AppWrangler

AppWrangler

Keep every app on your Mac in check — CPU, efficiency cores and memory, per app.

A free, open-source menu bar app for Apple Silicon Macs.

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Helps the app you're using stay fast, even on an 8 GB Mac with lots of apps open.

• 🪄 Works on its own. Auto mode keeps the app in front at full speed and moves everything in the background to the efficiency cores. No rules needed.
• 🧊 Rescues low-memory Macs. When memory runs short, it can freeze the apps you haven't touched for a while, and each one wakes the moment you click it. It also tells you which app is eating your RAM and what to do about it.
• 🎛 Puts you in charge when you want it. Per-app CPU limits, efficiency cores and memory limits, with conditions such as "only on battery". You can also ask Claude to tune your Mac for you.

Free and open source (GPL-2.0), for macOS 13+ on Apple Silicon. It typically uses 1–2% of one core and about 30 MB of memory, and never connects to the network.

brew tap intarso/appwrangler https://github.com/IntarsO/AppWrangler

brew install --cask appwrangler

Or download the zip from Releases. AppWrangler isn't notarized yet, so the first time, right-click it → Open.

What it does

How it compares

App Tamer is a polished, long-standing commercial app, and if you already use it, it does its job well. AppWrangler is for people who want something free and open source with memory handling and AI control. Facts checked in October 2026 against each project's own pages; tell us if something has changed.

Get started

1. Install with Homebrew (above), the zip from Releases, or build it with Apple's free Command Line Tools: ./build.sh --install --run.
2. Click the lasso icon in the menu bar. Auto mode is already working; the *Auto* line shows what it's doing, and Suggestions point out anything worth changing.
3. Want more control? Click an app and turn on Limit CPU, Efficiency cores only or Memory limit. It applies at once and every time the app runs.

👉 Read the full [Getting Started guide](docs/getting-started.md).

Documentation

• Getting Started: install, first limit, launch at login, uninstall
• User Manual: every feature and setting explained (also built into the app: ? → Help)
• Command-line reference
• AI assistants via MCP: Claude Desktop, Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, Agents SDK
• FAQ & Troubleshooting
• How it works: architecture, for the curious and for contributors

Built on AppPolice

AppWrangler is a fork of [AppPolice](https://github.com/fuyu/AppPolice) by Maksym Stefanchuk (2013–2015), a menu bar app that let you throttle an app's CPU with a slider. That project inspired AppWrangler, and its source is where AppWrangler began.

The original no longer built on modern macOS and its limiter didn't work on Apple Silicon. AppWrangler is a ground-up rewrite (Swift + C) that keeps the idea and adds:

• an Apple Silicon–correct real-time CPU limiter that covers helper processes;
• efficiency-core mode;
• memory limits and low-memory protection;
• conditional rules;
• runaway detection;
• "what is this?" descriptions;
• a CLI;
• a test suite.

See NOTICE.md and the CHANGELOG for details. AppPolice 1.x limits and AppPolice 2.x rules are imported automatically.

Support the project

AppWrangler is free and always will be. If it saves your battery or your sanity, you can buy me a coffee ☕. Thank you!

Building and contributing

xcode-select --install     # Command Line Tools — full Xcode is not required

./build.sh # → build/AppWrangler.app ./test.sh # unit + integration tests ./Tests/e2e/run.sh # end-to-end tests against the built app

Contributions are welcome — see CONTRIBUTING.md and our Code of Conduct. Please report security issues privately as described in SECURITY.md.

License

AppWrangler is free software, licensed under the GNU General Public License v2 (LICENSE), the same license as AppPolice. Original AppPolice code © 2013–2015 Maksym Stefanchuk; AppWrangler © 2026 AppWrangler contributors.