Fix Pluely v1 Overlay Glass Look on macOS Tahoe

Some users running early Pluely v1 builds on macOS Tahoe noticed the overlay's appearance change noticeably depending on whether it was focused or unfocused — most commonly described as the overlay looking overly "glassy," with transparency that seemed to shift or intensify at unexpected moments. This was a real visual quirk tied to how that macOS version handled window transparency and materials, and it has been fixed in the latest Pluely v1.

What was happening

macOS Tahoe introduced changes to how window transparency and translucent materials are rendered system-wide. Pluely's overlay uses a translucent background so it can sit unobtrusively over whatever you're working on, and on early Tahoe builds, the interaction between the OS's new rendering behavior and Pluely's transparency settings caused the overlay to look inconsistent — noticeably more "glassy" or washed out when focused compared to when it lost focus, rather than the subtle, consistent transparency it was designed to have.

The fix

This has been resolved in the latest Pluely v1 release. Transparency now renders consistently whether the overlay is focused or unfocused, and behaves the same way across macOS versions, including Tahoe. If you're seeing this issue, you're very likely on an older build.

How to fix it

1. Open Pluely and check for an available update (in Settings or the app's about section), or go directly to Installation to download the current build.
2. Install the update and fully restart Pluely.
3. Reopen the overlay and click in and out of it (focus and unfocus) to confirm the appearance now stays consistent.

No settings changes are needed — this was purely a rendering fix shipped in the app itself, not something you needed to configure.

If you still see inconsistent transparency

1. Confirm you're on the latest version by checking again after updating — sometimes an update needs to be applied twice if you were on a very old build.
2. Try toggling the overlay closed and reopening it with your toggle shortcut after updating, since a stale window instance from before the update can occasionally linger until relaunched.
3. Restart your Mac if the visual issue persists after a clean reinstall, since this can occasionally clear up stale window server state.

Still stuck?

If the overlay's appearance still looks inconsistent after updating to the latest Pluely v1, check the FAQ or reach out from the Pluely website with your exact macOS version.