Native macOS Background Utility

Sleek Power Status HUD Notifications for MacBook

PowerInfo is a lightweight background utility built natively in Swift. It alerts you instantly with a clean, HUD-style overlay when your laptop is plugged in, unplugged, or switches to Low Power Mode.

Download Free for macOS View Source Code

Available for Apple Silicon (M1-M5) and Intel MacBooks

Natural, Focused Alerts

A straightforward MacBook utility designed to keep you informed without the clutter of persistent menu bar icons or notification center spam.

HUD Style Overlay

Appears as a clean, translucent macOS HUD panel (similar to volume/brightness prompts) centered at the bottom of your screen.

Charger Event Prompts

Triggers instantly the millisecond your power adapter is plugged in or disconnected. Great for tracking loose charging cables.

Low Power Monitoring

Receive notifications when macOS Low Power Mode turns on or off, helping you manage performance and background tasks.

Low Battery Alert

Displays a distinct notification when your unplugged MacBook dips to 15% battery life, prompting you to save your progress.

Accessory App Behavior

Runs as a background accessory service. It does not clutter your Dock space or launch persistent application windows.

Efficient Swift Engine

Natively compiled in Swift. Leverages modern macOS IOKit API calls, consuming zero active CPU cycles and minimal memory footprint.

Straightforward Setup

Deploy the native utility to your macOS environment in three quick steps.

Get the App

Download the latest compiled release bundle directly from our GitHub Releases page.

Install App Bundle

Uncompress the ZIP archive and move the PowerInfo.app file into your system /Applications directory.

Launch Background Service

Open the app. Since it runs as a background system registry listener, verify permissions on the initial popup if prompted by macOS security settings.

Bypass Quarantine (If Needed)

If Gatekeeper flags the download as damaged, clear the quarantine attribute by running xattr -cr /Applications/PowerInfo.app in Terminal.

System Event Triggers

PowerInfo hooks directly into the low-level macOS IOKit registry. Instead of running a background loop that queries battery levels, it stays completely idle until the macOS kernel emits a power change notification.

              // Core event loop registry

              let runLoopSource = 

                IOPSNotificationCreateRunLoopSource(callback, ...)

              CFRunLoopAddSource(CFRunLoopGetCurrent(), ...)

              // Accessory activation policy (hides Dock icon)

              NSApp.setActivationPolicy(.accessory)

Hardware Compatibility

PowerInfo is optimized for Macbook computers. Check your hardware compatibility profile below.

Apple Silicon

Tested & Compatible

Optimized natively for M1, M2, M3, M4, and M5 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro lineups.

MacBook Air M1-M3
MacBook Pro M1-M4 Max
Zero background performance overhead

Intel Macs

Untested / Compatible

Compatible with Intel Core i3, i5, i7, i9 MacBooks running macOS Monterey or newer.

MacBook Pro Intel (2016-2020)
MacBook Air Intel (2018-2020)
Requires macOS 12+

Operating System

macOS 11 & under unsupported

Requires API notifications introduced in macOS 12 (Monterey). Check your version under About This Mac.

macOS 12 Monterey (Required)
macOS 13 Ventura (Compatible)
macOS 14 Sonoma / 15 Sequoia (Compatible)

Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to common questions regarding how the utility runs and manages power events.

Why isn't this utility on the official Mac App Store?

PowerInfo hooks into low-level IOKit system notifications to register instant hardware event updates. Sandbox guidelines for App Store distribution prevent developers from calling these system kernel APIs.

Will this background service drain my battery?

No. Unlike other utilities that run continuous checks, PowerInfo remains 100% passive. It consumes no background CPU cycles and only wakes up when macOS alerts the system that a charger connection has changed.

How do I terminate the background app?

To quit the application cleanly, click the PowerInfo plug/lightning icon in your macOS menu bar and select Quit PowerInfo. Alternatively, you can run killall PowerInfo in your Terminal.

Is the application code safe to audit?

Yes, the app is open-source. The entire system loop is fully inspectable in this GitHub repository. The utility communicates with zero outside servers, collects no analytics, and does not require internet permissions.

Clean, Native MacBook Power HUD alerts

Download PowerInfo for free on GitHub to start receiving elegant, non-disruptive charger notifications today.

Download Free for macOS latest