WinDock

A lightweight extension for the native macOS Dock that adds Windows-style window previews.
No custom dock, no replacement — WinDock hooks into your existing Dock and enhances it.

_{macOS 14.0+ · Signed & Notarized · Free & Open Source}

Hover over any dock icon to see live thumbnails of its open windows.

Features

• Native Dock extension — Works directly with the macOS Dock, not a replacement
• Dock hover previews — Live window thumbnails appear above dock icons
• Click to focus — Click any preview to bring that specific window to front
• Aero Peek — Hover a preview card to see the window at its actual screen position
• Close from preview — Close windows directly from the preview panel
• Launch at login — Starts automatically and runs silently in the background

Lightweight

WinDock uses ~23 MB of memory and 0% CPU when idle. No Electron, no web views — pure Swift and AppKit.

How It Works

WinDock doesn't replace or redraw the Dock. It listens to the native macOS Dock process via the Accessibility API (AXObserver), detects which icon you're hovering, and shows a floating preview panel above it. Thumbnails are captured live using ScreenCaptureKit.

Requirements

• macOS 14.0 or later
• Accessibility permission — Required to detect dock hover events
• Screen Recording permission — Required to capture window thumbnails

Installation

1. Download the latest release from Releases
2. Move WinDock.app to /Applications
3. Launch WinDock
4. Grant Accessibility and Screen Recording permissions when prompted

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/akinalpfidan/windock.git
cd windock
open windock.xcodeproj

Build and run with Xcode. Disable App Sandbox in Signing & Capabilities (required for Accessibility API access).

Architecture

windock/
  Services/
    DockObserver       — AXObserver on macOS Dock process
    WindowManager      — AXUIElement window focus & close
    WindowCaptureService — ScreenCaptureKit thumbnails
  ViewModels/
    DockViewModel      — Coordinates hover, preview, and peek
  Views/
    Preview/
      PreviewPanel     — Floating NSPanel (non-activating)
      WindowPreviewList — SwiftUI preview cards
      WindowHighlightOverlay — Aero Peek overlay
  Models/
    DockModels         — WindowInfo, DockApp

License

GNU General Public License v3.0