Sift

English · 简体中文

A privacy-first macOS utility for storage analysis, cleanup, app uninstall, network tools, and login items & extensions.

Everything runs locally on your Mac. Scans read file metadata only, risky items stay unchecked by default, and deletions go to the Trash.

Features

• Cleanup — Find caches, logs, leftovers, and developer files; risky items stay unchecked
• Apps — Browse apps and command-line tools, then uninstall with related support files
• Storage — Understand disk usage and large folders
• Performance — Monitor CPU, memory pressure, and busy apps
• Network — Inspect traffic, connections, listening ports, routes, VPN/TUN, and proxies
• System — Review login items, background activity, and extensions

Requirements

• macOS 14 or later
• Xcode 16 / Swift 6 (for building from source)
• Full Disk Access may be required for some user directories

Install

Sift is currently distributed as an unsigned ad-hoc build, so macOS Gatekeeper will block a normal double-click the first time.

1. Download Sift-*-macOS.zip from GitHub Releases.
2. Unzip it, then move Sift.app into /Applications.
3. Open it with either method:
   • Right-click Sift.app → Open → Open
   • Or go to System Settings → Privacy & Security, find the blocked-app notice, and choose Open Anyway
4. After the first successful launch, you can open Sift normally from Applications or Spotlight.

Build

Open the Xcode project and run the Sift App scheme:

open Sift.xcodeproj

Or build from the terminal:

xcodebuild \
  -project Sift.xcodeproj \
  -scheme "Sift App" \
  -configuration Debug \
  -derivedDataPath build/XcodeDerivedData \
  build

open build/XcodeDerivedData/Build/Products/Debug/Sift.app

Core library tests:

swift test

Releases

Local builds use dev. Release tags are the source of truth for shipped versions: pushing a tag such as v0.9.0 overrides the app version with CFBundleShortVersionString=0.9.0, while the GitHub Actions run number becomes CFBundleVersion. The workflow verifies both values before packaging and publishing the ZIP.

git tag v0.9.0
git push origin v0.9.0

Localization

English is the source language. The app also includes Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, French, German, Brazilian Portuguese, and Russian.

Project layout

App/                 SwiftUI app, preferences, and app state
Sources/SiftCore/    Scanning, risk rules, cleanup, and system inventory
Resources/           App icon and Localizable.xcstrings
Tests/SiftCoreTests/ Core behavior and safety tests
Sift.xcodeproj/      macOS app project
Website/             Marketing site

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. Keep changes focused, and prefer local, reversible operations for anything that deletes or terminates processes.

License

MIT