Redcast Permissions
What Redcast asks for, why it needs it, and when it asks.
Redcast asks for a permission only when you use a feature that needs it, never at launch. The app launcher, calculator and emoji browsing work without permissions; File Search requires Full Disk Access.
Settings → Permissions shows permission status, and opens the right System Settings pane for you.
Accessibility
macOS describes this permission as "control your computer". Redcast uses it to read from and write to the window you were using before the palette opened.
Grant it in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility, or from Settings → Permissions.
What needs it
| Feature | Why |
|---|---|
| Clipboard and emoji paste | Puts the item into the app you were using |
| Snippets | Detects the keyword you type, then inserts the text |
| Quick Actions | Reads your selected text and replaces it |
| Window management and layouts | Reads and sets other apps' window frames |
| Navigation | Lists open windows and clicks menu bar items |
| Hyper key | Turns one physical key into a modifier chord |
| Double-tap modifier shortcuts | Detects the tap pattern |
| ⌘esc back to the root search | macOS uses this shortcut unless Redcast intercepts it |
getSelectedText in extensions | Reads the selection from the frontmost app |
Snippets and keystroke matching
Snippet keyword expansion is the only feature that reads what you type, so these are the rules it follows:
- Snippets are off by default. Turning them on shows an explanation first, and turning on the switch counts as your consent. There's no separate prompt.
- Matching happens only on your Mac. Keystrokes are never stored or sent anywhere.
- The typing buffer holds at most 256 characters. It resets when you switch apps, press a shortcut with a modifier, turn on Secure Event Input, or stop typing for 15 seconds.
- Redcast uses a listen-only event tap under the Accessibility permission. It doesn't use Input Monitoring.
- Restoring a settings backup can't turn snippets on, so importing a file someone sent you can never enable keystroke listening.
Calendars
The Calendar feature reads your events to find meeting links.
When you turn it on, Redcast shows its own explanation first, then the macOS prompt. The feature is only on once macOS grants access. If you declined earlier, Settings → Permissions opens the System Settings pane where you can change it.
Events are read on your Mac and never leave it.
Camera
Open Camera and the optional camera preview before a meeting ask for camera access the first time you use them. The camera isn't used before then, and it turns off as soon as the preview closes.
Automation and Bluetooth
A few actions show their own macOS prompt the first time you run them:
- Show Info in Finder in the uninstaller, and some system actions, control other apps through Apple Events, which shows the standard Automation prompt.
- Toggle Bluetooth shows the Bluetooth prompt.
If you decline, Redcast tells you and links to the right System Settings pane, so the action never fails silently.
Full Disk Access
Redcast checks whether it has Full Disk Access but never asks for it automatically. Settings → Permissions and Settings → File Search both show its status and offer a button to open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access, where you can grant it manually.
File Search requires this access to build its private index on your Mac. For uninstalling apps, it is optional.
The uninstaller checks in the background to work out which files it can
move. Without Full Disk Access, protected folders like ~/Library/Containers,
~/Library/Group Containers and ~/Library/Cookies appear as locked rows. At worst, you remove
those by hand.
Microphone and Screen Recording
Dictation and voice ask for Microphone access when you enable recording. Accessibility is also needed to insert text or read a selected passage.
Screen Awareness uses Accessibility for readable window text. Include a screenshot separately asks for Screen Recording. The window switcher alone does not need Screen Recording.
Resuming an Agent Session in a supported terminal can also ask for Automation. After migrating from the fork's old bundle ID, grant permissions to the current Redcast app again.
What Redcast never needs
- Location. The calculator picks your currency from your Mac's region setting.
- Input Monitoring. Snippets listen through Accessibility, as described above.