Frequently asked
Every question, answered straight.
24 answers about Eyeline for macOS: what people on the call can see, which permissions it asks for, how the hotkeys work, and what happens the first time you open it.
Calls
Using it on calls
What the room sees, what your meeting app sees, and how you drive the script without leaving the window you are presenting from.
See how the panel sits under your webcamDoes Eyeline show up when I share my screen?
No. Eyeline marks its script panel as excluded from capture and macOS enforces that inside the window server, so screen sharing, screen recording, and screenshots all receive frames with the panel already removed. That holds in Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Loom, and QuickTime alike, and there is no toggle you have to remember before a call.
Which meeting apps does Eyeline work with?
All of them. Eyeline is a floating macOS panel that sits above whatever app is in front, not a plugin for one particular service, so Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex, Slack huddles, Loom, OBS, and QuickTime all behave the same way. There is nothing to install inside the meeting app and no integration to set up.
Does the script scroll by itself while I talk?
Yes, in two modes. Voice sync uses on-device speech recognition to track the words you are actually saying and keeps the current line under the lens, so you can pause, go off script, and come back without losing your place. If you would rather not use the microphone, timed scroll advances the script at a words-per-minute pace you set.
Can I control Eyeline without clicking away from my meeting?
Yes. Eyeline registers global hotkeys, so play, pause, restart, and line nudges work while Zoom or Keynote keeps keyboard focus. Option+Command+P is the default for play and pause. The panel is also non-activating, so clicking on it never pulls focus away from the app you are presenting from, and moving the pointer over the panel pauses the scroll until you move away again.
Privacy
Invisibility and privacy
The two claims that matter most, and the exact mechanisms behind them, both of which you can verify yourself rather than take on trust.
Read how capture exclusion worksHow does Eyeline stay invisible to screen recording?
Eyeline sets its window sharing type to none, which tells the macOS window server to leave that window out of every capture stream. Because the exclusion happens in the window server rather than inside the app doing the recording, it applies equally to screen sharing, screen recordings, screenshots, and third-party capture tools. The panel is visible on your physical display and nowhere else.
Does Eyeline send anything to a server?
No, and it structurally cannot. Eyeline is sandboxed and ships with exactly two entitlements, com.apple.security.app-sandbox and com.apple.security.device.audio-input. There is no network entitlement, so macOS will not permit the app to open a connection even if it tried. You can check this yourself by running codesign -d --entitlements - Eyeline.app in Terminal.
Where are my scripts stored?
On your Mac, as plain JSON files inside the app sandbox container. There is no cloud library, no sync service, and no account holding a copy, so your scripts are exactly as private as any other file on your disk and they are picked up by your normal Time Machine or backup routine.
Does Eyeline need microphone access?
Only if you use voice sync. The microphone prompt appears the first time you turn voice sync on, because Eyeline has to hear you to follow along. If you use timed scrolling or drive the script with hotkeys, you can decline the prompt and everything else works normally. Audio is processed on device by the system speech framework and never leaves the Mac.
Does Eyeline work without an internet connection?
Yes, completely. Every part of Eyeline runs locally, including voice sync, which uses on-device speech recognition rather than a cloud service. You can work with Wi-Fi switched off and the app behaves exactly as it does at your desk, because it never had a connection to lose in the first place.
Setup
Setup and requirements
What your Mac needs, which permissions Eyeline asks for, and the one permission it deliberately refuses to ask for.
Browse the full feature listWhich versions of macOS does Eyeline support?
macOS 14 Sonoma and later. Eyeline depends on capture-exclusion and speech APIs that need that baseline, so it will not run on macOS 13 Ventura or earlier. You can check which version you are on from the Apple menu, under About This Mac.
Does Eyeline run on Apple silicon and Intel Macs?
Both. Eyeline ships as a single 2.4 MB universal binary, so the same download runs natively on Apple silicon and on Intel, with no Rosetta translation and no separate version to choose at checkout.
Does Eyeline need Accessibility permission?
No, and that is deliberate. Eyeline registers its shortcuts through the Carbon RegisterEventHotKey API, which the system handles without granting the app any ability to observe your keystrokes. Apps that request Accessibility can read and control everything you type in every application, and an app that holds your scripts should not be one of them. Eyeline never asks for it.
Does Eyeline work on an external monitor or a Mac with no notch?
