A fast, free image viewer for Mac

Press Space and the next photo is already there. Browse a folder, rate and compare your shots, make light edits.

Free and open source (MIT) · Version 0.2.30 · macOS 14 or later · Apple silicon and Intel

Not notarized by Apple. First launch may require approval in System Settings. Installation guide.

Not sure it is safe? See how to install. If the download does not start, open the download page.

New in 0.2.30 A redesigned sidebar: one folder tree that always opens to the folder you are in. Dragging photos over a closed folder opens it, read-only folders refuse drops, and very large folders list faster. See what changed

Screenshot sources and credits.

Earth and clouds in Shrike’s viewer, with three photos in the filmstrip.

Shrike 0.2.30 · Sample imagery: NASA/JSC.

Why Shrike

Fast where it counts

Shrike prepares the next photos in the background, so moving through a folder feels instant. About 33 ms from key press to photo.

Private by design

Shrike never connects to the internet. Your photos are read from your disk and stay there. No accounts, no tracking.

Open source

Anyone can read the code and check what it does. It is free under the MIT license, today and later.

No ads. No upsell. No sign-up.

What you get

Everything you need to go through your photos, and nothing you do not. Features with a + open to show a picture.

Instant next photoSpace or an arrow key. The next photo is ready before you ask.

Browse a whole folderGrid, filmstrip or list. Shrike remembers your choice.

Folder list on the left, then a grid, a filmstrip with a big preview, or a list. Names sort naturally, so IMG_2 comes before IMG_10. Thumbnails are saved, so a folder you have seen opens at once.

Shrike’s Browser in filmstrip mode, showing three selected Earth photos and a large preview.

Shrike 0.2.30 · Sample imagery: NASA/JSC.

Calm full screenThe bars hide by themselves. Move to an edge and they return.

The photo fills the screen. Move the pointer to the bottom edge and a small bar of buttons and a strip of thumbnails appear. Move away and they hide again. The info panel stays closed until you ask for it.

An Earth-from-orbit photograph filling Shrike’s full-screen view with controls hidden.

Shrike 0.2.30 · Sample imagery: NASA/JSC.

Cull fastStars 1 to 5, flags with Q, Finder tags. Undo any move.

RAW and JPEG as oneA pair shows as one photo. Press Option+R to switch.

Light editsCrop, rotate, resize, colour and levels, with an original backup.

Light edits with an original backup. Check Revert to Original in the app for backup availability. Some basic edits use 8-bit colour.

When a photo must be converted, Save Copy keeps the original safe.

Shrike’s Crop tool around an Earth photograph, with dimension fields, Apply Crop and Done.

Shrike 0.2.30 · Sample imagery: NASA/JSC.

Histogram and infoEXIF, a histogram and the share of clipped pixels.

The info panel shows EXIF and a histogram, over the photo in full screen. The histogram says how much of the photo is clipped at each end. Open the photo’s place in Apple Maps when it has GPS.

An Earth photograph beside Shrike’s file information, camera settings, ratings and histogram.

Shrike 0.2.30 · Sample imagery: NASA/JSC.

Compare up to 4Photos side by side. Zoom and pan stay in sync.

Select two to four photos and press Cmd+4. They open side by side with their file name, size and camera settings. Turn on Sync Zoom and Pan and zoom or pan in one, and the others follow.

Three Earth-from-orbit photographs side by side in Shrike’s Compare window.

Shrike 0.2.30 · Sample imagery: NASA/JSC.

BatchConvert, resize or rename many photos at once.

Convert or resize into an output folder, or rotate and rename originals. The preview shows planned names and sizes before you run. Shrike tells you before it changes originals in place. If a run stops, you can retry only the steps that did not finish.

Shrike’s Batch window with three chosen photos, JPEG conversion, resize settings and planned output names.

Shrike 0.2.30 · Sample imagery: NASA/JSC.

SlideshowTiming, fade or dissolve, random order and loop.

Print and contact sheetPrint a photo, or make a contact sheet (A4 or US Letter).

File > Export Contact Sheet makes a PDF with small pictures of a whole folder or of the photos you selected. Choose a title, the number of columns, the paper and a caption under each picture. File > Print prints one photo.

Shrike’s Contact Sheet options for three selected photos, with a three-photo, one-page preview.

Shrike 0.2.30 · Sample imagery: NASA/JSC.

PrivateNever connects to the internet. No tracking.

Formats: JPEG, PNG, HEIC, WebP, AVIF, GIF, TIFF, BMP, Photoshop (PSD) and RAW from most cameras (RAW support comes from macOS).

Handy keys: Space and the arrow keys move, Z (hold) is a loupe, A is 100 %, B fits the window, Ctrl+Cmd+F is full screen, Ctrl+H is the histogram, Cmd+4 compares, F5 starts a slideshow. All shortcuts are in the app: Help > Keyboard Shortcuts (Cmd+/). Coming from Windows? Settings has a FastStone-style preset.

