Recall, for a Mac.
Microsoft Recall is a Windows 11 feature for Copilot+ PCs; Earlyn is the closest thing on a Mac, a screen memory that runs on Apple Silicon and keeps everything on the device.
Updated Read as Markdown
Side by side
| Microsoft Recall | Earlyn | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs on | Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs | macOS 14 or later on Apple Silicon |
| Hardware | 40 TOPS NPU, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB storage | Any Apple Silicon Mac; developed on an 8 GB M2 |
| Turned on | Opt-in | Opt-in: recording stays off until you turn it on |
| Where snapshots are kept | On the device, encrypted | On the Mac, encrypted (SQLCipher and AES-GCM) |
| Unlocking | Windows Hello | Your macOS login; keys in the keychain |
| Free space needed | 50 GB to turn on; pauses under 25 GB | No minimum; about 9 MB per busy hour |
| Meetings | On-device transcripts, summaries and live translation | |
| AI agents | Local MCP server for coding agents |
When Recall is the better choice
If you work on a Copilot+ PC, Recall is built into Windows and needs nothing extra. Earlyn does not run on Windows.
Sources
- Microsoft Support: Retrace your steps with Recall, accessed 2026-10-02
Read next
- Feature · RewindRewindRewind is Earlyn's timeline of your screen: it keeps a picture and the text of every moment your screen changes, so you can scroll back through your day and find anything you saw on your Mac.
- Privacy and securityPrivacy and securityEarlyn keeps everything it records on your Mac: the database is encrypted with SQLCipher, screen pictures are sealed with AES-GCM, the keys stay in your keychain, and the app makes no network request unless you start one.
- Compare · RewindRewind AI alternativeEarlyn is a Mac app that does what Rewind did, a private and searchable memory of your screen and meetings, and it keeps working on your Mac after the Rewind app stopped capturing on 19 December 2025.