Pika
David Charles Gleason · A macOS screen colour picker for sampling colours, checking contrast, and copying values in different formats.
Pika is a Design app for Mac. It needs macOS 14 or later.
About
Pika is a native macOS app for picking colours from your screen. This entry installs the pika@beta build, rather than the regular pika cask; the two casks conflict. It requires macOS 14 or later.
Pika can help with colour-focused work in several ways:
- Pick colours from anywhere onscreen and copy their values to the clipboard.
- Work with colour values in Hex, RGB, HSB, HSL, LAB, OpenGL, and OKLCH formats.
- Compare colours and review contrast information, including WCAG and APCA compliance, contrast ratio, and lightness contrast.
- Revisit previously picked colours using colour history, with options to undo and redo.
- Open the picker with a global hotkey and use keyboard shortcuts; the app also supports triggering actions through the
pika:/URL scheme./
Install this beta cask with brew install --cask pika@beta. After installation, open Pika from Applications. The app can be used from the menu bar or Dock, and offers a setting to start at login. Its screen-picking, colour-format, comparison, and automation functions are intended to help you inspect and work with colours across apps.
Pika is a colour picker, not a colour-editing or design suite. The beta cask conflicts with the regular pika cask, so they cannot be installed together through these casks.
Sources: Pika · Homebrew cask
New What’s new in 2.0.0 Oct 12 · OpenNavo editorial
- ChangesAdds an optional Pro picker with a live loupe; needs Screen Recording access.
Install and uninstall
Homebrew installs the app in your Applications folder.
Install without Homebrew
Download the same file Homebrew uses: github.com/superhighfives/pika/releases/download/2.0.0/Pika-2.0.0.dmg
SHA-256 only checks that the download is complete; it is not a security certification. See the SHA-256 and download address
$ brew uninstall --cask \pika@betaA regular uninstall removes the app and keeps its settings and caches.
$ brew uninstall --zap --cask \pika@beta--zap also deletes the settings, caches and other files listed in the Homebrew definition. They can include data shared with other apps and cannot be restored, and it does not guarantee that nothing is left.See which files are removed
Facts and sources
- Version 2.0.0
- Recorded by Homebrew on Oct 12Released by the vendor on Oct 12
Questions
Is Pika safe?
Pika is in Homebrew’s official catalog and has not been disabled. Since September 2026, Homebrew disables apps that fail macOS Gatekeeper checks. When installing, Homebrew checks the download from github.com against its SHA-256 checksum. It was installed 2 times through Homebrew in the last 30 days.
Is Pika free?
“Pika” costs $2.99 on the Mac App Store (United States). Homebrew installs the version from the developer’s website, which can differ from the App Store edition in price and features. Source: apps.apple.com, checked Oct 14.
Is Pika open source?
Pika’s source code is public on GitHub (superhighfives/pika) under the MIT license.
How do I completely uninstall Pika on a Mac?
Run brew uninstall --cask pika@beta. To delete its settings and caches as well, run brew uninstall --zap --cask pika@beta. That also deletes 3 files and folders, including ~/.
Does Pika run on Apple silicon (M1 and later) Macs?
Homebrew installs it on both Apple silicon and Intel Macs, from the same download. It needs macOS 14 or later.
Where does Pika store its settings and data?
Its settings are in ~/. Its data is in ~/. These locations come from Homebrew’s clean-up list.
What is the latest version of Pika?
The latest version is 2.0.0, added to Homebrew on Oct 12. Pika updates itself; to update it with Homebrew, run brew upgrade --cask --greedy pika@beta.