I went into this thinking it would be a five-minute setup. Famous last words.
The slug in the URL points pretty clearly to Redshift (app) — the familiar utility that adjusts screen color temperature based on time of day. I’ve used it on Linux for years, and on macOS it’s usually one of those “install, forget it exists, enjoy your eyes” tools. This particular build was distributed under OrchardKit, so I expected a manual install, not an App Store-polished experience. Still, nothing exotic.
My test machine: MacBook Air M2, macOS Sonoma 14.3, external display connected via USB-C. Clean system, no display hacks.
What I wanted to do
Simple goal: reduce eye strain in the evenings without relying on Apple’s Night Shift, which I still find a bit blunt. Redshift gives finer control and behaves better with multi-monitor setups — at least in theory.
What broke immediately
The app launched. Menu bar icon appeared. Settings looked fine. But the screen stayed ice-cold blue, no matter what temperature I set. Dragging sliders did nothing. Toggling on/off did nothing. Logs said it was “running.”
Classic case of software that’s alive but not actually doing anything.
First wrong assumption
My first thought was that Night Shift was interfering. So I turned it off completely in System Settings → Displays. Logged out. Logged back in. Relaunched the utility.
Nothing changed.
Then I unplugged the external monitor, thinking maybe the color profile was locked or overridden. Internal display only. Still no effect. At this point I was slightly annoyed but not surprised — macOS display handling has become… opinionated.
Second attempt: permissions, but not the obvious ones
Next guess was Accessibility permissions. Older macOS versions needed that for anything touching system visuals. I went to Privacy & Security → Accessibility. The app wasn’t there. I added it manually.
Still nothing.
This is where Apple’s own documentation starts to matter. Screen-level color changes now fall under Screen Recording, not Accessibility. Apple explains the shift here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211861
And yes, that setting is easy to miss because the name sounds way more invasive than what Redshift actually does.
The actual fix
Once I added the app under Privacy & Security → Screen Recording, macOS asked for a restart of the tool. I quit it. Launched it again.
Instantly, the display warmed up. No flicker. No lag. External monitor followed correctly too.
That was the missing piece. The app wasn’t broken. It was politely blocked.
I bookmarked this page while double-checking how macOS handles third-party display utilities on newer releases, mostly because it lined up exactly with what I was seeing on Sonoma: https://technotafastore.xyz/systems/85096-redshift.html
It confirmed that this wasn’t some one-off quirk of my setup.
One more small snag (and why it matters)
After the fix, everything worked… until I rebooted. On startup, the tool launched automatically but didn’t apply the color shift until I manually toggled it off and on.
Turns out macOS sometimes delays Screen Recording–granted apps at login. The workaround was simple: disable auto-launch, reboot once, then re-enable it. After that, behavior was consistent.
Apple hints at this timing issue in their developer notes about screen capture APIs: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/coregraphics/cgdisplaysstream
Not exactly bedtime reading, but it explains why things feel “random” when they’re actually just delayed.
How I’d do it cleanly next time
If I were setting this up again on a fresh Mac, I’d skip the guessing:
- Install the app
- Launch once to register it with the system
- Immediately grant Screen Recording access
- Quit and relaunch before touching any settings
No need to mess with Accessibility. No need to fight Night Shift unless you want both enabled (which I don’t recommend).
Final thoughts
This wasn’t a Redshift problem, and it wasn’t really an OrchardKit packaging issue either. It was macOS being very strict about who’s allowed to touch the display pipeline — and very quiet when it says no.
Once permissions were aligned, the utility behaved exactly as expected: low CPU usage, smooth transitions, no conflicts with color profiles. It’s still a solid tool. You just have to teach macOS to trust it first.
And yes, I wish the system dialog said “Hey, I’m blocking this because you didn’t give Screen Recording access.” But then again, if macOS were that clear, half my job as a tech reviewer would disappear.