, calibrated screen pointing, and experimental inertial gliding. The local desktop app provides battery and orientation displays, live sensor data, calibration, settings, shortcuts, and a sensor explorer, with a Flatpak distribution available. It also supports head tracking in Proton games through opentrack and includes an experimental Chrome extension for controlling 360-degree video views. The source code is licensed under Apache-2.0; protocol documentation, findings, and captures use CC BY 4.0.

MacTap is a macOS menu-bar app that turns one, two, or three knocks on a compatible MacBook chassis or the desk beneath it into keyboard shortcuts and other mapped actions. It supports left- and right-edge layouts, configurable sensitivity and actions, presets such as Daily, Coding, Capture, Media, and Focus, and per-application overrides. Tap classification runs on-device, with gesture mappings stored locally and nothing uploaded. It requires macOS 14.6 or later and a MacBook whose motion sensor is exposed as an SPU HID device, including M2-and-later models and M1 Pro, Max, or Ultra systems; some M1 models, including the original M1 Air, are unsupported. The app requires Accessibility permission for actions to send shortcuts, is distributed as a signed and notarized macOS app, and is licensed under the MIT license.

Sonar is an experimental macOS app by Emanuel Perez that uses a Mac’s built-in speakers and microphone for camera-free hand-gesture control. It plays a steady high-frequency tone, typically 20 kHz, analyzes Doppler shifts in echoes reflected from the user’s hand, and maps detected movement to scrolling, swiping, and zoom commands. It includes calibration, practice demos, signal visualization, diagnostics, and support for other applications; microphone audio is processed locally in memory and discarded after processing. Sonar requires macOS 14 or later, supports Apple silicon downloads, and is distributed under the MIT license.

big-arrow-on-the-screen is a macOS command-line tool and agent skill for Claude Code and Codex that lets AI agents point at controls without clicking them. Its Swift binary places a click-through overlay above windows and displays a labeled arrow, ring, or box aimed at a target found by coordinates, window or tab, application element, mouse position, or Peekaboo data; the overlay can raise the target application, follow it, speak or provide copyable text, and remove itself after a duration, click, stop command, or agent-process exit. It does not type, click, capture the screen, or contain AI. The project is distributed as a Homebrew install or source-built macOS binary, includes commands for installing its agent skill, and is MIT licensed.