DailyWisdom

A macOS menubar app that displays inspirational quotes every time you unlock your Mac.

Overview

DailyWisdom transforms every screen unlock into an opportunity for inspiration. A beautifully designed floating panel displays a carefully curated quote from history's greatest minds—then gracefully fades away, letting you start your session with renewed focus.

Features

• Automatic Quote Display – Shows an inspirational quote every time you unlock your Mac
• 370+ Curated Quotes – Wisdom from thinkers like Marcus Aurelius, Charlie Munger, Naval Ravikant, and more
• 8 Categories – Mental Models, Stoicism, Leadership, Focus, Growth, Strategy, Business, Wisdom
• Favorites System – Save quotes that resonate with you
• Smart Selection – Prioritizes quotes you haven't seen, ensuring variety
• Customizable – Adjust display duration (5-30 seconds), toggle categories, launch at login
• Privacy First – Works entirely offline, no data collection

Screenshots

Quote Display	Menubar	Settings

Note: Add screenshots to DailyWisdom/fastlane/screenshots/en-US/ directory

Requirements

• macOS 14.0 (Sonoma) or later
• Xcode 15.0 or later (for building from source)

Installation

From Mac App Store

Download on the Mac App Store (coming soon)

Build from Source

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/rockywuest/daily_wisdom.git
   cd daily_wisdom

2. Open in Xcode:

   open DailyWisdom/DailyWisdom.xcodeproj

3. Build and run (⌘R)

Architecture

DailyWisdom/
├── App/
│   ├── DailyWisdomApp.swift      # Main app entry, MenuBarExtra
│   ├── AppDelegate.swift          # Screen lock monitoring, panel management
│   └── Constants.swift            # App-wide constants
├── Models/
│   ├── Quote.swift                # SwiftData model
│   └── QuoteCategory.swift        # Category enum
├── ViewModels/
│   └── QuoteViewModel.swift       # @Observable business logic
├── Views/
│   ├── QuoteWindow/               # Floating quote panel
│   ├── MenuBar/                   # Menubar dropdown
│   ├── Settings/                  # Preferences window
│   └── Components/                # Reusable UI components
├── Services/
│   ├── ScreenLockMonitor.swift    # Lock/unlock detection
│   ├── QuoteService.swift         # Quote selection algorithm
│   └── DataImportService.swift    # JSON seed data import
└── Resources/
    ├── quotes.json                # 370+ quotes database
    └── Assets.xcassets/           # App icons, colors

How It Works

Screen Unlock Detection

DailyWisdom uses DistributedNotificationCenter to listen for the com.apple.screenIsUnlocked notification, which macOS broadcasts when the user unlocks their screen.

DistributedNotificationCenter.default().addObserver(
    self,
    selector: #selector(screenDidUnlock),
    name: Notification.Name("com.apple.screenIsUnlocked"),
    object: nil
)

Floating Panel

The quote window uses NSPanel with specific configuration to appear above other windows without stealing focus:

• .nonactivatingPanel style mask – Won't activate the app or steal focus
• .floating window level – Appears above normal windows
• .canJoinAllSpaces collection behavior – Visible on all desktop spaces

Quote Selection Algorithm

Quotes are selected using a weighted algorithm that:

1. Filters by enabled categories
2. Prioritizes never-seen quotes (viewCount == 0)
3. For seen quotes, weights by daysSinceLastShown / viewCount

This ensures variety while still allowing favorites to occasionally reappear.

Customization

Adding Custom Quotes

Edit DailyWisdom/DailyWisdom/Resources/quotes.json:

{
  "id": "custom-1",
  "text": "Your custom quote here.",
  "author": "Author Name",
  "category": "wisdom"
}

Valid categories: mental-model, stoicism, leadership, focus, growth, strategy, business, wisdom

Modifying Display Duration

Default is 15 seconds. Users can adjust from 5-30 seconds in Settings, or modify the default in Constants.swift:

static let defaultDisplayDuration: TimeInterval = 15.0

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Quote Contributions

We especially welcome high-quality quote contributions! When adding quotes:

• Ensure accurate attribution
• Verify the quote is correctly worded
• Choose the most appropriate category
• Avoid duplicates

Privacy

DailyWisdom respects your privacy:

• No network requests – Works entirely offline
• No analytics – No tracking or telemetry
• No accounts – No sign-up required
• Local storage only – All data stays on your device

See PRIVACY.md for our full privacy policy.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Quote sources include works from various philosophers, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders
• Built with SwiftUI and SwiftData
• Inspired by the practice of starting each day with intentional reflection
• This entire project was built with the help of Claude by Anthropic – from architecture and implementation to testing and CI/CD. Thank you, Claude!

Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions

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Made with contemplation by Rocky Wuest

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Support

If you find this useful, consider buying me a coffee ☕

https://ko-fi.com/rockywuest