I’ve been testing Peek on my M2 MacBook Air, and it’s one of those apps that solves a problem I didn’t fully realize I had until I started using it. As someone who works internationally and constantly monitors various dashboards, websites, and tools throughout the day, I used to keep dozens of browser tabs open. The tab clutter was overwhelming, and finding the right dashboard meant clicking through multiple windows.
Peek takes a different approach: it displays live website previews directly from the macOS menu bar. You hover over the menu bar icon to see all your saved websites at a glance, and click any preview to open it in Chrome. No more hunting through browser tabs or keeping windows perpetually open.
What makes it practical is the custom scroll position feature. For each website you add, you can scroll to exactly the section you care about and save that position. When I check my analytics dashboard, it shows me the metrics I need immediately, not the header or navigation I don’t need to see. For monitoring CI/CD pipelines, I can scroll directly to the build status section. This level of customization turns what could be a generic website widget into something genuinely useful.
The app is optimized for performance. When closed, it uses minimal memory, and the popover response is instant when you hover. I’ve added about a dozen websites to monitor everything from GitHub Actions to Google Analytics, and there’s no noticeable impact on system performance. You can add unlimited websites, which is helpful if you’re monitoring multiple services across different projects or teams.
Privacy is handled locally. All your saved websites and preferences are stored on your Mac with no cloud sync or tracking. This is particularly important if you’re previewing internal dashboards, CRM systems, or other sensitive work tools.
One unique feature is the ability to pin preview windows. If you need to keep a specific dashboard always visible while working, you can pin it and position it anywhere on your screen. I’ve found this useful for keeping an eye on deployment status while working in my code editor, or monitoring support tickets while reviewing documentation.
The app requires macOS 13.0 or later and costs $19.99 USD as a one-time purchase. There’s a 7-day free trial with no credit card required, which gave me enough time to integrate it into my daily workflow. The purchase includes free updates for one year and priority email support.
The target audience is clearly professionals who need constant visibility into dashboards and monitoring tools. Developers can watch CI/CD pipelines, Datadog, or Grafana dashboards. Product managers can monitor Google Analytics, Mixpanel, or sprint progress boards. Sales teams can track CRM pipelines in Salesforce or HubSpot. The use cases are extensive, and the app handles them all with the same simple interface: hover to preview, click to open.
The limitation is browser compatibility. Peek opens websites in Chrome, so if you primarily use Safari or Firefox, you’ll need to adjust your workflow. Additionally, some websites with strict security policies or complex authentication might not work perfectly in the preview window, though you can always click through to open them in your full browser.
For anyone who monitors multiple dashboards, news sites, or web-based tools throughout the day, Peek offers a cleaner alternative to tab management. It’s focused on one thing: giving you instant access to the websites you need to check frequently, without the overhead of managing browser windows and tabs.
