docktor — live Dock window previews, a Cmd+Tab window switcher, and glass music, calendar, and weather widgets for the macOS Dock. The dock you deserve.
docktor parks music, calendar, weather, and live window previews right where your cursor already goes.
macOS 26.0 (Tahoe) or later · Universal build · No account required
How it works
The Dock becomes a control surface.
docktor doesn't try to replace macOS. It sharpens the one place you already visit all day with previews, widgets, and quick info.
Hover
Preview every window for an app before you commit to switching.
Glance
Keep music, meetings, and weather beside the Dock.
Act
Click a preview, pause a track, or check the next event.
Press
What reviewers are saying
Six Colors“Sometimes, when I’m jumping between different apps for the same project, I forget what I’ve got open where. … The free Docktor utility resolves any lingering doubts by adding live previews of each open app’s window when you hover over its icon in the Dock.”
“It’s free, notarized, requires no account, and comes from a solo dev who regularly responds to users with new features and bug fixes.”
Dock Previews
Find the right window before you switch.
Hover an app and docktor turns the Dock into a window chooser. Real thumbnails, one-click activation, and no need to open Mission Control.
Window Switcher
Cmd+Tab, but you can actually see what you're switching to.
docktor can replace the stock Cmd+Tab switcher with one that shows the highlighted app's windows as thumbnails, so you pick the right window on the first try.
Music
Control playback without leaving what you're doing.
The Music widget shows the current track next to the Dock and keeps transport controls one hover away. It works with Spotify and Apple Music.
Calendar
See your next event before it starts.
The Calendar widget reads your Apple Calendar and shows the next event with a live countdown. The drawer holds the rest of the day.
Weather
Check conditions at a glance.
The Weather widget shows current conditions in the bar and a 12-hour forecast in the drawer, using data from Open-Meteo.
System Stats
Keep an eye on your Mac without opening Activity Monitor.
The System Stats widget puts CPU, memory, and disk right next to the Dock, with drawer pages that break down each one and chart the last few minutes.
Device Batteries
Every battery you care about, right next to the Dock.
The Device Batteries widget tracks your Mac and connected Apple peripherals — AirPods, Magic Mouse, Keyboard, and Trackpad — plus Logitech mice and keyboards, so you catch a low battery before it dies mid-task.
“The app fills the unused side space on either end of the Dock with customizable widgets (music, calendar, weather, system stats) and adds hover previews of a running app’s open windows without clicking.”
Release
What's new in 0.15.0
Public release 0.15.0 — docktor-0.15.0.dmg.
Choose how widgets expand.
A new **Expand widgets** choice in Settings › Widgets: Hover, Peek, Click or Never. Upgraders start on the mode closest to what they had.
Open widgets from the keyboard.
Give a widget a shortcut from its right-click menu (**Keyboard Shortcut…**) to open its full drawer from any app. In a drawer, the arrow keys move through lists and pages, Return acts on a row, and S searches.
Apple Music in the Music drawer.
Browse your playlists, Favorite Songs and recent music, search the Apple Music catalog, and put songs in Up Next. A new **Music service** setting picks Apple Music or Spotify. With Spotify you can open playlists, albums and artists right in the drawer.
Now Playing works with more apps.
The Music widget shows what Safari, Chrome and other media apps are playing, and it can pause what was playing when something new starts.
A setup that asks for nothing.
Setup is two steps, and the widget bar works right away. Each permission is asked for when you first turn on or use the feature that needs it. On new installs, Dock previews and the ⌘-Tab switcher start off.
A community forum.
Read, vote on and post ideas and bugs in the new Community tab in Settings › Feedback. Community posts are public; private feedback still goes only to the developer.
More control.
Type to filter the ⌘-Tab switcher, click the active app's Dock icon to hide it (off by default), hide docktor from window sharing, and a safe mode if docktor crashes three launches in a row.
Lighter and clearer.
docktor uses about half the CPU at idle and far less graphics memory. Widget glass matches the Dock on macOS 26, and text picks white or black from what's behind it. Thin and Thick surfaces are now called Translucent and Opaque.
Privacy
Every prompt has a job.
docktor asks for nothing when you first open it. Permissions come up only when you turn on a feature that uses them, and stay scoped to that feature. The widget bar and widgets work without Accessibility. No Google OAuth. No account required for core features.
Accessibility
Dock previews, the Cmd+Tab switcher, window tiling and drawer arrow keys. Widgets work without it
Screen Recording
Window thumbnails via ScreenCaptureKit
Calendar
Apple Calendar events via EventKit
Location
Weather widget via Open-Meteo
Notifications
System Stats and battery alerts, calendar reminders, and replies to your feedback
Automation
Apple Music playback via Apple Events
Media & Apple Music
Your Apple Music Up Next queue in the Music drawer
Learn more
Guides & comparisons
Features
- Window previewsHover a Dock app to see thumbnails of its windows, then click to jump straight in.
- Window switcherCmd+Tab through your apps and see each one's windows as thumbnails, then pick the exact window.
- System statsLive CPU, memory, disk, and network usage in a glass widget beside your Dock.
- Music & lyricsNow playing with synced lyrics for Apple Music and Spotify, right by the Dock.
Guides
- Window previews in the Mac DockWhat macOS offers instead of hover previews, and how to get Dock window thumbnails.
- Show all windows in Cmd+TabWhy Command-Tab lists apps rather than windows, the built-in workarounds, and a fix.
- Switch windows of the same appCommand-`, the Window menu, App Exposé, and a faster way to pick the window you want.
- All guidesEvery docktor how-to for finding, previewing, and switching windows on a Mac.
Compare
- vs DockDoorThe same Dock window previews, plus music, calendar, weather, and system stats widgets.
- vs iStat MenusFree everyday CPU, memory, disk, and network stats beside the Dock. An honest comparison.
- vs AltTabA Cmd+Tab switcher with window thumbnails, plus Dock previews and widgets, with fewer knobs.
- vs HyperDockDock window previews for macOS 26 Tahoe, free, compared honestly with HyperDock.
- vs WitchA free Cmd+Tab switcher with window thumbnails, and where Witch's tabs and search win.
- Best Dock apps for Macdocktor, DockDoor, AltTab, Witch, uBar, and HyperDock: who each one suits, checked for 2026.
- iStat Menus vs StatsPaid and deep versus free and open-source, and where docktor fits beside the Dock.
Put the Dock to work.
docktor is a free public beta. Download it and put your Dock to work today — no account required.