Speed, in numbers

Shrike decodes the next photos before you ask for them.

~33 ms

to show the next photo

Median key press to photo on screen, windowed and full screen, with the photo already prepared. A photo that is not prepared yet (for example jumping to the end of a big folder) takes about 0.1 s.

80+ / sec

thumbnails

12-megapixel JPEGs on 4 cores. Thumbnails are saved, so a folder you have seen opens at once the next time.

~18 MB

app size

Apple silicon and Intel in one app. The download is about 6 MB.

Numbers from Shrike’s own measurements, taken on one Mac (M2 Pro) in October 2026. Your Mac may be faster or slower.

How to install

It takes about a minute. The first time you open Shrike, macOS asks you to confirm once.

Download. Click Download for Mac. The file is about 6 MB.
Download for Mac
Version 0.2.30 · macOS 14 or later · Apple silicon and Intel. Not notarized by Apple; first launch may require approval in System Settings.
Open the file. Double-click Shrike.dmg in your Downloads folder. Drag Shrike onto the Applications folder.
Open Shrike from Applications, not from the DMG. If macOS says it cannot check the app, see the box below.
Allow folder access. When you open photos from Desktop, Documents, Downloads or an external drive, macOS may ask if Shrike may read them. Click Allow.

macOS may not open it the first time

Apple has not checked Shrike (it is not notarized). The first time you open it, macOS may ask for your approval in System Settings. Follow the steps for your macOS version below. Not sure which macOS you have? Choose Apple menu > About This Mac.

macOS 26 Tahoe

Open Shrike from Applications.
macOS asks for your Mac’s password to allow it. Enter it.
If you see “Shrike Not Opened” instead, follow the macOS 15 steps.

macOS 15 Sequoia

Open Shrike from Applications. Click Done in the message.
Open System Settings > Privacy & Security and scroll down.
Click Open Anyway next to Shrike. Enter your password. Click Open Anyway again.

macOS 14 Sonoma

In Applications, right-click (or Control-click) Shrike and choose Open.
Click Open in the message.

If macOS says “Shrike is damaged and can’t be opened”

Stop and check where you got the file. It should come from this site’s GitHub link. Download a fresh copy and follow the installation steps again. This message can have more than one cause.

Want to check the file first? Every release is built on GitHub from the public code. See the releases page and the build page. Prefer to build it yourself? The source is on GitHub, with build steps in the README.

What Shrike connects to

Shrike talks to

Nothing on the internet. Shrike never connects to it.
Apple Maps, only when you choose Show in Maps for a photo that has a GPS position.
The editor you chose, only when you choose Open in External Editor.
Your own network drive, if your photos are on one. macOS may ask for permission to use the local network for this.

Shrike does not

Send your photos or anything about them to us. We have no servers.
Track you. There is no telemetry, no analytics and no crash reporting.
Check for updates by itself. To get a new version, download it from the releases page.
Show ads, or ask for an account.

Shrike keeps thumbnails, ratings and edit backups in your Library folder, on your Mac only. If the ratings storage cannot be used, new ratings and flags may go to temporary storage. Ratings and flags can also be saved as hidden notes on your files (macOS extended attributes). This only works when the file can be written to. The notes do not change the picture. They may not survive every move or copy. You can turn this off in Settings. Saving an edit can change a photo. So can rotating in place with Batch. Batch rename changes file names. Read the code.

This website has no cookies, no trackers and loads nothing from other sites.

Questions

Is it really free?

Yes. There are no paid plans and no ads. It is open source under the MIT license.

Does it work on Windows, Linux or iPhone?

No. Shrike is a Mac app. It needs macOS 14 Sonoma or newer and runs on Apple silicon and Intel Macs.

Is it safe? Why does macOS warn me?

Shrike is not notarized by Apple, so macOS is careful the first time. The code is public and anyone can check it. See How to install.

Does Shrike change my photos?

Saving an edit can replace the photo. Batch can rotate or rename your originals in place, and it asks before it does. It can also write converted or resized copies to another folder. Check the output choice and any Replace button before you start. To save over an original, Shrike needs a backup. Look at Revert to Original in the app to see if a backup exists. Ratings and flags may also be saved as hidden notes on files that can be written to. These notes do not change the picture.

How do I get a new version?

Shrike does not check for updates, because it never goes online. Download the new version from the releases page.

Which photo formats does it open?

JPEG, PNG, HEIC, WebP, AVIF, GIF, TIFF, BMP, Photoshop (PSD) and RAW from most cameras. RAW support comes from macOS.

I found a bug or I want a feature. What do I do?

Open an issue on GitHub. Please do not include private photos.