ShakeDrop

A tiny free/open-source macOS menu-bar app. Click and hold a file in Finder, shake your mouse, and a small drop-target window appears near the cursor. Release the file on it and AirDrop opens.

Built with SwiftUI + AppKit + a global CGEventTap for the shake gesture. No third-party dependencies. macOS 13+.

How it works

1. Click the hand icon in the menu bar the first time — the app asks for Input Monitoring permission. (Required because the shake is detected system-wide, not just inside our window.)
2. In Finder, click and hold a file (without releasing).
3. Shake your mouse. A small square, semi-transparent window with a dashed border appears next to the cursor.
4. Drop the file on it. The AirDrop share sheet opens with that file selected.

If you don't drop anything within 4 seconds, the window dismisses itself.

Permissions

ShakeDrop needs Input Monitoring (System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security ▸ Input Monitoring) to detect the shake globally. The app does not require Accessibility, Full Disk Access, or Automation.

If you deny the permission, you can re-grant it later by opening System Settings, finding ShakeDrop under Input Monitoring, and toggling it on. The app picks up the new state on the next shake attempt.

Status bar

Icon: SF Symbol hand.draw (closed hand with extended index finger inside a circle). The menu has:

• Open ShakeDrop — verifies Input Monitoring permission and starts the global shake monitor if it isn't already running.
• About ShakeDrop
• Quit ShakeDrop (⌘Q)

Running an unsigned build on macOS

Gatekeeper blocks unsigned apps on first launch. Two clean ways around it.

Build with xcodebuild (recommended)

xcodebuild -project ShakeDrop.xcodeproj -scheme ShakeDrop \
           -configuration Debug build \
           CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY="-" CODE_SIGNING_REQUIRED=NO

Find the output and open it:

DD=$(xcodebuild -project ShakeDrop.xcodeproj -scheme ShakeDrop \
              -showBuildSettings -configuration Debug 2>/dev/null \
              | awk -F' = ' '/^[[:space:]]+BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR /{print $2; exit}')
open "$DD/ShakeDrop.app"

Run from Xcode

Open the project, select the ShakeDrop scheme, press ⌘R.

If macOS still blocks it

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /path/to/ShakeDrop.app

Or right-click the app in Finder → Open → Open in the dialog. One-time approval per machine.

Uninstalling

To completely remove ShakeDrop from your Mac — the .app, leftover release zips, LaunchServices registration, per-user preferences and caches, and the Input Monitoring / Accessibility TCC entries — run:

./uninstall.sh

From the repo root. Safe to re-run. Refuses to run as root so it can't trash system databases by accident. If macOS denies the script's write to TCC.db (it requires Full Disk Access for non-Apple processes), the script prints the exact System Settings path you need to toggle off manually.

Releasing

Push a vX.Y.Z tag to trigger the GitHub Actions release workflow (.github/workflows/release.yml). It builds a Release .app, zips it with ditto, and attaches it to a GitHub Release with install instructions.

Project layout

ShakeDrop/
├── ShakeDrop.xcodeproj/
├── .github/workflows/release.yml    # CI: build + tag-based release
└── ShakeDrop/
    ├── Resources/
    │   ├── Assets.xcassets/
    │   ├── Info.plist
    │   └── ShakeDrop.entitlements  # sandbox + Input Monitoring
    └── Sources/
        ├── ShakeDropApp.swift     # @main, AppDelegate
        ├── AppCoordinator.swift   # wires monitor -> window -> AirDrop
        ├── ShakeMonitor.swift     # CGEventTap global shake detector
        ├── DropTargetWindow.swift # floating drop target (NSPanel)
        └── AirDropSender.swift    # NSSharingService AirDrop wrapper

License

MIT — see LICENSE.