MacUpdate
Join MacUpdate
New Member

New Developer
Explore
MacUpdate Desktop
Hot Apps

Business
Dashboard
Development
Drivers
Education
MacUpdate Promo
Popular Apps

Games
Home & Personal
Internet
Multimedia & Design
Utilities
iPhone
Apps

Login
Member Login

Developer Login
About
Search Mac Apps

Search iPhone Apps

Advanced Search
Isolator
Isolator 4.76beta
Your rating: Now say why...

(18) 4.833333333333333

Menubar app hides cluttered desktop, helps you concentrate.   Free
Add to my Watch List
Email me when discounted
  • Download Now
    1.4 MB (Beta)
  • Download 4.4
    1.4 MB (Stable) - OS 10.5
  • Download 4.0
    1.5 MB (Stable)
  • Visit Developer's Site
    Ben Willmore
Isolator is a small menubar application that helps you concentrate. When you're working on a document, and don't want to be distracted, turn on Isolator. It will cover up your desktop and all the icons on it, as well as the windows of all your other applications, so you can concentrate on the task in hand.

Isolator is similar to, but not the same as Think and Backdrop. The difference is that it works exactly how I want it to. Maybe you'll like it too.
What's New
Version 4.76beta:
  • Fix code signing
Requirements
PPC / Intel, Mac OS X 10.4 or later



MacUpdate - Isolator




  • Think
    +6
    Free
    Allow full screen display for ...

  • HazeOver
    +4
    Commercial $0.99
    Get rid of interferences and ...

  • Camouflage
    +4
    Commercial $1.99
    Hides clutter on your Desktop.

  • FocusMask
    +2
    Commercial $0.99
    Simple concentration aide for ...

  • Backdrop
    +2
    Free
    Provides a clean backdrop for ...

  • Spirited Away
    +2
    Free
    Hides inactive applications.
Isolator User Discussion (Write a Review)
ver. 4.x:
(18)
Your rating: Now say why...
Overall:
(24)

sort: smiles | time
burypromote

+1

Leftblank reviewed on 30 Mar 2012
Simple. Very helpful. Wonderful. Thank you.

Easiest way to shut out the necessary clutter of other apps in order to concentrate on a single task ....

8-)
[Version 4.76beta]


burypromote


Giray reviewed on 15 Mar 2012
I love Isolator for its simplicity. Thank you!! A wish list item for me would be application exclusions.
[Version 4.76beta]


burypromote

+45

taja reviewed on 16 Jan 2012
The cleanest, simplest and least memory-hungry of the 'concentration' apps.

But for some reason, since I upgraded to Lion, when the app is set to load as a startup item, it doesn't activate with the hotkey; I have to go and open it again, which is mildly annoying.

Still, that minor issue, aside, this is a fantastic app.
[Version 4.76beta]


burypromote

+6

tfigs reviewed on 16 Sep 2011
Really nice app. Does what it says and does it well. Lots of options to adjust to your liking.
[Version 4.76beta]


burypromote

+34

Randy Crawford reviewed on 04 Jun 2011
I've been blessed to find a few really great pieces of software lately. Isolator is one of them. It is useful to me because I run many applications concurrently and it can be difficult to keep up with which is the front app. I run 4 monitors which compounds the problem. Frequently I run 3-4 copies of 4D and I have modified the wrong code many times because of losing track of which is which. Isolator solves that perfectly. You can dim out the background apps so that you can see them, but also know they are not the front app.

One recommendation I would make is to turn of the "Filters" which control the look of the background apps. Filters cause a significant slow-down with no real benefit.

To make things even better, Isolator is Free! Can you beat that?!
[Version 4.76beta]


burypromote

+13

Eelco Deuling reviewed on 26 May 2011
This is a great tool, but I did have some troubles with it.

I do not like a lot of things in my menu bar, so I switched this option off. I use a (very huge amount) lot of software at the same time, so I erased the keyboard shortcut so it could not interfere with some other app.

...and now I could not control the app anymore and had to quit it in Activity Monitor (clicking the app icon did not do anything).

