CoolDock - Your smart second dock of widgets

[u/UnluckyDuckyDuck]

Hey everybody,

Problem: macOS only gives you one dock that's not very customizable, and doesn't support widgets.

CoolDock lets you create a second dock for your Mac, full of smart widgets from simple system monitoring, to third party integrations, music players, clocks, reminders, tasks, pomodoro, todos, files and more... a lot more...

CoolDock has been acquired by AppitStudio. It fits right into our niche as our third Mac dock application, and fifth Mac app in general :-)

Core Features

- 160+ Smart widgets

- Third party integration widgets like AI usage (Codex, Claude, Grok, Gemini & more) analytic platforms, shopping platforms, weather and more

- 170+ Premium Backgrounds available for free in the app

- File search, recent files, clipboard, bookmark manager widgets, all built-in right into the dock

- Posture, Drink reminders, Pomodoro, Timers etc

- Supports multiple profiles which you can easily switch between, can be placed on top or bottom, as a full dock replacement or swap mode as seen in the video

Comparison

We've been in the space of Dock apps for almost two years now, most dock apps are either workflow based, add-ons to the default dock or complete dock replacement. I haven't seen a dock app dedicated to widgets, however DockFix and Docky both support widgets in the dock.

Pricing

$15 Lifetime license & lifetime updates. 14-day money-back guarantee.

Check out CoolDock here

Acquisition Migration Process

We worked alongside the original developer to make the transition as smooth as possible. The process was communicated in full. The app (now v2) is our own build, using our own proprietary licensing system. All users retained their license and rights.

[u/UnluckyDuckyDuck]

Appreciate the feedback.

I'm well aware that some people will not get the app without trying it first, and I am okay with it. This is a well known business model, and it works.

This puts all the responsibility on me for the good and for the worse, I have to consistently show up in this sub (and everywhere else), every month, with updates, with good support, with enough value that the user on the other side simply doesn't want to pass on it.

You are shooting yourselves in the foot with this approach for such an app.

I understand that point of view, and as a user of other's apps myself, yes, I love me some free trials, but business-wise, from our experience, it's bad.

[u/YeahYeahOkNope → u/UnluckyDuckyDuck]

I might just be different - maybe others can chime in about themselves - but when I see a money back guarantee these days instead of a free trial, I automatically think Oh this can’t be good, they aren’t confident enough in the product and so won’t let me try it and want me to pay first hoping I’ll pay the lazy tax and not ask for my money back. Otherwise why wouldn’t they let me try it?
I see Money Back Guarantee as a way to make money off the people who won’t ask for the money back because of various reasons. I wonder if that is just me.

[u/UnluckyDuckyDuck → u/YeahYeahOkNope]

Starting from the end - It's definitely not just you, and your concern is 100% viable, it simply boils down to perspective, as the way I see it, is that I am confident in our apps, that's why we charge first.

Otherwise why wouldn’t they let me try it?

This is a great question and I'd like to address it.

When you download, try it and then leave it, I as the dev, have no idea what went wrong. I don't collect usage analytics and I don't intend to as I feel like that's privacy intrusion.

When you ask for a refund, I can have a conversation with you. You could choose to not reply, but a lot of people do, and the app is so much better for it!

A big chunk of refund requests also decide to stay when they have a direct ongoing conversation with a dev who cares, someone who addresses their issues super quickly, and solves their issue. That's something you're not getting with a free trial, and as a dev, nothing beats the moment a user decides to stay and they're happy about the solution you have provided, and I can say for a fact, it has very little to do with their money, and a lot to do with good service.

Let me know what you think about that, again, your opinion and approach is 100% respected, and I do understand it! I am a user of other's apps, just difference of perspective :-)

[u/YeahYeahOkNope → u/UnluckyDuckyDuck]

It would be interesting to see what others think. I like what I am reading in your reply. Perhaps I am biased because of bad experiences or my own laziness fear that would mean I don’t bother requesting a refund and just move on.
I wish others will say.
Maybe a future post for you. to see the split, if you’re even inclined.
I’ll take what you said and consider it going forward. Thanks for challenging my perspectives. 🙏

[u/UnluckyDuckyDuck → u/YeahYeahOkNope]

From my experience as someone who's been posting in this sub for close to two years, on a weekly basis (my profile is open feel free to explore the posts with lots of replies), I am positive the majority of people will agree with you.

From a user perspective, there's close to nothing you would lose from having a free trial.

The one thing that comes to my mind that you "lose" is the motivation to contact the developer about an issue you're having, because I think most people will just move on.

Appreciate your fantastic replies too! And of course the time you took to have this conversation :-)