Backframe for Mac: a private, searchable history of your screen, encrypted on your Mac
by Kevin Fitzgerald
$19.99
Backframe is a private, searchable history of your screen for the Mac, like Windows Recall but kept on your Mac. Switch capture on, work as usual, and later type a few words to find the number, name or sentence you saw an hour ago or last week. Every frame and its text is encrypted with a key that never leaves your Mac.
Every few seconds (2 to 30, your choice) it looks at the screen and keeps a small screenshot only when something changed
Apple's Vision reads the text in each frame on your Mac; nothing is sent to a server
Search by word beginnings in any order, or a “quoted phrase”, filtered by app and date; matches are outlined on the frame
A day timeline with an hour-by-hour activity strip and a scrubber
Never records password managers, Messages, private browser windows, banking window titles, password fields, a locked screen or idle time; add your own apps and words
Pause from anywhere with ⌃⌥⌘P; delete the last 15 minutes, hour, day or everything
Keeps 30 days and at most 5 GB by default (you choose), oldest deleted first
Capture is off until you switch it on, and Backframe explains macOS's Screen Recording permission before anything asks for it.
Try it free
Every feature for 7 days from the first time you open it. Then a one-time license key keeps saving new frames. Your saved history always stays searchable, viewable and deletable, key or not.
What you get
The app as a signed, Apple-notarized .dmg (download right after purchase)
A license key that works on up to 3 of your Macs; paste it into Backframe › License
Free updates from inside the app
Requirements and privacy
macOS 15 or later, Apple silicon or Intel. Needs Screen Recording permission, only once you switch capture on. Frames, their text, window titles and app names are stored only in ~/Library/Application Support/Backframe on your Mac, encrypted with AES-256-GCM using a random key kept in your login Keychain (this Mac only, never synced); the search index holds keyed hashes, not your words. Backframe runs in Apple's App Sandbox, has no account and no tracking, and never sends your frames, text or searches anywhere. Its only network requests are the license check with Gumroad and update checks and the More Mac Apps list at fitztoppicks.com.
Support: fitztoppicks.com/mac/backframe