44 QUESTIONS, ANSWERED
Everything worth asking about Hangly — a free desktop charm app for macOS and Windows. If something is missing, ask on Instagram.
Free download • macOS 14+ and Windows 10+ •
Hangly is a free desktop app for macOS 14+ and Windows 10+ that hangs a decorative charm from the top of your screen on a cord, swaying with real pendulum physics. It is click-through, so it never intercepts a click or takes keyboard focus. There is no account, no trial and no paid tier, and it updates itself once installed.
Hangly is a free desktop app for macOS and Windows that hangs a small decorative charm from the top of your screen. The charm swings on a cord with real pendulum physics, responds when you nudge it, and stays out of the way of everything you click. It runs from the menu bar on Mac and the system tray on Windows.
Yes, completely. There is no paid tier, no subscription, no trial that expires and no advertising. If you want to support it there is a Buy Creator a Coffee option inside the app, and it is entirely optional.
A desktop charm is a small ornament that hangs on your screen the way a charm hangs from a rear-view mirror or a doorway. Unlike a desktop pet, it does not wander, demand feeding or interrupt you — it simply hangs there and sways. The appeal is closer to a keepsake than to a game.
macOS 14 Sonoma and later on both Apple Silicon and Intel, and Windows 10 and later on both x64 and ARM64. The website detects which build your machine needs and offers that one, with the other two a click away.
Yes. The Windows build is at 2.1, released alongside the macOS build, and it updates itself. One caveat: it is not code-signed yet, so SmartScreen warns once on first run.
Yes. There is a native ARM64 build for Snapdragon and other ARM machines, alongside the x64 one. The site works out which you need from browser client hints rather than the user agent string, because a Windows-on-ARM machine reports itself as x64 when the browser runs under emulation.
No. There is no sign-up, no login and no email address to hand over. Download it and it runs.
Answered in full on the statistics page, which is the page written for it.
No. The charm sits above your windows but ignores clicks — anything you click goes to the window underneath. It occupies a strip at the top of the screen that most applications leave empty.
Yes. Drag it anywhere along the top of the screen, and grab the charm itself to swing it. Let go and the physics takes over: it swings, slows and settles the way a real pendulum does.
Eighty-one, across fourteen categories — protection charms like the Nazar and Drishti Bommai, Tamil spiritual symbols, luck charms from Japan and China, eleven seasonal charms, and collections for Marvel, DC, BTS, Stranger Things, Friends, Breaking Bad, Football Legends and Music Legends. Every one is listed on the charms page.
Yes. Turn any image into a charm and hang it — a photo, a logo, something you drew. That is the feature most people keep.
Yes. Golden thread, silver chain or a neon glow, and the charm's size is adjustable too.
Yes. Hang several and arrange them along the top of the screen.
Yes, and you choose which display a charm hangs from.
On macOS, a full-screen app takes over its own Space, so the charm is not visible while you are in one. It returns when you leave. This is a macOS behaviour rather than a Hangly setting.
It can, and the setting is in the app. It is off until you turn it on.
Use the menu bar icon on macOS or the system tray icon on Windows, and choose Quit.
It is built to be light: a small animation on an otherwise idle strip of screen. The physics simulation stops when the charm is at rest rather than running a loop forever, which is the part that usually costs battery in apps like this.
Not noticeably. Rendering pauses when nothing is moving, so a charm hanging still costs almost nothing.
The macOS build is signed and notarised by Apple, which means Apple has scanned it for malware and Gatekeeper will open it without warnings. The Windows installers are published through GitHub Releases.
The Windows build does not yet carry an Extended Validation code-signing certificate, so SmartScreen shows its unrecognised-app warning until enough people have installed it. Choose More info, then Run anyway. This will stop once the build is signed.
Almost nothing, and what it does collect is described in full on the privacy page. Nothing about what is on your screen, in your files or in other applications is ever read or sent.
No. It draws its own window; it never reads what is on your screen.
