Macdials

Support

Macdials support

Email support@macdials.com and a person will read it. Say which monitor, how it's connected, and what happened. The fastest way is Report a Problem… in the Macdials menu, which attaches what Macdials recorded about your monitors for you. The Activity Log stays on your Mac.

Common questions

A monitor's sliders do nothing, or it says it isn't answering

Check these on the monitor, using its own buttons or joystick:

  • If its menu has a DDC/CI setting (often under General, Setup or Other Settings), turn it on.
  • Turn off modes that take over the backlight: Energy Saving or Eco Mode, Auto Brightness, and Uniformity Compensation.

Then choose Check Displays Again in the Macdials menu. There's nothing to restart. Settings, then Displays, lists the settings to check for your brand.

It works on one monitor and not another

The connection is usually the cause. On some Apple Silicon Macs the HDMI port doesn't carry brightness commands, while USB‑C, Thunderbolt and DisplayPort do. Many docks and KVM switches don't pass them through even when the picture is fine, and DisplayLink adapters never do. Plug the monitor straight into the Mac to find out.

I want to dim a monitor that won't respond

Choose Dim in Software under that screen in the Macdials menu. It darkens the picture rather than the backlight, so blacks turn gray and the screen uses the same power. Macdials only does this when you ask.

The brightness and volume keys don't do anything

Macdials needs Accessibility permission to use them. In Macdials, open Settings, then Keys, and press Allow Accessibility. If the switch in System Settings is already on and the keys still don't work, macOS has tied it to an older copy of the app:

  1. In System Settings, open Privacy & Security, then Accessibility (on macOS 27, Device Control and Data Access).
  2. Select each Macdials row and remove it with the minus button.
  3. Press Allow Accessibility in Macdials again and switch the new row on.

The brightness keys change the wrong screen

They change the screen your pointer is on. To change that, open Settings, then Keys, and pick under Which Display the Brightness Keys Change. The volume keys follow the speakers the Mac is playing through.

The on-screen display looks different from the system's

Macdials draws its own, on the screen you're changing. To turn it off or change how long it stays, open Settings, then General, then On‑Screen Display.

It asks to control System Events

That is how Macdials toggles dark mode for your whole Mac, from Toggle Dark Mode in its menu or with ⌃⌥⌘D. Choose Allow once. If you chose Don't Allow, turn Macdials back on in System Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Automation.

A screen stayed dim after a crash

Macdials undoes software dimming the next time it opens. If a screen is still dim, open Settings, then Displays, and under that screen switch off Dim in software when DDC/CI isn't answering.

A schedule didn't run

A schedule that comes due while the Mac is asleep runs when it wakes. If several came due, only the latest runs, so the screen ends up where it would have been. Sunrise and sunset come from the latitude and longitude you typed, and are accurate to a few minutes.

I want to remove it completely

Quit Macdials, drag it to the Trash, and delete ~/Library/Application Support/Macdials/. Your monitors keep their last brightness.

I lost my license key

Look in your email first: the key came in its own message after your receipt, so a search for Macdials or High5 Labs usually finds it. Not there? Have it sent again to the address you bought with, or write to support@macdials.com from that address.