Software Alternatives & Reviews

Lunar.fyi VS DisplayBuddy

Compare Lunar.fyi VS DisplayBuddy and see what are their differences

Lunar.fyi logo Lunar.fyi

Control monitor brightness, adapt using the ambient light sensor, adjust volume, switch inputs and turn off displays without fiddling with clunky buttons.

DisplayBuddy logo DisplayBuddy

Control the real brightness of your monitors directly from your Mac - no need to touch the buttons on your Monitor.
  • Lunar.fyi Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-06-24

Native brightness control

macOS can't control external monitors brightness natively. Lunar adds that capability so you can use the same familiar brightness keys to adjust all monitors at once, or fine tune each one.

Volume keys also work for adjusting monitor volume, and there are hotkeys for switching between monitor inputs/ports.

Adaptive brightness

By using the MacBook and iMac integrated Ambient Light Sensor, Lunar can automatically adapt your monitor brightness and contrast throughout the day so you can forget about fiddling with buttons.

Even if you have monitors with different brightness capabilities, Lunar can learn the differences between them and compute a custom brightness curve for each one so they're always at the same perceived luminance.

Break brightness limits

Displays that have more than 500nits of brightness are limited by macOS so they can't reach their full brightness. Lunar unlocks that through its XDR Brightness feature so you can work in sunlight.

The Sub-zero Dimming feature allows you to lower the brightness below the usual 0% so you can work comfortably during the night.

Turn off displays

Lunar's BlackOut feature can turn off individual displays (even the built-in MacBook display) so you can focus on single tasks:

  • No need to close the lid or press power buttons
  • Webcam, keyboard and trackpad keep working as usual
  • Monitors can still be adapted through the MacBook light sensor
  • DisplayBuddy Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-04-06

DisplayBuddy lets you control external displays connected to your Mac right from your menu bar - No need to touch those clunky monitor buttons!

It has been tested on a wide range of monitors from manufacturers such as Dell, Acer, LG, Samsung, BenQ & PRISM, and works with most displays manufactured in the last 5 years. DisplayBuddy can also control the volume for monitors with built-in speakers, turn off your monitors, sync brightness across displays and even switch display inputs to HDMI, DisplayPort, USB-C and more.

Lunar.fyi

Website
lunar.fyi
$ Details
freemium $23.0 / One-off (Pro)
Platforms
Mac OSX
Release Date
2017 November

DisplayBuddy

$ Details
freemium $16.99 / One-off
Platforms
Mac OSX
Release Date
2021 February

Lunar.fyi features and specs

  • Adaptive Brightness: Yes
  • Native Brightness Control: Yes
  • XDR Brightness: Yes
  • Dim brightness below zero: Yes
  • Switch monitor inputs: Yes
  • Sync brightness between displays: Yes
  • Turn off individual displays: Yes
  • External light sensor support: Yes
  • Scheduled brightness presets: Yes
  • Command-line integration: Yes

DisplayBuddy features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

Lunar.fyi videos

Lunar 5 Demo

DisplayBuddy videos

No DisplayBuddy videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

+ Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Lunar.fyi and DisplayBuddy)
Mac
71 71%
29% 29
Productivity
63 63%
37% 37
Utilities
58 58%
42% 42
Mac Tools
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Lunar.fyi and DisplayBuddy

Lunar.fyi Reviews

  1. I can not live without Lunar.

    Have you ever felt down? Depressed? Like there's something missing?

    That's computing life before Lunar. You might still be depressed, but at least you'll feel control over your displays.

    Facelight, smart brightness sync across monitors, support for a DIY-ish light sensor, command line integration, APP SPECIFIC PRESETS (!) the ability to access the XDR brightness in your shiny new Macbook, and much more.

    Your screens deserve better, your eyes deserve better. There's simply no better way to manage how light gets into your eyes from your monitor.

    🏁 Competitors: DisplayBuddy, MonitorControl
    👍 Pros:    Cheap price|Great set of functions|Unique|Comprehensive functions
    👎 Cons:    You don't own it yet

DisplayBuddy Reviews

  1. Simple UI, and does what is says very well!

    If you use a monitor with your Mac, this app is life changing. I started using DisplayBuddy and I can never go back to monitor buttons now!

