ClockCortado

ClockCortado puts a real clock on your desktop instead of a number in the corner of the menu bar. Choose a split-flap face whose cards turn over on the minute, or a round dial with a sweeping second hand. It sits on the wallpaper with nothing behind it - no panel, no window frame, just the clock.

Drag it anywhere, drag a corner to resize it, and fade it back until it is barely there. It stays where you put it and comes back the same size in the same place next time you log in. Everything happens on your own computer: there is no account, no network call, and nothing to sync.

Highlights

1. A flip clock that actually flips - each digit is its own card, hinged across the middle, and only the cards that changed turn over. At 09:59 the minutes roll and the hour sits still, exactly like the clock on the shelf.
2. Or a proper analog dial - sixty minute ticks, hands that creep between the numerals rather than jumping, and a second hand that sweeps smoothly instead of stepping. Switch between the two faces whenever you feel like it.
3. Fades into the wallpaper - an opacity slider from barely visible to fully solid, a dark and a light version for dark and light wallpapers, and six accent colours. Set it once and stop noticing it, which is the point.
4. Any size you like - drag a corner or use the size slider, from a small marker in a corner to a clock you can read across the room. The face is drawn to fit whatever size you choose, so it stays sharp either way.
5. Stays on top, or gets out of the way - pin it above your windows when you are watching the time, or turn on click-through so your clicks reach the desktop underneath and the clock behaves like part of the wallpaper.
6. Reads the way you do - 12 or 24 hour, seconds on or off, and the date under the time if you want it. The hour is always two digits, so the clock never shifts sideways as the day goes on.
7. Lives in the menu bar - close the clock and the app keeps running quietly with a small dial in the menu bar. Click it to bring the clock back, or change the face, the pin and the click-through without opening anything.

How it works

Open it and the clock appears in the middle of the screen. Drag it where you want it, drag a corner until it is the size you want, and that is the setup done - the position and the size are remembered from then on.

Hover over the clock and three small buttons appear in the corner: settings, pin on top, and hide. Everything else lives in Settings: the face, the time format, seconds, the date, the colour, the accent, opacity and size. Every change lands on the clock as you make it, so you can see what you are choosing. Closing the clock does not quit the app - it steps out of the way and waits in the menu bar until you want it back.

Perfect for

1. Anyone who works full screen and never sees the menu bar clock
2. People who keep an eye on the time while writing, editing or recording
3. Anyone setting up a tidy desk shot or a second screen they glance at
4. Anyone who just likes split-flap clocks and wants one on the desktop