Backglow app adds controls for MacBook Pro’s illuminated logo
Free features include brightness adjustment and a pulsing effect, while a paid upgrade adds music synchronization and Claude Code alerts.
Designer Juan Buis has created Backglow, an app that gives users control over the illuminated Apple logo on new MacBook Pro laptops. It offers free lighting controls and a paid upgrade with effects linked to music playback and Claude Code activity.
The free version lets users set the logo’s brightness separately from the screen or switch the light off without using Terminal. Its Breathe setting produces a slow pulse resembling the sleep indicator on older MacBooks.
The Pro upgrade costs a one-time US$9 during a limited offer, rising to US$15 afterward. It includes Music mode, which synchronizes the lighting with music played on the computer. Agents mode pulses during Claude Code work and blinks when attention is required.
Apple says the logo normally stays lit while the computer is awake, adjusting to display brightness and surrounding light measured by its ambient sensor. Buis said a white LED provides the illumination and cannot change color.
