Shoo! vs Lockish: window overlay vs. process kill
Lockish and Shoo! actually agree on a lot: one-time purchase, no subscription, a 7-day free trial, macOS 14+ only, built by a small team rather than a big company. Where they genuinely differ is architecture — and that difference decides what "locked" actually means while someone else is at your Mac.
| Shoo! | Lockish | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $17.99 once | $9.99 once |
| Trial / platform | 7 days, macOS 14+ | 7 days, macOS 14+ — same as Shoo! |
| Locking mechanism | Ends the app's process — nothing runs behind the lock | Overlay on the app's window — the app keeps running underneath |
| Fallback credential | Separate backup password, PBKDF2-hashed — never your Mac password | Accepts your Mac's own login password as a fallback |
| Permissions | None | Accessibility (for window tracking) |
| Attempt log & scheduled access | Shipped today | Both listed as “Planned” on Lockish's public roadmap |
The core difference: a window overlay, not a dead process
Lockish describes its own mechanism plainly: "app-only locking (not full screen)" — it locks the specific app window with an overlay rather than taking over the whole screen, so you can keep using other apps while a locked one waits behind its overlay. That's a real usability upgrade over full-screen lockers, and Lockish is upfront about it being their headline feature.
But the app itself is still running underneath that overlay. Shoo! takes a different position: a locked app isn't hidden behind anything — it simply isn't running. Touch ID is required to start it again, not to see past a screen sitting on top of it. Lockish's own changelog shows what the overlay approach costs in engineering: covering every window of a locked app, keeping the overlay attached when a window moves or resizes, and fully blocking keyboard input into a locked window were all separate fixes added across later release cycles — gaps that don't exist when there's no process left to have a window in the first place.
The Mac password question
By Lockish's own FAQ, it "supports Touch ID for instant biometric access, or your Mac password as a fallback for devices without Touch ID." On a shared family Mac, that means whoever knows the login password — which is often more people than you'd guess — can open every app you've locked.
Shoo!'s backup password is a separate secret you set inside the app, hashed with PBKDF2 (210,000 iterations) and rate-limited against guessing. It is never your Mac's login password, on purpose — knowing how to log into the Mac shouldn't be the same thing as being able to open everything on it.
Permissions
Lockish's FAQ states it uses Accessibility APIs for window tracking (it doesn't need Screen Recording, which it's upfront about). Shoo! doesn't request Accessibility, Screen Recording, or Automation at all — it doesn't need to watch a window, because it isn't tracking one, it's managing whether a process is allowed to run.
What's shipped vs. what's still on the roadmap
Shoo! already ships an access-attempt log (every attempt to open a protected app, successful or not) and time-based scheduled access (a window of hours where a specific app won't ask for Touch ID at all, and will outside it). As of when this was written, Lockish's own public roadmap lists "Failed attempt logging" and "Scheduled protection (time-based locking)" under a later version, marked Planned — not yet released. Worth checking Lockish's current roadmap page directly, since that can change.
Pricing
Lockish is $9.99, one time, with a 7-day free trial. Shoo! is $17.99, one time, also with a 7-day free trial with nothing held back. Lockish is the cheaper ticket; Shoo!'s price covers the process-kill architecture, the zero-permission footprint, and the scheduling and logging features Lockish hasn't shipped yet.
Who Lockish is better for
If you want to keep glancing at other windows while one app sits locked, don't mind the Mac's own password working as a fallback, and want to pay less today — Lockish is a genuinely well-built, actively updated option from a small team with the same no-subscription philosophy Shoo! has.
Who Shoo! is better for
If the point of locking an app is that nobody who knows your Mac password should be able to open it anyway, and you'd rather not grant Accessibility access for the feature — Shoo! is built around exactly that stance, with scheduling and an attempt log already included, not planned for later.
Try Shoo! yourself — free for 7 days, full functionality, no credit card.
Frequently asked questions
Does Lockish keep the locked app running behind its overlay?
Yes. Lockish locks a specific app window with an overlay while the app keeps running underneath it. Shoo! takes a different approach — a locked app isn’t hidden behind anything, it simply isn’t running until Touch ID restarts it.
Can someone use my Mac’s login password to open a Lockish-locked app?
Yes — by Lockish’s own FAQ, it supports the Mac’s login password as a fallback to Touch ID, so anyone who knows that password can open every app you’ve locked. Shoo!’s backup password is a separate secret set inside the app and is never your Mac’s login password.
Does Lockish need Accessibility permissions?
Yes, Lockish’s FAQ states it uses Accessibility APIs for window tracking. Shoo! doesn’t request Accessibility, Screen Recording, or Automation at all, since it manages whether a process runs rather than watching a window.
Which one already has scheduled access and an attempt log — Lockish or Shoo!?
Shoo! already ships both: a full access-attempt log and time-based scheduled access. As of when this was written, Lockish’s public roadmap lists both features as planned for a later version, not yet released.