Developer builds free macOS app Shoji to add a paper-like texture to screens

After reading a research paper late at night, a backend developer found that the bright, glossy look of a Mac display felt harsh during long reading sessions. Existing paper-texture apps either required payment before any trial or came bundled in larger subscriptions, which he felt was inappropriate for something users can only judge through extended use. He built Shoji, a free app named after Japanese shoji screens, which places a transparent, click-through overlay across every display to render a light paper texture. The textures are procedurally generated in code to avoid visible tiling, and they are tuned separately for light and dark modes. The project also covered technical details such as hiding the overlay from screen sharing and navigating macOS notarization.