HazeOver • Distraction Dimmer™ App Reviews

Very usefull with a large screen (30” Apple display) Easy to install and to controll

in my opinion it needs to be able to run without a Dock icon, though. it would also be good if you could switch the functionality on and off via the menu bar icon. if those functionalities get added, I will consider using it every day...

It will only work when you click on an existing window, but not if you start a new application. Will hopefully be fixed by a future update. Avoid until then.

When you turn the effect to max, the desktop background turns black. I don’t like that at all!

Works just as advertised. Hight recommend if you get lost between open windows on multiple screens, like I do.

Works perfect (El Capitan), really helps me focusing on the active window.

Single focus tasking — HazeOver is exactly the ( very performant ) tool to additionally support productivity.

Works as advertised- no fuzz, no gripes. Eases working life. Worth every penny. I agree fullheartedly

Does exactly what it needs to do, now.

Thanks for giving us control over fade time! One thing I find kind of weird: When making the Finder the active program (by clicking Finder, a finder window, or clicking on the desktop), the desktop and any files placed there stay dimmed. Shouldnt clicking on the desktop fade other windows and unfade the desktop?

I used to use the free Hazeover version before buying its appstore incarnation. Its an app I love to use when I need to focus a little more, unfortunately its become fantastically unreliable on Lion and typically crashes immediately after launch. Every now and again it holds together but as I cant rely on it I dont really use it much any more and am switching to using full-screen apps when available - I only offer this as a suggestion in case anyone else is having issues with hazeover on Lion.

Before Lion 10.7.1, HazeOver was working fine. Since 10.7.1, the application is closing as soon as it start. I have the same behavior on my MacBook Pro and my iMac, both with OSX 10.7.1. I know there is a BIG problem with 10.7.1, as I had to reinstall A LOT of applications, but after reinstalling these apps they were working fine. I deleted HazeOver and reinstalled it and it still doesnt work. HazeOver is a good application, but this version (1.2) is not usable with the latest version of Lion.

I like the way this is trying to solve the problem of focusing my attention on only the existing task. However, it has some problems. I use ⌘-tab a lot and it just feels weird because for a split second, the old in-focus window is still highlighted. This feels jarring. I have disabled HazeOver, but leave startup-at-login enabled. Every time I reboot, HazeOver re-enables itself, which is super annoying. I finally decided to remove it, but there is no way to quit the app. At all. Once it starts, its always running. Ive even gone into the preferences window and selected "Quit" from the menu bar. No dice. Like I said, neat app to solve a problem I have. Not quite working for me, so Im not using it anymore, but it might work well for you. Certainly worth $2 to find out. Even though it doesnt fit my needs, I would have given a higher rating if the UX was smoother.

It’s really nice app!

This app has been very useful in my work flow. Highly rated.

This app works well if you are on a single monitor. Very well! The problem is when you have two displays, the second display will always show the front-most window. If there isn’t a window, the screen will adjust to your brightness settings. It’s not exactly ideal and I would love to see a “Dim Unused Displays” button. Looks like the developers are actively updating this, though, so let’s see what happens! :-)

Like the other reviewer mentioned, this app works nicely but on multiple displays its behavoir becomes irregular. I’d really love to have it act seamlessly over windows across mulitple displays as if you are only using a single display.

Works well, simple and easy to use!

Who would have thought that dimming background windows would make such a difference? It’s so simple, but so effective. I’m impressed.

I’ve always got a pile of windows open, but I’m typically only actively working in one, or switching back and forth between two windows. HazeOver dims everything other than what’s in focus to reduce visual distraction. It’s one of those things you don’t really appreciate until you see it. Simply great implementation.