Limelight

What is Limelight?

Limelight is a native macOS screen presentation utility for spotlighting your cursor, displaying keystrokes, and drawing over any app in real time. It is designed for demos, tutorials, remote meetings, and screen recordings where viewers need to follow exactly what you are doing.

The app lives in the menu bar and works as a live overlay rather than a recorder or editor. You can turn each tool on and off with a global hotkey, use it over apps like browsers, terminals, Zoom, Keynote, and OBS, and keep everything local on your Mac.

Key Features

• Cursor spotlight: adds a glowing highlight around the pointer so viewers can track where you are on screen.
• Keystroke display: shows the keys you press in large on-screen text, which helps make shortcuts and walkthroughs easier to follow.
• Draw on screen: lets you circle, underline, and annotate directly over any app during a presentation or call.
• Global hotkeys: enables quick toggling with shortcuts such as ⌃⌥1, ⌃⌥2, and ⌃⌥3, plus a clear shortcut for removing drawings.
• Menu bar native workflow: stays out of the Dock and can be launched or controlled from the menu bar.
• Local-only operation: runs fully offline with no account, no cloud upload, and no screen recording.
• macOS native app: built with SwiftUI and positioned as a lightweight utility for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.

How to Use Limelight

Install the app on your Mac, open it, and grant Accessibility permission so it can draw over other apps and detect hotkeys. After that, use the global shortcuts to enable the cursor spotlight, keystroke display, or drawing overlay whenever you need them.

In practice, you launch Limelight from the menu bar before a demo or call, toggle the tools you need, and switch them off just as quickly when you are done. It is meant to sit alongside whatever app you are presenting rather than replace your recorder or meeting software.

Use Cases

• Online teaching and lectures: keep students oriented by highlighting the pointer and showing shortcuts while you explain a workflow.
• Tutorial and course videos: present step-by-step instructions where viewers can see both your clicks and the keys behind each action.
• Product demos and sales calls: direct attention to specific features or controls on a shared screen without needing to narrate every pointer movement.
• Remote meetings: make screen shares easier to follow in Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams by emphasizing what you are selecting and typing.
• Live coding and developer screencasts: annotate code, surface shortcuts, and keep attention on the exact line or command you are discussing.

FAQ

• Does Limelight record my screen? No. It is a live overlay and the source says nothing is recorded, uploaded, or stored.
• Does it work offline? Yes. The product is described as fully offline and local to your Mac.
• Is a subscription required? No. The site describes a one-time payment model with no subscription.
• What apps does it work with? The page says it works over any app and specifically mentions browsers, terminals, Keynote, Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, OBS, QuickTime, and Loom.
• What do I need to set up first? You need to allow Accessibility permission once so Limelight can draw over other apps and see your hotkeys.

Alternatives

• Built-in screen recording tools: these can capture your screen, but they usually do not provide the same live cursor spotlight, keystroke overlay, or drawing workflow.
• Full-featured screen recorders: products in this category often focus on capturing and editing recordings, which is broader than Limelight’s live presentation overlay.
• Presentation annotation tools: these can help you point or draw during a talk, but may not include the cursor spotlight and keystroke display together.
• Meeting-specific overlays or plugins: some tools are tied to a single conferencing platform, while Limelight is positioned as a system-wide overlay that works across apps.