all the answers

frequently asked questions

short answers to the things people ask us most.

general

  • what is iCharm?

    iCharm is a macOS app that lets you place animated 3D charms on your desktop. drag them anywhere, let them float, watch them react to whatever music you’re playing.

    it’s purely decorative. no widgets. no productivity features. just little objects that live on your screen.

  • what does iCharm need to run?

    macOS 14 Sonoma or later. works on Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) and Intel Macs. a few MB of disk, minimal battery impact when idle.

    charms render at your display’s native refresh rate via SceneKit, and idle charms use well under 1% CPU on modern machines.

  • can you add a charm shaped like ___?

    yes, probably. send the idea to /support and if it resonates we’ll add it to the queue.

    new charms drop every few weeks — /drops has the log.

using iCharm

  • how do I place a charm on my desktop?

    open iCharm from the menu bar icon and click any charm in the Charm Shelf. it’ll appear on your desktop where you can drag it anywhere you want.

    right-click a charm for resize, always-on-top, swap, or remove.

  • how does music reactivity work?

    iCharm taps macOS’s audio output system to detect what’s playing. when music is active, charms pulse, glow, and shake subtly in time with the beat.

    no microphone permission needed — we only read the system audio output. nothing is recorded, nothing leaves your machine.

pricing

  • what's the difference between free and Pro?

    Free gets you 11 starter charms, one charm on the desktop at a time, and all the basic drag/resize/always-on-top settings.

    Pro ($14.99 one-time) unlocks the full collection — all 19 charms including Legendaries, plus multiple charms on the desktop at once, ambient awareness (charms respond to your work rhythm), and fine-grained animation controls.

    one-time payment. no subscription. no in-app ads.

privacy

  • what data does iCharm collect?

    none. iCharm does not collect, store, or transmit any data about you. no analytics, no telemetry, no crash reporting services.

    the app only reads what it needs to animate charms — system audio output for reactivity, and (with your permission, Pro only) Screen Time usage patterns for the ambient awareness feature. both stay local. see our privacy policy for the full story.

troubleshooting

  • how do I uninstall?

    drag iCharm.app to the Trash. that’s it — the app doesn’t install anything outside itself.

    your charm selections and position preferences are in ~/Library/Preferences/com.zacharyamith.iCharm.plist and are removed automatically when you delete the app and empty the Trash.

  • my charm is running slowly — what can I do?

    right-click the charm → Advanced Settings → enable Low Spec Mode. this reduces shadow quality, bloom, and ambient occlusion while keeping the charm’s character intact.

    you can also drop the FPS cap (30/60/120) separately. 30 FPS is barely noticeable for most charms and cuts GPU usage in half.

    if things are still laggy, let us know on /support — we’d rather fix the performance than ask you to turn things down.