macOS Dashboard

MacOS Dashboard

macOS Dashboard is a widget engine included in Apple's macOS operating systems that allows users to view small applications known as widgets. Common types of widgets include calculators, calendars, stock tickers, and more.
Os & Utilities System Utilities
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MacOS Dashboard alternatives ➤

macOS Dashboard: A Widget Engine for Customized Dashboards

A widget engine included in Apple's macOS operating systems, allowing users to view small applications known as widgets, such as calculators, calendars, and stock tickers.

What is MacOS Dashboard?

macOS Dashboard is a widget engine that was introduced in Mac OS X Tiger in 2005. It allows users to view small specialized applications known as widgets right on their desktop. Widgets provide quick access to common tools and information like weather reports, sports scores, calculators, calendars, dictionaries, and more.

Dashboard widgets float on top of other windows using layers drawn by the Quartz Compositor, allowing them to be quickly accessed with a single click or key command. They are lightweight and don't require launching separate applications. The widget display is smooth, fluid, and uses anti-aliasing to improve readability.

Apple included several widgets by default with each new version of macOS, including a world clock, flight tracker, and address book. Additional widgets could be downloaded from Apple and third parties. By default, Dashboard is activated by using the F4 key or a pinch gesture with your thumb and three fingers on your trackpad.

Over time, as notification centers, always-on desktop widgets, and mobile devices with widget-like functionality emerged, Dashboard became less essential for many Mac users. As of macOS Catalina in 2019, Dashboard and its widgets are hidden by default, indicating Apple has largely abandoned further development of this feature.

MacOS Dashboard Features

Features

  1. Widgets - Small apps that provide information at a glance
  2. Supports a variety of widget types like weather, calendar, notes, etc
  3. Widgets can be added, removed, and rearranged easily
  4. Allows for custom widget development using web technologies like HTML/CSS/JavaScript
  5. Integrated with macOS desktop and can be brought up with a single keystroke
  6. Widgets have access to macOS system services for functionality

Pricing

  • Free

Pros

Simple way to view frequently needed info

Very customizable and extensible

Lightweight and fast

Easy to access with a keyboard shortcut

Allows power users to build custom widgets

Cons

Limited selection of default widgets

Widget functionality is simplistic compared to full apps

Development of custom widgets requires coding knowledge

Not as commonly used anymore with proliferation of menu bar apps

Official Links

Official Website
https://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/

The Best MacOS Dashboard Alternatives

Top Os & Utilities and System Utilities and other similar apps like MacOS Dashboard

Here are some alternatives to MacOS Dashboard:

GDesklets icon
gDesklets
KDE Plasma Workspaces icon
KDE Plasma Workspaces
MyBoard icon
myBoard
Yahoo Widget icon
Yahoo Widget
AveDesk icon
AveDesk
Open Sidebar icon
Open Sidebar
Suggest an alternative ❐

GDesklets icon

GDesklets

gDesklets is an open source desktop widget engine for Linux systems such as Ubuntu, Fedora, and other GNOME-based environments. It provides a framework for developing small GUI applications called desklets that run directly on the user's desktop.Desklets created with gDesklets can include clocks, system monitors, note pads, RSS readers, photo...
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KDE Plasma Workspaces icon

KDE Plasma Workspaces

KDE Plasma Workspaces is a popular open source desktop environment for Linux and UNIX-like operating systems. It is highly customizable and designed to be lightweight and resource efficient. Some key features of Plasma include:Customizable graphical user interface with support for desktop effects, themes, and widgetsBuilt-in applications like file manager, terminal,...
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MyBoard icon

MyBoard

myBoard is a free, open-source online whiteboard application developed using JavaScript. It allows multiple users to collaborate on a shared whiteboard in real-time for brainstorming sessions, presentations, team meetings etc.With myBoard, users can draw, add sticky notes, shapes, arrows etc using the intuitive tools. It supports adding custom images and...
Yahoo Widget icon

Yahoo Widget

Yahoo Widget was a widget engine developed and launched by Yahoo in 2005. It enabled users to display mini web applications known as widgets on their computer desktop. These widgets provided functionality such as showing weather reports, news tickers, calendar reminders, games, and other information.Some of the popular widgets included...
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AveDesk icon

AveDesk

AveDesk is a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solution designed to deliver Windows desktops and applications as a service. It allows organizations to create a virtualized infrastructure that runs desktop operating systems like Windows 10 and apps on servers in a data center, while providing end users access from any device.Some...
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Open Sidebar icon

Open Sidebar

Open Sidebar is a free, open source application that serves as an enhanced sidebar replacement for Windows. It provides quick access to frequently used files, apps, tools and information in a clean and organized sidebar interface.Some of the key features of Open Sidebar include:Customizable shortcuts to files, folders, apps and...
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