Yes. The panel parks near the top of whichever display you put it on, directly beneath the camera, and it does not depend on a notch being there. On an external monitor it sits under your webcam, and it follows you if you move to a different display mid-call.
Does Eyeline work with Stage Manager and full-screen apps?
Yes. The panel floats above full-screen apps, follows you between spaces, and stays where you left it with Stage Manager on, so a full-screen Keynote or a shared browser window will not cover it or shove it aside. Because the window is non-activating, it also never becomes the focused window and never interrupts what you are doing.
Can Eyeline open automatically when I log in?
Yes. Launch at login is a switch inside Eyeline, and it registers the app through SMAppService, the modern login-item API. That means it shows up in System Settings under General and Login Items, where you can turn it off again, instead of installing a background helper you cannot see.
Buying
Buying and licensing
One price, no subscription, no account. What the $19 covers, and what happens if it turns out not to be for you.
See exactly what $19 includesHow much is Eyeline, and is it a subscription?
Eyeline is $19, paid once. There is no subscription, no renewal date, and no account to create, and the payment runs through Stripe so your card details never touch this site. The price covers version 1.0 and every 1.x update that follows it.
Can I install Eyeline on more than one Mac?
Yes. One $19 purchase covers every Mac you personally own, so your laptop and your desktop are both fine. There is no activation limit, no license key to move around, and nothing to release when you replace a machine.
Is there a free trial?
There is no time-limited trial. Instead there is a 14-day full refund with no questions asked, which comes to the same thing with less friction: buy Eyeline, use it on real calls, and if it does not earn its place, email hello@geteyeline.com within 14 days and you get the $19 back.
How do I get a refund?
Email hello@geteyeline.com from the address you bought with, within 14 days of your purchase, and say you would like a refund. No explanation is required. The refund is processed through Stripe back to your original payment method, and the funds typically arrive within a few business days depending on your bank.
Fixes
Troubleshooting
The handful of things that trip people up on day one, and what to do about each of them.
Read the 14-day refund policyWhy does macOS warn me the first time I open Eyeline, and is it safe?
Eyeline 1.0 is ad-hoc signed and has not been through Apple notarization yet, so Gatekeeper shows a warning on first launch. Right-click Eyeline in your Applications folder and choose Open, or go to System Settings, then Privacy and Security, and click Open Anyway. You do this once per Mac and never again. It is safe: the app is sandboxed with only the app-sandbox and audio-input entitlements, and you can inspect exactly what it is permitted to do by running codesign -d --entitlements - Eyeline.app.
The panel is covering something I need. What can I do?
Move it or hide it. The panel is a floating window you can drag anywhere on any display, and the eye icon in the menu bar shows and hides it instantly, so you can park the script the second you need the space underneath. Remember that whatever the panel covers is only covered on your own display: because the panel is excluded from capture, everyone on the call is already looking at the window behind it.
How do I change the play and pause hotkey?
Open Settings from the Eyeline menu-bar icon and set a new combination for the shortcut you want to change. The default for play and pause is Option+Command+P, and every shortcut is remappable, which is the fix when another app has already claimed the combination you want. Shortcuts are registered through Carbon RegisterEventHotKey, so changing them never involves granting Accessibility permission.
Voice sync is falling behind. What should I check?
Check that Eyeline has microphone access under System Settings, Privacy and Security, Microphone, and that the input device macOS is listening to is the one you are actually speaking into. Voice sync matches what you say against what is on the page, so it can drift if you paraphrase heavily; a hotkey nudge puts it back on the right line. In a noisy room, timed scroll at a set words-per-minute is the more reliable choice.
I lost my download link. How do I get Eyeline again?
Your download link was emailed to the address you used at checkout, with the subject line Your Eyeline download, so search your inbox for that first. If it is gone, email hello@geteyeline.com from the same address and we will send it again. Once Eyeline is installed it does not need the link for anything.
Question that is not here? Emailhello@geteyeline.com and we will answer it, and add it to this page if other people are asking too. If you came here about the network claim specifically, thezero network calls page shows the entitlement dump in full.
Look at the lens, not your notes.
$19 once, on every Mac you own. macOS 14 or later, 2.4 MB, invisible on screen share, and no network calls at all.
macOS 14 or later. 2.4 MB. Works on Apple silicon and Intel.