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FreeSnitch 1.1.0

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@isaaclins isaaclins released this 24 Oct 23:54
· 49 commits to main since this release
v1.1.0
5e3f39d

FreeSnitch is a free, open-source application firewall for macOS. It shows which app on your Mac talks to which server, puts it on a live map, and lets you allow or deny it per process. MIT licensed, no account, no telemetry.

Download

File What it is
FreeSnitch-1.1.0.dmg Disk image. Start here.
FreeSnitch-1.1.0.zip The same app as a zip.
  • Requires macOS 13 or later. One universal build for Apple Silicon and Intel.
  • Signed with a Developer ID, notarized and stapled by Apple. This is the firewall build, with the Network System Extension.
  • Updates arrive through the built-in Sparkle updater. Coming from 1.0.0, install this version by hand once (see below).

Install

  1. Open the disk image and drag FreeSnitch to Applications. It has to run from there, or macOS will not install its helper.
  2. Open it and allow the helper in System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions > Allow in the Background.
  3. When macOS asks, allow the FreeSnitch system extension. That is the part that filters per process.

Checksums (SHA-256)

f15857e6e328936b1623cfe309c1d7a357d1150f77fbe2e24a8ed7c1650382cd  FreeSnitch-1.1.0.dmg
ece5ef84b37d771cf63cb86d643ef5e0a1dd903744608771c50be5ce0b092e80  FreeSnitch-1.1.0.zip

Also attached as SHA256SUMS.txt. Check with shasum -a 256 -c SHA256SUMS.txt in the folder you downloaded to.

What's new in 1.1

FreeSnitch 1.1 fixes the problems people reported after 1.0: the helper eating CPU, rules that were awkward to create, and a DNS tab that promised more than it did. Thank you to everyone who opened an issue.

Coming from 1.0.0? Install 1.1.0 by hand this one time: download the disk image from the releases page and drag FreeSnitch to Applications, replacing the old copy. Your rules and settings stay. 1.0.0's updater can only announce this version, because the key it checks updates with had to be replaced. From 1.1.0 on, updates install themselves again.

Fixes

  • The helper no longer burns CPU (#142, #144). Two loops spun at full speed: the traffic reader restarted nettop with nothing on its input, and every restart left an old reader spinning behind it. Together they could cost a whole core while the Mac sat idle. Both are gone.
  • The DNS tab tells the truth (#142). FreeSnitch does not change your Mac's DNS server, so the DNS-over-HTTPS upstream only applies when your network's DNS points at this Mac and enforcement is on. The tab now says whether that is the case right now, updates when you change DNS in System Settings, and warns when DNS points at this Mac but the proxy is not running.
  • Insights uses plain words (#142). The tabs are now Apps, No Name, Suggestions and New Since Update, and each one says in a sentence what it shows.

New

  • Pick the app for a rule (#143). The rule editor has an app picker, and you can drop an app or a command-line tool onto the Rules page to start a rule for it. Paths are stored exactly as macOS reports them, so the rule matches.
  • Hide the Dock icon (#145). Turn off "Show FreeSnitch in the Dock" in Settings > General and FreeSnitch lives in the menu bar only. It is on by default.

Rules made by process name only

Earlier versions let you create a rule with only a process name, from the Add Rule sheet or freesnitch rule add --process. Those rules never checked the name, so they applied to every app. The name field is gone and the command line refuses such a rule. Rules you already have are unchanged: if you made one this way, open Rules and give it an app (#157).

Under the hood

  • The built-in updater is Sparkle 2.10.0, which includes Sparkle's security fixes since 2.7.1.

Requires macOS 13 or later. One universal build for Apple Silicon and Intel, signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple.

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