PrefWatch v.1.5.1

1.5.1 — 2026-09-23

Feature

• A list of strings that appears, gains or swaps an entry (a Spotlight category disabled) is emitted whole, defaults write … -array …, as its removal already was. No positional index.
• Bluetooth on/off emits blueutil -p 0|1 first (runs on any Mac), then the python3 line for targets that have the Command Line Tools.

UX

• A NOTE is never folded mid-sentence: one sentence per line, and the seven sentences that used to fold are split into short ones.
• Every -array line on Spotlight's EnabledPreferenceRules says what it does: which categories it disables, or that an empty list shows every category again. The list reads backwards.

Fix

• Swapping one entry of a list for another (a Spotlight category re-enabled, another disabled, in one pass) emitted a command that kept the old entry on the target. The whole list is emitted now.
• Removing a printer emptied its preset plist: a positional Delete of its customPresetsInfo entry came out, and the print-preset NOTE with it, as if a preset had changed. Neither now.
• A new key tree of two values (two Spotlight categories disabled by hand) carried the "first opening a settings pane" hedge. Four values or more now.
• Printer Sharing on a Mac with no /etc/cups/cupsd.conf at launch emitted nothing: the toggle creates the file, and the watcher was gated on it. Absent now reads as off.
• A deleted key came out as PlistBuddy, which running apps never see (a Control Center item stayed hidden). It is defaults [-currentHost] delete now, with no hardware UUID.
• Removing two entries of a list at once emitted one -array line per entry, each keeping the other: the target ended with the wrong list. One line now, the list as it stands.

Noise

• org.cups.PrintingPrefs LastUsedPrinters (queue + network IP, rewritten on every job) is filtered; the filter named its sub-keys and never matched. UseLastPrinter stays.
• Music LastPlaybackSessionIdentifier, videoWindow*, playbackIsFullscreen and the com.apple.mobileipod now-playing restoration cache are filtered.
• com.apple.GamePolicyAgent (Game Mode's per-app metadata cache with access dates, installed-games blob) is filtered.
• com.apple.commerce.knownclients (App Store client blobs) is excluded, com.apple.gms.* availability keys mirrored into the global domain are filtered, *.lastUpdated is a timestamp.
• Siri's ChatGPT extension: selectedLLMId and isEnabled are kept; the enablement counter, provider blobs, metrics snapshot and com.apple.anvil.* rate-limit flags are filtered.
• AVKit's duration/remaining counter flag, written into every host app (Messages, QuickTime, QuickLook), is filtered.
• com.apple.smb.server DOSCodePage (locale-derived, not a setting) is filtered. ServerDescription stays.

Note

• The script is laid out for reading: a table of contents in the header, titled sections, and each watcher (Touch ID, TCC, Bluetooth, …) as its own function in a WATCHERS section. No code changed.
• --fs-usage (Jamf $12) is deprecated: it still runs, says so at startup, and is removed in the next release. Three measurements saw nothing polling did not.
• The script's comments are down from 32 % to 14 % of its lines: each block keeps the measured fact, the rule and the trap, and drops the story of how it was found. No code changed.