SkyLightWindow

A powerful macOS framework that enables views to be displayed above all other windows using private SkyLight APIs.

Features

• 🚀 Always on Top: Display windows above all other applications, even fullscreen apps
• 🎯 SwiftUI Integration: Simple .moveToSky() modifier for any SwiftUI view
• 🔒 System-Level Positioning: Uses SkyLight framework for maximum window level control
• 🖥️ Multi-Screen Support: Works seamlessly across multiple displays
• 🎨 Transparent Windows: Support for transparent backgrounds and custom styling

Installation

SwiftPM

Add the following to your Package.swift file:

dependencies: [
    .package(url: "https://github.com/Lakr233/SkyLightWindow", from: "1.0.0"),
]

To enable the OpenSwiftUI package trait, use:

dependencies: [
    .package(
        url: "https://github.com/Lakr233/SkyLightWindow",
        from: "1.0.0",
        traits: ["OpenSwiftUI"]
    ),
]

This uses OpenSwiftUI-spm binary package. Import OpenSwiftUI instead of SwiftUI in your app. At the time of writing, OpenSwiftUI's macOS binary support requires macOS 15.0 or newer.

Xcode

In Xcode, add the package dependency and enable the OpenSwiftUI trait in the package settings.

To enable trait in your Xcode project, Xcode 26.4+ is required.

Platform compatibility for default trait:

• macOS 11.0+
• Swift Compiler 5.9+

Platform compatibility for OpenSwiftUI trait:

• macOS 15.0+
• Swift Compiler 6.1+

Usage

SwiftUI Integration

1. Import the framework

import SwiftUI
import SkyLightWindow

2. Apply the modifier to any view

struct ContentView: View {
    var body: some View {
        Text("This view is always on top!")
            .moveToSky()
    }
}

OpenSwiftUI Integration

Usage is identical to the SwiftUI integration above. Import OpenSwiftUI instead of SwiftUI:

import OpenSwiftUI
import SkyLightWindow

struct ContentView: View {
    var body: some View {
        Text("This view is always on top!")
            .moveToSky()
    }
}

AppKit Usage

You can also create topmost windows programmatically:

import SkyLightWindow

let screen = NSScreen.main!
let view = AnyView(Text("Overlay Content"))
let controller = SkyLightOperator.shared.delegateView(view, toScreen: screen)

// or you can just delegate a window

How It Works

SkyLightWindow uses macOS's private SkyLight framework to:

1. Create a special space at the highest system level
2. Move target windows to this space
3. Ensure windows remain visible above all other content

The framework handles:

• Connection to the SkyLight service
• Space creation and management
• Window delegation and positioning
• SwiftUI integration through view modifiers

Important Notes

⚠️ Privacy & Security: This framework uses private APIs but works without special entitlements and is available to the Mac App Store.

⚠️ System Compatibility: The default SwiftUI integration supports macOS 11.0 or newer. The OpenSwiftUI trait requires macOS 15.0 or newer. Private APIs can change between system updates.

Example

The examples require Xcode 26.4 or newer and Tuist 4.203.1 or newer. This repository pins Tuist 4.203.1 in mise.toml. Install the pinned version with Mise:

mise install

Generate the default SwiftUI example:

mise exec -- tuist generate --path Example/Projects/MoveToSky --no-open
open Example/Projects/MoveToSky/MoveToSky.xcworkspace

Generate the OpenSwiftUI example:

mise exec -- tuist generate --path Example/Projects/MoveToSkyOpenSwiftUI --no-open
open Example/Projects/MoveToSkyOpenSwiftUI/MoveToSkyOpenSwiftUI.xcworkspace

Generate the examples separately. Package trait selections belong to an Xcode project, and combining both projects in one workspace would give the shared SkyLightWindow package conflicting trait selections.

License

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

Sponsor

LookInside helps you inspect a running iOS or macOS app UI from your Mac.

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Copyright 2025 © Lakr Aream. All rights reserved.