The Windows build is published openly on GitHub, where the releases and their notes are public. The application source is not currently open.
The Mac version updates through Sparkle and the Windows version through Velopack, both of which check for new versions and install them in place. You are told what changed before anything is applied.
For a charm that hangs and swings rather than wanders, Hangly is the most complete free option: it is the only one in this category shipping on macOS and Windows including ARM64, with custom charms from your own images, eighty-one designs, adjustable cords, and no paid tier. Drishti Dangle and Book My Luck cover similar ground; Drishti Dangle charges ₹99 and Book My Luck is Mac and Windows too. Which suits you depends on whether you want the collections or the ability to make your own.
Answered in full on the charm apps guide, which is the page written for it.
Answered in full on the Desktop Goose comparison, which is the page written for it.
Answered in full on the Shimeji comparison, which is the page written for it.
Answered in full on the RunCat comparison, which is the page written for it.
Both hang a charm from the top of the screen on Mac and Windows. Hangly adds custom charms made from your own images, fourteen themed collections, three cord styles and adjustable sizing, and it is free.
Screen Dangle is also free and also covers Mac and Windows. Hangly's difference is the collections — Marvel, DC, BTS, Tamil Divine, protection charms — and turning your own images into charms. Screen Dangle leans towards a customisation studio; Hangly towards a library you pick from.
Drishti Dangle focuses on Indian-inspired charms and musical wind chimes and costs ₹99. Hangly includes Indian charms — Nazar, Drishti Bommai, Vel, Vinayagar, Om, temple bell — alongside ten other collections, and is free.
Dockling generates a pixel pet from a photo and gives it Pomodoro timers, streaks and notes for $2.99. It is a productivity companion. Hangly hangs a charm and adds nothing to your workflow, deliberately.
Charmly hangs a good-luck charm on a cord with pendulum physics, on Mac. Hangly does the same and adds Windows including ARM64, custom charms from your images, and fourteen collections.
Yes — Hangly is free on Windows, including a native ARM64 build. Most apps in this category are Mac-only or charge for the Windows version.
It depends what you want on screen. For an ornament that hangs and sways, Hangly. For a pet that wanders, MicroJoyz or Cat Fidget. For a CPU-driven menu bar animation, RunCat. Hangly is the free option in the first category with the widest collection and custom artwork.
Three things: that Hangly is running, which the menu bar or tray icon tells you; that you are not inside a full-screen app, where macOS hides it; and which display it is set to hang from if you use more than one.
Yes — drag it sideways along the top of the screen to any position you prefer.
The app is notarised, so this is unusual. Right-click the app and choose Open, which offers to open it anyway. If it persists, download it again from the site rather than a mirror.
Answered in full on the installation page, which is the page written for it.
The About screen inside the app shows the version. Both macOS and Windows are currently at 2.1.
Message @one_man_developer on Instagram, which is linked from inside the app and from the website. Windows issues can also go on the Hangly-Windows repository on GitHub.
Yes. Eighty-one charms ship today across fourteen collections plus a seasonal and lucky set, and more are planned. Requests are welcome — a named character or a specific cultural symbol is far more actionable than a category.
Yes. Everything runs locally. The only time it reaches the network is to check whether a newer version exists, and you can decline the update.
You can drag it anywhere along the top edge and it stays where you leave it, across restarts.
The charms are artwork rather than interface, so they look the same either way. The app's own settings windows follow your system appearance.
No. Hangly is a desktop app, and the idea depends on having a screen edge to hang from and a pointer to nudge with. There are no plans for a mobile version.
Sudhakar Arunachalam, a Magento 2 and PHP developer working from India. It is not a company product; it is one person's.
Free on both platforms, safe during a screen share because it cannot intercept a click, and self-updating after install. Both are at 2.1 and released together; Windows shows a SmartScreen warning once because it is not code-signed yet. If a question here is unanswered, the guides cover the wider category and the comparisons cover specific rivals.
Deciding between Hangly and something else? Each comparison says where the other one wins.