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Orbit

Hold. Point. Launch.
A radial app launcher for macOS, triggered by hotkey.

macOS 15+ Swift 6 MIT License

Orbit radial menu

What is Orbit?

Orbit is a weapon-wheel style radial menu that lives in your menu bar. Hold your hotkey, point toward an app, release — done. No clicking, no searching, no Dock diving.

  • Hold a mouse button or keyboard shortcut
  • Point toward the sector of the app you want
  • Release to instantly switch to it

The menu appears at your cursor, shows your recent apps (or pinned favorites), and disappears the moment you let go.

Features

  • Radial Menu — Glassmorphic floating overlay with smooth spring animations. 8 configurable sectors, each holding a recent or pinned app.
  • Flexible Hotkey — Trigger with mouse side buttons (Mouse4/Mouse5) or any keyboard shortcut with modifier keys (⌃ ⌥ ⇧ ⌘).
  • Sector Pinning — Pin your most-used apps to fixed positions. Unassigned sectors auto-fill with your recent apps.
  • Menu Bar Native — Lives quietly in your menu bar. No Dock icon, no window clutter. Open settings or quit from the menu bar popover.

Getting Started

Requirements

  • macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later
  • Swift 6 toolchain

Build & Install

# Clone
git clone https://github.com/Bowl42/Orbit.git
cd Orbit

# Build and install to /Applications
bash scripts/bundle.sh

This creates /Applications/Orbit.app, code-signed to preserve system permissions.

Permissions

On first launch, Orbit will ask for two system permissions:

Permission Why
Accessibility Intercept global hotkey events
Input Monitoring Detect keyboard and mouse button presses

Grant both in System Settings > Privacy & Security. Orbit checks status automatically — no restart needed.

Usage

  1. Launch Orbit — it appears in the menu bar
  2. Hold your hotkey (default: Mouse 4 / Side Button)
  3. Move mouse toward the app you want — the sector highlights
  4. Release to switch to that app
  5. Release in the center dead zone or press Esc to cancel

Default Config

Setting Default
Trigger Mouse 4 (Side Button)
Sectors 8 (all recent apps)
Modifiers None

Configuration

Open settings from the menu bar popover or on first launch.

General Tab

  • Trigger type: Keyboard hotkey or mouse button
  • Key / Button: Space, Return, A–Z, Mouse 3/4/5
  • Modifiers: Any combination of ⌃ ⌥ ⇧ ⌘
  • Live preview: See your hotkey combo as you configure it

Sectors Tab

  • Ring preview: Click any sector dot to select it
  • Recent: Auto-fills with your most recently used apps
  • Pinned: Lock a specific app to that sector position
  • App picker: Search and select from all installed apps

Config is stored at ~/Library/Application Support/Orbit/config.json.

Architecture

Orbit/
├── OrbitApp.swift              # @main, MenuBarExtra
├── AppDelegate.swift           # Lifecycle, permissions
├── OrbitController.swift       # Core orchestrator
├── HotkeyManager/
│   ├── HotkeyManager.swift     # CGEvent tap listener
│   └── KeyCombo.swift          # Key combo model
├── RadialMenu/
│   ├── RadialMenuView.swift    # SwiftUI radial UI
│   ├── RadialMenuPanel.swift   # NSPanel overlay
│   ├── SectorView.swift        # Sector wedge component
│   └── RadialMenuViewModel.swift
├── Actions/
│   ├── OrbitAction.swift       # Action protocol
│   └── LaunchAppAction.swift   # App launch action
├── Config/
│   ├── ConfigManager.swift     # JSON I/O
│   └── OrbitConfig.swift       # Config model
├── RecentApps/
│   └── RecentAppsTracker.swift # Recent app tracking
└── Settings/
    ├── SettingsView.swift      # Settings UI
    ├── AppPickerView.swift     # App picker modal
    └── InstalledAppsFinder.swift

Key design decisions:

  • NSPanel (non-activating) — menu never steals focus from your active app
  • CGEvent tap — low-level, reliable global hotkey detection
  • SwiftUI + AppKit bridge — modern UI with native macOS window management
  • @Observable — reactive state without Combine boilerplate

Tech Stack

Layer Technology
UI SwiftUI with .ultraThinMaterial glassmorphism
Window NSPanel (non-activating, transparent)
Hotkey CGEvent tap via CoreGraphics
App launch NSWorkspace
Config Codable JSON
Build Swift Package Manager
Signing Apple Development identity

License

MIT

Built with SwiftUI on macOS Sequoia.