glance

Arrow through a folder of images as fast as the disk allows. Open any image and ←/→ steps through the rest of its folder; G swaps in a thumbnail grid for jumping around. Turn on Include Subfolders and years of screenshots become one stream, oldest first. Hand it labelled groups of files and it lays them out side by side for comparing. If you've used Xee, it's the same idea.

Install

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lockyc/glance/main/install.sh | bash
glance --make-default   # optional: the default viewer for every image type except PDF

Needs macOS 14 or later. The installer downloads the latest release, checks that it is signed by glance's developer and notarized by Apple, installs /Applications/glance.app and links the glance command into ~/.local/bin, which must be on your PATH. glance then updates itself: it checks daily, and glance → Check for Updates… checks now.

To build from source instead (needs the Xcode command-line tools with Swift 6, and just):

git clone https://github.com/lockyc/glance && cd glance
just install        # builds glance.app into /Applications and links `glance` into ~/.local/bin
just make-default   # optional, as --make-default above

Features

• The viewer. Opening a file shows it in its folder; ←/→ step through the rest, wrapping at the ends. Zoom about the cursor with a pinch or ⌘-scroll, and drag a fitted image out to another app.

• The grid. Opening a folder, or dropping one on the Dock icon, opens a full-window thumbnail grid; hovering a tile shows it enlarged. Select several tiles to copy them, show them in Finder or edit them together.

  

• Subfolders. View → Include Subfolders turns a folder and everything under it into one stream, oldest first, with month headers in the grid. Opening any file inside it opens the whole tree at that file. Exclude individual subfolders from View → Subfolders or glance → Settings….

• Sets and comparisons — from the command line:

  glance <folder>                                  # open a folder
  glance <file>...                                 # open the files as a set
  glance --variant <label> <file>... [--variant <label> <file>...]...
                                                   # compare labelled variants side by side
  glance --link <any of the above>                 # print a glance:// link instead of opening

  A set is the files you name, in that order. A comparison makes each --variant a column and each of its files a row, so the first file of every variant sits on the first row. Opening a cell keeps every variant's label along the top and every shot down the left, with a map of the grid in the corner; click a label or a map cell to jump there. Each set or comparison opens in a new window. A --link link reopens the same view when clicked in a note, a doc or a chat.

  

  _{Model renders adapted from Big Buck Bunny © Blender Foundation, CC BY 3.0.}

• Formats. Everything ImageIO decodes — JPEG, PNG, HEIC/HEIF, WebP, AVIF, JPEG XL, TIFF, BMP, GIF, ICO, ICNS, PSD, OpenEXR, TGA and camera RAW (CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, RAF, ORF, DNG and more) — plus SVG. Animated GIF, WebP and APNG play.

• Edit in Excerpt (E): hands the PNG in view, or the grid's selection as one series, to the screenshot editor.

Keys

Viewer

Key	Action
← / →	Previous / next image (wraps)
Home / End	First / last image
G or Space	Thumbnail grid
F or ⌃⌘F	Toggle full screen
Esc	Leave full screen, otherwise thumbnail grid
E or ⌘E	Edit in Excerpt (PNG only)
⌘C	Copy the image (pastes as the file, or as a picture)
⌘R	Show in Finder
⌘↑	Browse the image's folder (from a set or comparison)
Right-click	Browse Folder, Show in Finder, Edit in Excerpt, Copy
0 / 1	Fit to window / actual size
+ / −	Zoom in / out
Pinch or ⌘-scroll	Zoom about the cursor
Drag, or scroll when zoomed	Pan
Drag when fitted	Drag the image out to another app
Double-click	Toggle fit ↔ actual size

Grid

Key	Action
← / →	Select the previous / next tile (across months)
↑ / ↓	Move the selection by row
Return or click	Open the image
⌘-click / ⇧-click	Select several tiles
E or ⌘E	Edit the selected images in Excerpt, as one series (PNG only)
⌘C	Copy the selected images
⌘R	Show the selected images in Finder
⌘↑	Browse the selected image's folder (from a set or comparison)
Right-click	The same commands, on the clicked tile
Esc, G or Space	Back to the viewer
⌘+ / ⌘−	Larger / smaller tiles (remembered)
Hover	Enlarged preview

Comparison

Key	Action
Arrows (grid)	Move the selection between cells
← / → (viewer)	Same shot in the previous / next variant
↑ / ↓ (viewer)	Previous / next shot in the same variant
Return or click	Open the cell in the viewer
Click a header or the map (viewer)	Open that cell
G / Space / Esc (grid)	Open the viewer on the current cell
G / Space / Esc (viewer)	Back to the grid (Esc leaves full screen first)
⌘+ / ⌘−	Larger / smaller cells (remembered)

Limits

PDFs stay with Preview. A file that won't decode shows "Can't open" in its place, and navigation carries on. A set is never rescanned, and Include Subfolders doesn't apply to it.

Status

In use, 0.x. What's next: docs/FOLLOWUPS.md.

Development

just test    # unit tests
just bench   # latency benchmarks
just run     # build the bundle and open it

Architecture, conventions and the release process: CLAUDE.md.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.