    👍 Pros:    Works perfectly|Supports mac shortcuts

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Lunar.fyi should be more popular than DisplayBuddy. It has been mentiond 77 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Lunar.fyi mentions (77)

  • Reverse Engineering a Software Crack
    It’s done in a similar way on macOS: a dylib is added to the bundle and an LC_LOAD command is added to the app binary. The dylib is the first thing that runs because of using the constructor attribute, like this: https://notes.alinpanaitiu.com/Injecting%20a%20DYLIB%20into%20a%20macOS%20app The nice thing is that a signed app will refuse to load a dylib that does not have the same signature. So crackers will be... - Source: Hacker News / 10 days ago
  • No I don't want 2, Emacs
    Pretty sure Lunar [0] can do this for you, and you can buy a lifetime license. [0]: https://lunar.fyi/. - Source: Hacker News / 18 days ago
  • Show HN: Multi-monitor KVM using just a USB switch
    I've had good luck with the Lunar app - it manages my Dell and LG monitors on an M2. (No affiliation) https://lunar.fyi. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • PHOLED Will Transform Displays
    Wild! I am working on exactly the same thing now for Lunar (https://lunar.fyi), and I'm also calling it Night Mode ^_^ what a coincidence I've been trying to make "white regions in dark backgrounds" less painful for months, but doing that at the system level on macOS is incredibly hard. I see you're doing it with CSS filters, which make sense in the limited scope of an article. But applying something like... - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • If buying isn't owning, piracy isn't stealing
    I was comparing anti-piracy measures with DRM, I don't have actual DRM in my app. I can't block users that really bought the app from using it (which is what DRM is notorious for). But I do have a license verification for the Pro features (https://lunar.fyi/#pro), and that is what people are cracking in the app. I only added more protection around this verification. - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
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DisplayBuddy mentions (8)

  • Little macOS Apps That Make a Big Difference in 2024
    Adding my must haves: - DisplayBuddy: a more modern alternative to BetterDisplay to control monitors (https://displaybuddy.app) - Magnet: the simplest and best window manager (https://magnet.crowdcafe.com) - DaisyDisk: fantastic way to visualise your disk usage and free up space (https://daisydiskapp.com). - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • 18-year-old built a better computer monitor that doesn't strain your eyes
    Why not just use https://displaybuddy.app on a modern monitor and not strain your eyes. - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
  • Scrollbars Are Becoming a Problem
    If you’re looking for something that allows media keys and custom keyboard shortcuts: https://displaybuddy.app/ Works on both Windows and Mac. - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • TIL there are apps that can control your monitor without touching the buttons on it
    All DDC related features in BetterDisplay and MonitorControl is completely free without limitation or no nag screens of any kind. Lunar has manual control available for free (with a daily adjustment limit). DisplayBuddy was also mentioned here - it is a rather limited app and asks a bunch of money for stuff that is available for free and in a better implemented form in basically every other app (which is weird as... Source: about 1 year ago
  • App LIST!!!
    DisplayBuddy (Paid) Very limited options, tbh I don't recommend it compared to Lunar or BetterDisplay. Source: about 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Lunar.fyi and DisplayBuddy, you can also consider the following products

rcmd - rcmd makes app switching instantaneous!When you have a lot of apps open, finding and switching to them might feel too slow using Command-Tab or the Dock.Hold down the right side |⌘ command| and press the first letter of the app name to focus it.

MonitorControl - Control your external monitor brightness&volume on your Mac

Dropover - Mac app for easier drag & drop

Rectangle - Window management app based on Spectacle, written in Swift.

f.lux - f. lux is a piece of software for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android that provides a blue light filter over your screen. Research suggests limiting our exposure to blue light in the hours before bedtime can help us fall asleep faster.

Yoink - Yoink is a website that makes it easier to drag and drop images and text from one screen to another. It's a straightforward site with help along the way if you aren't sure about dragging and how to place your content.