Shades is a utility app for iMac that provides a software-based overlay to dim screen brightness beyond hardware limits.
Product velocity
Dormant
Daily rank 🇺🇸
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Utilities
Sentiment
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Nemesis
Shadow Fight 2 Special Edition
The App DNA
What makes this app unique?
Users hire Shades to reduce eye strain during night use when hardware settings remain too bright.
For iMac users experiencing eye strain from high screen brightness levels during night use.
What does it look like?
Key features
Software-based overlay to reduce screen brightness beyond the hardware minimum setting
How much does it cost?
Paid model anchored at $0.99, targeting users seeking a specific utility for display hardware limitations.
Velocity
Dormant developmentperformanceopaqueShow more...
The app shows a lack of development momentum, with the most recent release occurring on January 22, 2026. Given the current date of July 4, 2026, the release cadence has effectively stalled. There is no evidence of active feature development or live operations support in the observed data. The app is classified as a zombie due to the significant gap in update activity.
Who built it?
Alteru
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Calculator on MenuUser Sentiment
What do users think recently?
Review voice lately leans excited. Users appreciate engaging combat mechanics provide a satisfying skill-based progression loop for long-term players and visual art style and animation quality deliver a superior aesthetic experience for fans, but report clunky movement controls and unintended character actions frustrate players during intense combat sequences.
How are ratings & reviews evolving?
What users say, by theme
- Engaging combat mechanics provide a satisfying skill-based progression loop for long-term players
- Visual art style and animation quality deliver a superior aesthetic experience for fans
- Strong sense of nostalgia keeps veteran players connected to the franchise legacy
- Clunky movement controls and unintended character actions frustrate players during intense combat sequences
60 of 60 recent reviews analyzed · high confidence · Excited overall
Read the full review analysisUnlock 1 more frustration theme, each backed by review evidence.
Access the full report for freeCompetition
Competitive landscape for Shades
How's the Utilities market?
Shades operates as a niche utility, competing against free native OS display settings. The $0.99 price point creates a barrier to entry that limits adoption compared to free alternatives.
Read the market outlookThe rivals identified
By Nekki Limited
While Shades is a utility and this is a game, they compete for the same limited screen time and attention on mobile devices, with this title dominating the high-engagement gaming category.
- Massive global install base creates a powerful network effect that a utility app cannot replicate.
- Premium RPG content and multiplayer raids provide deep, long-term retention compared to a single-purpose utility.
- High production value and consistent content updates keep users engaged far longer than a brightness tool.
Unlock the head-to-head verdict: where this rival wins, and where it loses.
Access the full report for freeThe Analyst's Read
Key takeaways for Shades
Where is it heading?
The market for dedicated brightness utilities is consolidating as OS-level features become standard. Shades remains exposed to platform-native updates, so long-term viability requires moving beyond simple manual dimming.
- The lack of feature development leaves the app exposed to native OS updates that automate brightness control.
The SWOT
- Software-based overlay enables brightness reduction beyond hardware minimums
- Automated scheduling for night mode could differentiate the utility
Next best moves
Pivot to automated scheduling because manual control is the primary friction point → increase utility value
The counter-intuitive read
The app's maintenance-mode status is its most rational strategy…
Read the full takeBottom line
Shades provides a functional solution for eye strain, but its paid model is increasingly obsolete against native OS features, so the PM should prioritize automated scheduling to justify the cost.
Unlock 2 critical frictions, 1 market threat and the analyst’s take.
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