Action Hero
Run things on a Mac from your other devices. Start the stream on the studio Mac, check it's still running, quit an app, all from the menu bar of the Mac in front of you.
One app, two jobs
A host
The Mac that does the work: the one by the turntable, under the desk, or with no screen at all. You choose what it can do, and it does it when one of your paired devices asks.
A remote
Any other Mac. Your host's actions sit in its menu bar, with live status: a switch shows whether the stream is actually running, a readout shows the disk space left.
The same app does either, or both. The first time it opens, it asks which.
What an action can do
Switches
On and off, with a check that says which it really is: an app running, a command succeeding, a process alive.
Buttons
Run once: lock the screen, empty a folder, restart a service.
Readouts
Show a value from the host, like uptime or free space, kept up to date.
Apps and shortcuts
Open or quit apps, run a shortcut from the Shortcuts app, or an AppleScript.
Shell commands
Anything you can type in Terminal, for the jobs nothing else covers.
Other apps' controls
Apps that offer their controls over Applug, like ThUNER, can be switched and pressed directly: ThUNER's radio mode, for one.
Actions are set up in an editor that reads like sentences ("A switch for Sonobus Stream that opens SonoBus"), with a Try button for each one before you save.
Works with
Shortcuts and Siri
Turn On, Turn Off, Run, Is Action On, and Get Action Value, for automations, Spotlight and Siri.
Twist Commando
Your host's actions show up in Twist Commando, so a knob or pad can run them, with live lights.
Alfred, Raycast and more
Run actions from launchers, Stream Deck or scripts with actionhero:// links. There's a ready-made Alfred workflow. Links and scripts
Private by design
Action Hero talks only between your own devices, on your own network. There are no accounts and no Action Hero servers in between. A host answers only devices paired with its code, and every connection is encrypted with a key made from that code. The code reaches your other devices through iCloud Keychain, so you usually never type it.
The app collects nothing. The only thing it fetches from the internet is the update feed on this site, which sees your IP address and the app's version, like any web request.
Installing
- Download and unzipDrag Action Hero to your Applications folder and open it. It lives in the menu bar, not the Dock.
- Choose what this Mac doesLet your devices control it, control other Macs from it, or both. Setup explains the local network permission before macOS asks for it.
- Add actions on the hostThen install it on your other Macs, choose "Control other Macs", and they find the host by themselves.
Action Hero keeps itself up to date (Settings → Updates).
Requirements
- macOS
- 14 Sonoma or later, Apple silicon or Intel
- Network
- The host and your devices on the same network
- Permissions
- Local Network, so your devices can find each other; Automation, the first time an AppleScript action controls another app