DisplayBuddy lets you control your external displays from your Mac's menu bar

Displaybuddy On a Display (Image credit: Siddharth Gupta)

What you need to know

DisplayBuddy controls your external displays from your Mac's menu bar.

If you're running a Mac with an external display you're probably familiar with the irritation that comes with not being able to change your brightness from your computer. You can do it with Macs and their built-in displays, but not that cheap DELL monitor you've been using for the last few years. DisplayBuddy fixes that by putting your display's controls right into your Mac's menu bar.

Most displays will work with this app, and if yours doesn't, you can request a refund.

DisplayBuddy talks to your monitor using the DDC spec. If you've a monitor that was manufactured in the last 5 years or so, there's a very high chance it will work great with DisplayBuddy!If by chance it doesn't work, we'll refund your DisplayBuddy purchase within 7 days of your order.

Setting brightness, contrast, and volume from your Mac's menu bar aren't all DisplayBuddy can do, either. Those who have to change their settings regularly will enjoy the ability to save presets and then apply them with one click. For example, I have an external USB-C display that resets its brightness every time my Mac mini turns it off. It's infuriating, and now all I need to do is click a button and the brightness is set to 100% in an instant. And it's amazing.

I've been using DisplayBuddy in beta form for a long time now and it's now ready for prime time. You can download DisplayBuddy right now for just $3.99. A bargain in anyone's book.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.