What is Deskies used for?

Deskies is a Mac app that shows friends' presence in a menu bar strip and adds chat, focus timers, to-dos, calls and screen sharing for staying close while working remotely. It is a good fit for staying close to friends who work remotely, and body-doubling and shared focus sessions.

How much does Deskies cost?

Deskies is a paid product with no free plan.

Is Deskies open source?

No. Deskies is proprietary (closed-source) software. In the Productivity category, open-source options include Stats, Rectangle and Maccy.

What are some alternatives to Deskies?

Deskies competes with Focusmate, Gather and Kumospace.

Deskies: features, pricing and alternatives

About Deskies

Deskies is a Mac app for staying connected to friends, partners and favorite coworkers while everyone works remotely. A slim bar at the top of the screen shows who is around, with statuses such as available, focus or break, so you get a sense of shared presence without joining a workplace chat.

From the bar you can send a message, screenshot or file, wave at a friend who comes online, invite someone to a break, run a shared focus timer, keep a to-do list, and start audio or video calls with screen sharing. The bar can be hidden from screenshots and screen sharing, and the vendor emphasizes user control of data. People from different companies can join, with no workplace login.

Deskies requires macOS 14 or later and is available as a free download without a subscription; the homepage mentions four included invitations to bring people in. It suits small groups of friends or remote coworkers who want an ambient presence tool.

Key features

Menu bar strip showing friends' presence
Chat with screenshots and file sharing
Shared focus timers
Built-in to-do lists
Audio and video calls with screen sharing
Option to hide from screen capture

Good fit for

→Staying close to friends who work remotely
→Body-doubling and shared focus sessions

Tags: macos; presence; remote-work; focus-timer; video-calls; chat

Deskies: questions and answers

What is Deskies used for?: Deskies is a Mac app that shows friends' presence in a menu bar strip and adds chat, focus timers, to-dos, calls and screen sharing for staying close while working remotely. It is a good fit for staying close to friends who work remotely, and body-doubling and shared focus sessions.
How much does Deskies cost?: Deskies is a paid product with no free plan.
Is Deskies open source?: No. Deskies is proprietary (closed-source) software. In the Productivity category, open-source options include Stats, Rectangle and Maccy.
What are some alternatives to Deskies?: Deskies competes with Focusmate, Gather and Kumospace.