This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/opensource by /u/tysonedwards on 2026-07-19 17:14:23+00:00.
Slaptop listens to your Mac’s motion sensor and turns display taps into direct Mission Control actions. Slap the left side of your screen, you switch to the left. Slap the right side of your screen, you switch to the right. Slap the top and you launch Mission Control. Yes, really.
21 years ago, I built a utility called “Slaptop”, which lets you use Apple’s Mission Control and Spaces by literally slapping the side of your MacBook screen.
It lasted for 3 1/2 weeks before I realized how terrible of an idea it was. Back then, it used the MacBook’s HDD Sudden Motion Sensor, designed to park the hard disk if you ever dropped your computer. End result, when users slapped their laptops it caused irrecoverable data corruption and data loss.
So, I deleted the app. A couple months later, it was cloned. And then it was cloned again.
I reached out to Amit Singh of AMSTracker and Erling Ellingsen of SmackBook so they’d understand the data corruption issue and convinced them too that it was too risky to stay online.
That brings us to today. In the modern Mac, there are no more HDDs that can be damaged through subtle percussive maintenance, and there is now a far more accurate sensor built into every Apple Silicon Mac.
Enjoy a free, open source (MIT) utility that brings a little more fun to your day.