A tiny macOS menu bar app that keeps your Mac awake. One click to prevent sleep — no more interrupted downloads, builds, or long-running processes.
Rewrite of the original Go version in Swift — native SwiftUI, zero dependencies, single binary.
Corporate-managed Macs often enforce aggressive sleep policies that you can't override in System Settings. Your screen locks after a few minutes, your Slack/Teams status flips to "Away", and colleagues think you disappeared — even though you just stepped out for coffee while a build is running.
You could use caffeinate in the terminal, but that's easy to forget and annoying to manage. Idler is simpler — one click in the menu bar, and your Mac stays awake. Your messenger stays green, your screen stays on, and your long-running processes don't get interrupted.
When activated, Idler:
- Creates IOKit power assertions to prevent both system sleep and display sleep
- Simulates user activity every 30 seconds
- Performs imperceptible mouse nudges (1 pixel) to defeat idle detection
When deactivated, all assertions are released and your Mac sleeps normally.
- One-click toggle —
moon.zzz/bolticons right in the menu bar - Prevents both system and display sleep via IOKit power management
- Activity simulation every 30 seconds — keeps Slack green too
- No dock icon — lives quietly in the menu bar
- Native macOS — SwiftUI, single binary (~300KB), zero dependencies
brew install --cask alexrett/tap/idlerGrab the latest Idler.dmg from Releases.
Signed and notarized with Apple Developer ID.
git clone https://github.com/alexrett/idler2.git
cd idler2
swift build -c release
open .build/release/IdlerUniversal binary (Intel + Apple Silicon):
swift build -c release --arch arm64 --arch x86_64- Launch Idler — look for 🌙 in the menu bar
- Click it → Prevent Sleep — icon changes to ⚡
- Click again → Allow Sleep — back to 🌙
- That's it
- macOS 13.0 (Ventura) or later
- Works on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs
MIT