Shroud for Mac

If you're anything like us, you probably have multiple applications and windows open while you're working. While having everything at your fingertips is convenient, it can also be really distracting when you're trying to concentrate. Shroud for Mac is a basic program that creates a solid backdrop behind your active window, eliminating the visual clutter of everything else you have open. Shroud is a great choice if you want or need to keep lots of things open but also tend to have trouble focusing on the task at hand.

It never occurred to us that Shroud was something that we might need, but using it proved surprisingly calming. The default color for Shroud is a dark gray, but users can change it to whatever custom color they desire. Enabling Shroud is as easy as selecting it from the dock and then choosing whatever application you want to focus on; Shroud will supply a blank, solid background behind it. Users can also create keyboard shortcuts to activate Shroud, and it can be set to appear behind the frontmost window or the frontmost application. We liked that, by default, Shroud hides the menu bar. If you find that you keep checking the clock, this is a great way to break yourself of this habit and focus on your work. Mousing over the menu bar will reveal it, though, and this feature can also be disabled if it's not for you. Shroud for Mac is easy to use, but it also comes with a comprehensive Help file.

Shroud for Mac installs and uninstalls without issues. Overall, we were surprised by how much we liked Shroud for Mac, and we recommend it to anyone who could use a little help focusing.