A minimal camera mirror for macOS. It lives in the menu bar. Click the icon to check yourself with the front camera.

Website: mirror.shresthaoshan.com

  • No dependencies. Swift and AppKit only.
  • The camera runs only while the popup is open.
  • No video is saved or sent anywhere.

Why Mirror

Before a call, you want to check your hair, your light, or what is behind you. Photo Booth and FaceTime open a full app window for this, and they take time to start.

Mirror does one job: one click shows you, and one more click hides you again.

Features

  • Menu-bar popup. Shows the live camera under the menu-bar icon.
  • Resize. Drag an edge or a corner. The aspect ratio stays fixed.
  • Enlarged view. One button grows the view to 90% of the screen.
  • Mirror toggle. See yourself as in a mirror, or as others see you.
  • Center Stage. Turn it on or off, if your camera supports it.
  • Liquid Glass. The buttons use the Liquid Glass style on macOS 26.
  • Launch at login.

Requirements

  • macOS 13 (Ventura) or later. macOS 26 (Tahoe) for the Liquid Glass buttons
  • Xcode 26 or later, to build (the build needs the macOS 26 SDK)

Install

Mirror has no prebuilt release yet. Build it from source:

git clone https://github.com/shresthaoshan/mirror.git
cd mirror
make app
mv Mirror.app /Applications/
open /Applications/Mirror.app

The person icon appears in the menu bar. Mirror has no Dock icon.

Build from source

make run

make run builds a release binary, puts it in Mirror.app, signs it ad hoc and opens it. Other targets:

Command What it does
make app Builds Mirror.app and does not open it.
make test Runs the tests (swift test).
make clean Removes .build and Mirror.app.

Signing

make app signs the app ad hoc (codesign --sign -). This is enough to run Mirror on your own Mac.

An ad hoc signature changes with each build. macOS uses the signature to identify the app, so after a rebuild macOS can ask for camera access again, and you may need to turn Launch at Login off and on again. For a stable signature, sign with an Apple Development certificate. It is free with an Apple ID: in Xcode, open Settings › Accounts and add a certificate. Then change the codesign line in the Makefile:

codesign --force --sign "Apple Development" $(APP)

Permissions

Mirror needs only camera access. macOS asks the first time you open the popup. If you deny it, the popup shows an Open Settings button.

Launch at Login can need your approval in System Settings › General › Login Items. Mirror opens that page when macOS asks for approval.

Usage

  • Click the menu-bar icon to open the popup. Click it again, press Esc, or click outside to close it.
  • Drag an edge or a corner to resize. Width is 240–720 pt. The aspect ratio stays fixed.
  • Mirror remembers the last popup size.
  • The camera runs only while the popup is open.

Buttons

The buttons show when the pointer is over the video.

Position Button Action
Top left Enlarge Grows the view to 90% of the screen, centered. Click again to shrink.
Top right Mirror Turns mirroring on or off. Default: on. Mirror remembers it.
Top right, left of Mirror Center Stage Turns Center Stage on or off. The icon is filled when it is on. Shows only if the camera supports it. Control Center can also change it.

A click outside or Esc also closes the enlarged view. If you drag an edge while the view is enlarged, it snaps back to 720 pt or less and is no longer enlarged.

On older macOS, the buttons are dark and round in place of Liquid Glass.

Right-click the menu-bar icon:

  • Launch at Login. Install Mirror in /Applications before you turn it on.
  • Quit Mirror (⌘Q).

Privacy

  • Mirror shows the camera only on your screen. It does not record, save or send video.
  • The camera stops when the popup closes. The green camera light shows when it runs.
  • Mirror saves two settings in UserDefaults: the popup width and the mirror state.

Known limitations

  • Mirror uses the built-in camera. You cannot choose another camera.
  • If no camera is connected when Mirror starts, connect one and then quit and open Mirror.
  • The Liquid Glass buttons are not tested on macOS 26 yet.
  • Mirror does not remember the enlarged view. It always opens as the popup.

Troubleshooting

The popup says “Camera access is off.” Click Open Settings and turn on Mirror in Privacy & Security › Camera. Then close and open the popup.

macOS asks for camera access again after a rebuild. The ad hoc signature changed. Allow access again, or sign with a stable certificate (see Signing).

The popup says “No camera found.” Connect a camera, then quit and open Mirror.

Launch at Login does not work. Move Mirror.app to /Applications, then turn the option off and on. If macOS opens Login Items, approve Mirror there. After a rebuild with ad hoc signing, turn the option off and on again.

Uninstall

  1. Right-click the menu-bar icon and turn off Launch at Login.
  2. Quit Mirror (right-click › Quit Mirror).
  3. Delete Mirror.app.
  4. Delete the settings:
defaults delete com.shresthaoshan.mirror
  1. Optional: remove camera access:
tccutil reset Camera com.shresthaoshan.mirror

Project structure

Sources/Mirror/
  main.swift          App entry, menu-bar icon, menu, launch at login
  Panel.swift         Popup window: position, resize, enlarge, close
  CameraView.swift    Camera session, preview, hover buttons, permission message
Tests/MirrorTests/    XCTest tests for the popup window
Info.plist            App bundle settings (menu bar only, camera usage text)
Makefile              Build, run and test commands

Contributing

Bug reports, ideas and pull requests are welcome. Read CONTRIBUTING.md for the setup, how the code works, and how to send a change. DESIGN.md has the UI rules.

License

Mirror is released under the MIT License.