A person answers.

What to include

Go to Settings → Copy diagnostics and include the result with your report.

Troubleshooting

Accessibility is on, but nothing happens

macOS ties the Accessibility permission to the app's signature and sometimes keeps a stale entry after an update or a move. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility, remove Contralto from the list with the minus button, then open the app again and use Setup → step 1 to add it back. The step turns green within two seconds when the permission is live. If the switch is on and the step stays grey, quit the app from the menu bar icon and open it again.

"Contralto could not be verified" or "cannot be opened"

The release you download from this site is signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized, so the first launch asks one question, whether to open an app downloaded from the internet, and that is all. If macOS says the app could not be verified or is damaged, the download did not finish or was altered on the way: delete it, download again from the download page, and compare the SHA-256 shown there with shasum -a 256 ~/Downloads/Contralto-*.dmg. A beta build before notarization shows the same warning by design; the beta page says how to open it once.

Ctrl+C does not copy in Terminal, or a shortcut does nothing in one app

In terminals, virtual machines, remote desktops and games Ctrl stays Ctrl, so Ctrl+C still cancels a command, Ctrl+Z still suspends one and Ctrl still crouches in a game. The list of those apps is under Keyboard → "Apps where Ctrl stays Ctrl" (a game that tells macOS it is a game needs no entry); add any app there to get its Mac-native shortcuts back, or remove one to have Contralto rewrite shortcuts inside it. Password fields are the one place no remapper works: macOS switches to secure input there; use ⌘ until you leave the field.

PC keyboards and non-US layouts

A PC keyboard plugged into a Mac already puts ⌘ under the Win key and ⌥ under Alt, and Contralto counts on that: Alt+Tab, Alt+F4, the Ctrl+Alt snapping keys, Finder's Alt keys and Win+Shift+S read Alt as ⌥ and Win as ⌘. Leave System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Modifier Keys at its default for that keyboard; if Option and Command are exchanged there, set them back, or Alt+Tab opens the Mac's app switcher and Ctrl+Alt+←/→ switch desktops instead of snapping. Contralto reads the other keys by position, so Print Screen, Insert, Home, End and the arrows work as labelled. Shortcuts that involve a letter are translated to the layout you type on, so Alt+F4 quits on AZERTY, QWERTZ and Cyrillic layouts too; Ctrl+Z on a QWERTZ keyboard is the key labelled Z. If a letter shortcut lands on the wrong key, tell us the layout name from the input menu and the shortcut.

The display size will not go back

System → Displays → Restore puts the size back that was set before the first change, from the journal; Settings → Restore every system setting does the same for every display. If the display is not connected at that moment, connect it and click Restore again. A size the app never set (one you picked in System Settings) is not in the journal; choose it there. Restarting the Mac keeps whatever size is set, by design.

The licence says "needs a quick check" or "not confirmed"

The app confirms a licence with Polar every 7 days and keeps working for 14 days without a connection. After that it asks for one connection: open the app while online and it checks by itself; there is nothing to click. If it keeps failing while online, a firewall or a proxy may be blocking api.polar.sh; Settings → Licence shows the answer it got.

Another user account on the same Mac asks for a key

Each user account on a Mac keeps its own licence and has its own 14-day trial, so a key entered in one account does not license the others. Enter the key under Settings → Licence in that account too; it takes one more of the key's seats. If Activate says every seat is taken, Deactivate this Mac in an account that no longer uses Contralto frees one.

Moving a licence to another Mac

On the old Mac, Settings → Licence → Deactivate this Mac in each user account that entered the key; on the new one, enter the key in each account that uses Contralto. A new Mac set up with Migration Assistant or from a Time Machine backup (or a Mac back from a logic board repair) brings the key along but asks to be activated: click Activate, the key is filled in. Each user account that enters the key takes one seat: a Personal key has 3, Family 5 in one household, Team 10 or 25 for organisations. The Polar customer portal lists every seat under its Mac's computer name, once for each account on that Mac. If the old Mac is gone, or Activate says every seat is taken after a repair (the Mac's seat from before it is still counted), free that seat in the portal, or write to support with the order number and we free it.

Uninstalling

Settings → Restore every system setting Contralto changed if you want the Mac's settings back the way they were. If you skip Restore, at least turn off System → Screenshots → Screenshots go to the clipboard first before removing the app: macOS keeps it after the app is gone, so ⌘⇧3 and ⌘⇧4 would go on copying to the clipboard without saving a file (⌘⇧5 → Options → Save to picks a folder again later). Also in Settings: Licence → Deactivate this Mac if you bought a licence (it frees your account's seat and removes the key from your account; on a Mac where several user accounts entered the key, do it in each of them), Admin helper → Remove if you installed the helper, so it leaves Login Items with the app, and turn off Open Contralto at login. Then quit the app from the menu bar icon and drag it from Applications to the Trash. Every shortcut returns to macOS the moment the app quits. The undo journal, the clipboard history, your last snips and the trial file live in ~/Library/Application Support/Contralto and can be deleted with it. The app's preferences file and a note of when the trial started stay in your Library; both are small.

Refunds

Within 14 days of buying, for any reason: reply to your order email or write to support with the order number. Polar, the merchant of record, returns the money to the card you paid with and revokes the licence key; the app notices at its next check and returns to the trial or expired state.

The usual questions

Alt+Tab shows icons instead of window pictures

The pictures need the Screen Recording permission, which is optional. Setup → step 4 opens the right pane. macOS 26 asks you to confirm this permission again once a month.

F5, the function keys or the trackpad behave as before

Function keys, key repeat and trackpad settings finish applying after one log-out. On a MacBook keyboard, F5 is a media key until "F1–F12 are real function keys" is on; hold fn meanwhile.

Right-click does not show the Windows menus

With the app running, Ctrl+click is no longer a right-click in Finder because Ctrl is doing its Windows job; use the right mouse button or a two-finger tap.

A setting went wrong

Every setting has its own switch on the System screen; turn it off and the previous value comes back from the journal. Restore everything in Settings puts all of them back at once.

Licence and seats

A seat is one user account on a Mac. A Personal licence has 3 seats, Family 5 in one household, Team 10 or 25 for organisations. Enter the key under Settings → Licence in each user account that uses Contralto, on every Mac: each account keeps its own licence, takes its own seat and has its own 14-day trial, so a Mac shared by two people with an account each uses two seats. The app confirms the licence with Polar every 7 days and keeps working for 14 days without a connection.

Lost the key? It is in the purchase email from Polar, our merchant of record. The Polar customer portal shows your orders and keys again once you sign in with the email you bought with.

Privacy

The app collects no analytics or usage statistics. The requests it can make, and what each carries, are listed in the privacy policy.