Your face.
Your Mac. Unlocked.

Gaze uses your Mac’s camera to recognize you at the lock screen, then signs you in. Your password and Touch ID keep working.

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Free and open source · macOS 26 or later · Apple silicon or Intel

A MacBook lock screen with Gaze recognising its owner

Sit down. Look up. Gaze recognizes you and types your password for you.

It’s a convenience, not a lock. Your password still works.

A nod. A blink.

Before it signs you in, Gaze can ask you to turn, nod or blink, so a still photo is harder to use.

Gaze uses your Mac’s regular camera, not Face ID. A photo or video may still fool it.

Read about security ›

Set up in a few minutes.

Nothing unlocks until you’ve tried it and switched it on.

Gaze’s Unlock settings window: Set Up Gaze, Unlock my Mac, camera and Accessibility permissions, and security checks.

Add your face
A short guided enrollment with your Mac’s built-in camera.
Try it first
Test Recognition checks that Gaze knows you, without locking or unlocking your Mac.
Turn on unlocking
Automatic unlocking stays off until you switch it on in Settings.

Made to fit your Mac.

Solid or glass

Choose Solid, Frosted glass or Liquid Glass, and how much of your wallpaper shows through.

Gaze’s panel Appearance settings: a live preview, Connected, Floating or Dynamic Island, face position, Solid, Frosted glass or Liquid Glass, and transparency.

Locks when you walk away

Turn it on, and when you step away, Gaze locks your Mac behind you.

The Lock when I walk away setting in Gaze: checks for absence after 20 seconds without input.

Guards its own settings

Removing a face or changing the stored password can require your confirmation first.

The Ask before removing a face or changing the stored password setting in Gaze.

Left out on purpose.

Gaze is an app, not a service. It runs on your Mac, and that’s where it stays.

No accountGaze needs no account — the only sign-in on this site is for beta testers.
No cloud recognition
No face uploads
No subscription
No Face ID impersonation

Before you install.

Ask us on Discord

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Does it need a MacBook with a notch?

A notch isn’t required. Gaze places the panel at the top of the screen on Macs without one. It does need a built-in camera.

What happens if it doesn’t recognize me?

Use your Mac password or Touch ID to unlock. You can then run Test Recognition in Settings to check whether Gaze can recognize you.

Could someone unlock it with a photo of me?

Possibly. Gaze uses movement prompts and spoof checks, but a regular camera can still be fooled by a photograph or replay. Your Mac password remains the fallback.

Does it need an internet connection?

Face recognition works offline and needs no Gaze account. Checking for updates or opening links uses the internet. Your face data stays on your Mac.

What about glasses, or a beard, or a haircut?

You can add an enrollment with your glasses on. If a change in your appearance causes checks to fail, update your enrollment and try Test Recognition before relying on automatic unlocking.

Can more than one person enroll?

You can enroll up to five faces. Every enrolled face can unlock the same Mac account; Gaze does not switch between macOS users.

Is it going to eat my battery?

No. The camera only runs while your Mac is locked and stops as soon as it unlocks. Walk-away locking, if you turn it on, adds a brief check now and then while your Mac is idle.

Completely open source.

Read every line on GitHub, or download it and try it tonight.