Docs / Settings
Settings
Settings opens from the menu bar item, Settings. The window is sized to the screen it opens on. The sidebar lists eight panes: Desktops, Switching, Voice and On Screen under Using DeskSay, Automations and Time Tracking under Extras, then General and Licence.
Desktops
One row per desktop, grouped by display, with that display's current desktop named in the header. For what names, icons and colours do, see naming a desktop.
One row per desktop
Choose an icon
Opens an icon search; pick a symbol, or No icon.
Desktop colour
Sets the colour the Board and menu draw.
Name
1 to 40 characters, unique per display.
Aliases, comma separated (what else you might say)
Up to 10 other words for the same desktop.
Shortcut that switches straight to this desktop
Records a key for this one desktop.
Dim
Hides it from the menu bar indicators, keeping its name.
Remove name, aliases, icon, colour and shortcut
The cross at the end of the row clears all five.
More than one display
Both appear only with more than one display connected.
Displays
Independent, the default, keeps each display separate; Linked joins a desktop on one screen to one on another. See more than one display.
Linked desktops
Not linked
What each picker reads until you choose a partner on that display.
New desktop called "X"
Adds a desktop on the other display and links it.
Link the ones that already have the same name on both displays
Links every pair already sharing a name.
Named desktops that are not present right now
Removed desktops, or ones on a display that is not connected. Names, aliases and notes are kept.
Assign to…
Puts the kept name on a desktop that has none.
Delete
The trash removes the orphan.
Switching
Every way to move between desktops. See switching.
How a switch happens
Instant switching
Changes the desktop without the animation. Needs Accessibility.
Return the pointer afterwards
Moves the pointer to the target display, then puts it back.
Shortcuts
Listen for a desktop name
Starts listening. Press again or Escape to cancel.
Open the Board by tapping a chord
Tap two modifier keys together, with nothing else, and release.
Chord
Which two keys that is.
Use the Mission Control key (F3) for the Board
F3 opens the Board. Control and Up still opens Mission Control.
Board
A key of your own for the Board.
Jump Back
A key that returns to the previous desktop.
Hover the notch
Reveal the desktop strip by hovering the top of the screen
A strip of that screen's desktops appears. Click one to switch.
Built-in display only
Limits the strip to the Mac's own screen.
Drag to move
Move a window to another desktop while dragging it
Hold the key while dragging and a drop surface appears. Needs Accessibility.
Key to hold
Option, Shift or Control.
Drop the window on the Board
On, the Board; off, a one-row strip at the top.
Press Option once to keep the surface open, instead of holding
Pins the surface rather than holding the key. The label names the key you chose.
Per-desktop shortcuts live in Desktops, next to each name. Shortcuts macOS already uses, Control and a number for example, are refused with a message.
Voice
For what you can say, see saying a name.
Recognise
The language DeskSay listens in. Automatic follows the Mac.
On-device recognition is ready
A status line; when it is not ready it says why.
Speech Recognition
Permission state, with Open Settings when it is missing.
Microphone
The same, for the microphone.
Accessibility
The same, for Accessibility.
Try it now
Starts listening without leaving Settings.
On Screen
Everything DeskSay draws. See the menu bar and the Board.
Menu bar item
Show
The style: current desktop name, indicators, number and letters, or icon only.
Use desktop colours
Draws each desktop's own colour.
Show every display's desktops
Every display's group at once. Indicators style only.
Hide dimmed desktops from indicators
Leaves dimmed desktops out of the row.
Maximum width
How wide the item may grow before it centres on the current desktop.
The Board
A live tile at the top is drawn with the numbers the sliders set.
Applies to
Which display the four size settings below edit, or the default for new displays. The Board's gear has Use for every display.
Back to default
Drops that display's own values.
Tile size
How wide each tile is; the picture, icons and text scale with it.
Name size
The name under each tile.
App icon size
How large the app icons on a tile are.
App names under the icons
Writes the app names below the icons.
Open the Board on every display
On, every display at once; off, one, with a picker for the others.
Dragging tiles also reorders desktops in Mission Control
Carries your order into macOS, about four seconds a move.
Desktop icons and colours…
Takes you to Desktops.
Show window previews
A picture of each desktop's windows. Needs Screen Recording; without it, app icons.
Hide the Board's keyboard tips
Removes the key hints.
The name of the desktop you land on
Show the name on screen when I switch
A card appears on the screen you land on, then fades. It follows every switch.
Stays for
How long it stays, 0.4 to 3 seconds.
Mission Control
Show desktop names in Mission Control
Draws each name over its thumbnail, and nowhere else.
Only label desktops I have named
Keeps labels readable when there are many desktops.
Use desktop colours as label backgrounds
Puts each label on its desktop's colour.
Fine tuning
Largest font size and Vertical nudge, for labels that sit slightly off.
Notes
Show notes for the current desktop
The floating note, one per desktop, with checklists. See notes, time and automations.
Show or hide the note
A key of your own for the note.
Dock or undock the note
A key that docks it to the screen edge.
Automations
Desktops on the left, the editor on the right. Automations are beta, and running one needs a licence; setting them up does not.
Add automation…
Adds one to that desktop.
Name
What this automation is called.
Trigger
On Enter, On Exit or On Click, explained under the picker.
Enabled
Whether it runs.
Actions
The list, in the order they run.
Add
Adds the action chosen beside it: Open app (bundle id), Open file or folder, Open URL, Run Shortcut, Run shell command, Pomodoro 25/5 or Start session.
Run now
Runs it once, without switching.
Delete automation
Removes it.
An automation containing a shell command says so in the editor. DeskSay shows scripts in full before the first run.
Time Tracking
The switches, then the figures. See notes, time and automations.
Track time per desktop
Records time per desktop and per app.
Count as idle after
Minutes without input that count as idle.
Session name (for example a client)
Names a session before you start it.
Start, Pause, Stop
Time one piece of work by name.
Today, Yesterday, This week, Last 7 days, This month
The range the figures cover. Click a row for its apps.
Export CSV
Include app details, Group by Day or Week, and Save… writes the file.
General
Launch DeskSay at login
macOS may ask you to approve it in Login Items.
Show the welcome guide again
Reopens the guide from first run.
Show the tour again
The six steps, also at the start guide.
Check for updates automatically
DeskSay checks daily. All 1.x updates are included.
Download and install updates automatically
Installs what it finds. Needs checking to be on.
Check Now
Checks at once; the last check is shown beside it.
Send anonymous crash reports
The crash, the app version and the macOS version. Nothing else, and no analytics.
Version
The version and build, under About.
Licence
Your licence state, then the key. See licence and trial.
Licence key
A key or voucher code, then Activate.
Manage subscription…
Add or remove Macs, or cancel. Not shown for a lifetime licence.
Deactivate this Mac
Frees the seat for another Mac.
Check again
Retries a licence that could not be verified.
Subscribe
Reads Unlock unlimited switching once the trial has ended.
On the trial the header counts the days left. After it, the switches used out of 30 this calendar month. Names, notes and time tracking keep working.