But it did help me to focus, works very well and the 'filters' to hide the desktop are great!
[Version 4.76beta]


burypromote

+37

JasonE reviewed on 21 May 2011
Perfectly simple, exponentially beneficial.
[Version 4.76beta]


burypromote
+1

+152

Gcoghill reviewed on 25 Apr 2011
Excellent little utility!
[Version 4.76beta]


burypromote
-1

+99
Cocoanut commented on 11 Feb 2011
I've used Isolator in the past to fill the gap when Menustrip was unavailable but now that Menustrip has been resurrected from the dead it does this and much more and much better. Yes, it's 10 bucks and this is free but I think it's worth it.
[Version 4.76beta]

1 Reply

burypromote
+1

+272
Easer replied on 12 Feb 2011
I used to use MenuStrip and don't remember it having the feature that's equivalent to Isolator. I also just looked at its description and can't find this feature. If it's the "hide desktop" feature, then I don't think you're talking about exactly the same thing. Isolator does more than just hide the desktop. As for hiding the desktop, there are numerous free programs that can do that. (I use Camouflage.)
burypromote
+2

+11

Ecbrown reviewed on 09 Oct 2010
Fantastic Program. It does exactly what the author says it should. I've had no problems with the software.
[Version 4.5beta]


burypromote

+35
Peterpan23 had trouble on 03 Dec 2010
Does not work properly with TotalFinder
[Version 4.5beta]


burypromote

+3
frankfx had trouble on 04 Jun 2008
Oops, previous versions worked fine but now after turning on Isolator the whole computer becomes useless and only holding down the powerbutton can get me out of it. Could be I'm doing something wrong but for now Appzapper made Isolator move to the trash.
[Version 3.2]

3 Replies

burypromote

+73
siamlotus replied on 04 Jun 2008
Same problem here as previous comment.
burypromote
Ben Willmore (developer) replied on 04 Jun 2008
Sorry about this. If you're on 10.4/Tiger, it should be fixed in Isolator 3.3. If you're on Leopard, it's a problem I haven't heard about before, in which case please let me know. My email is on the Isolator web page.
burypromote

+3
frankfx replied on 05 Jun 2008
Version 3.3 works as fine on 10.4 now, guess the problem was the blur effect which is now Leopard-only. :)

And that was a really fast update!
burypromote

+7
babyfett had trouble on 23 Apr 2008
I would imagine a lot of people would want to use this with word processors, so they can concentrate, but while using Word I needed to access another window within Word and when I did, it automatically hid the first document and the only way I could get back to it was to turn off Isolator. Also, it gives you the option to Hide Dock, I assumed it meant that it would disable it while you were working so when you got to the bottom of the page it wouldn't pop back up, but there it was. If it just hides the Dock, you can set that up in your regular OS X preferences. I was really hoping this product would be for me. If I'm doing something wrong in Word, I'd love to give this bad boy another shot. Thanks!
[Version 3.0]

2 Replies

burypromote
Ben Willmore (developer) replied on 15 May 2008
Hi Babyfett -- I think you are just looking for a different set of features. Isolator keeps one application in the foreground, and obscures the rest. So when you switch away from Word (say), your Word windows will be obscured. You might be interested in Think, which works differently.

The idea of the 'Hide Dock' option is that you can have the Dock displayed during normal use, and just have it hide when you turn Isolator on. If you normally have the Dock on auto-hide, that feature won't be useful to you.
burypromote

+334
MacUpdate Lon replied on 15 May 2008
BTW, "Think" is available here:

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/23972
burypromote

+1
rwatts had trouble on 27 Oct 2007
Seems to be broken under Leopard. Any one else having problems?

BTW This is a fantastic app... and I am very surprised that it is not better known (a great replacement MenuStrip which offered a simliar functionality but which was never updated for Intel Macs).
[Version 1.0]



+81

Paulnojustpaul rated on 29 Apr 2011

[Version 4.76beta]



+65

James-D rated on 25 Mar 2011

[Version 4.76beta]



-1

Losmuertos rated on 04 Dec 2010

[Version 4.5beta]


Downloads:21,330
Version Downloads:2,820
Type:Utilities : Desktop
License:Free
Date:11 Feb 2011
Platform:PPC / Intel
Price:Free0.00
Overall (Version 4.x):
Features:
Ease of Use:
Value:
Stability:
Displaying 1-10 of 38
< 1 2 3 4 >
Displaying 1-4 of 4
Displaying 1-3 of 3
-
-
-
Please login or create a new
MacUpdate Member account
to use this feature
Watch Lists are available to
MacUpdate Desktop Members
Upgrade Now
Download and auto-install
using MacUpdate Desktop. Save
time moving folders and cleaning-up.
Isolator is a small menubar application that helps you concentrate. When you're working on a document, and don't want to be distracted, turn on Isolator. It will cover up your desktop and all the icons on it, as well as the windows of all your other applications, so you can concentrate on the task in hand.

Isolator is similar to, but not the same as Think and Backdrop. The difference is that it works exactly how I want it to. Maybe you'll like it too.
Add/Update Listing About MacUpdate Desktop Career Opportunities RSS Twitter Facebook Advertise Sitemap
Copyright © 2012 MacUpdate LLC


- -