ClamDown 0.1.2

ClamDown now sets itself up with you, cools earlier, and makes sure a hot or empty Mac in a bag really goes to sleep.

• Setup assistant. The first launch walks you through allowing the helper, notifications and Launch at Login, one step at a time. It notices when you have allowed the helper and comes back to the front. Settings > Helper opens it again.
• Tells you when something is wrong, and what to do. The menu bar icon carries a small exclamation mark, and the Dock icon a "!" badge, when ClamDown cannot work until you act, for example after macOS took the helper's approval back. Errors are plain sentences. After a failure the menu offers Try Again and Reinstall Helper.
• Fans start earlier. The default curve runs from 50 °C to 75 °C (was 60 °C to 85 °C), because a closed Mac in a bag has little airflow. If you never changed the curve, you get the new values; your own values stay.
• Really sleeps after a protective switch-off. When low battery or heat switches ClamDown off and nobody is at the Mac, it puts the Mac to sleep, so an app that keeps the Mac awake cannot leave it running in a bag. Nobody is at the Mac when the lid is closed, no external display is connected, and the keyboard and pointer have been still for a minute. If the Mac does not fall asleep, ClamDown asks again. You can switch this off in Settings > Protection.
• Says why when you come back. Open the lid after ClamDown let the Mac sleep and a window tells you the reason. It stays until you close it.
• Fixed: Turn On after an update. After installing a new version, the first Turn On could fail with "Could not update the helper: … Operation not permitted" and work only on the second press. macOS needs a moment between removing the old helper and registering the new one, and ClamDown now gives it that moment. It also reconnects to the new helper by itself.
• Fixed: a helper macOS registered but never started. ClamDown now waits for it, registers it once more by itself when it stays silent, and notices within seconds when you approve it in Login Items.
• No notification prompt at launch any more: ClamDown asks only when you press the button.

Updating

From 0.1.1, use Check for Updates… in the menu. From 0.1.0, install this version by hand once: download ClamDown.dmg, open it and drag ClamDown into Applications, replacing the old copy.

Requires macOS 13 or later. Universal (Apple Silicon and Intel). Signed with Developer ID and notarized by Apple.

ClamDown 0.1.1

ClamDown now updates itself.

• Updates from GitHub Releases. ClamDown looks for a new version once a day and offers it in the menu bar menu. "Check for Updates…" in the menu and "Check Now" in Settings > General check at once. You can turn the daily check off in Settings > General.
• Signed updates. Every update is signed with an EdDSA key and with Developer ID, and ClamDown installs it only when both signatures match. The check downloads the list of releases and sends nothing about you or your Mac.
• About ClamDown. The version moved from the settings sidebar to a new About ClamDown menu item.
• Simpler settings sidebar. The power and Quit buttons are gone from it; both stay in the menu bar menu.

Updating from 0.1.0

0.1.0 cannot update itself, so install this version by hand once: download ClamDown.dmg, open it and drag ClamDown into Applications, replacing the old copy. Later versions arrive through the app.

Requires macOS 13 or later. Universal (Apple Silicon and Intel). Signed with Developer ID and notarized by Apple.

ClamDown 0.1.0

First public release.

ClamDown keeps a MacBook working with the lid closed, so terminal and agent sessions keep running.

• One menu bar switch, with timed sessions ("Turn On For").
• Closing the lid does not sleep the Mac; the screen locks by default.
• Drives the fans from CPU temperature while the lid is closed (Apple Silicon).
• Switches itself off on low battery, high thermal state, unplugging or when the timer ends.
• A watchdog helper resets everything if the app quits or stops responding.

Install

Download ClamDown.dmg, open it and drag ClamDown into Applications. On first use, approve the helper in System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions.

Requires macOS 13 or later. Signed with Developer ID and notarized by Apple.