Installation guide

Download, drag, and open.

WhatBattery is signed with a Developer ID and notarised by Apple. Choose the direct app download or Homebrew.

Download the latest releaseUse Homebrew

Before you install

  • Apple Silicon Mac: M1 or later.
  • macOS 14 Sonoma or later.
  • No administrator helper, kernel extension, or root access.

Direct download

  1. Download the latest WhatBattery.zip.
  2. Open the zip file.
  3. Drag WhatBattery.app into the Applications folder.
  4. Open WhatBattery from Applications. The battery icon appears in the menu bar.
No Gatekeeper workaround is required. Release builds are Developer ID signed, Apple-notarised, and stapled. If macOS reports otherwise, confirm that the file came from the official release link.

Install with Homebrew

The cask installs the menu bar app and puts the bundled whatbattery command on your PATH.

brew install --cask darrylmorley/whatbattery/whatbattery

Upgrade later with:

brew upgrade --cask whatbattery

First launch

The Mac overview needs no special permission. WhatBattery reads battery and power information available to your user account.

macOS asks for Bluetooth access only when you open the Accessories tab. This is used to read local accessory battery levels. You can decline it and continue using the rest of the app.

Automatic update checks

WhatBattery checks the GitHub Releases API at launch and every six hours while running, then shows an in-app banner when a newer version is available. No battery or hardware data is included in the request. Update notifications can be disabled in Settings.

Why it is not in the Mac App Store

The App Sandbox blocks the low-level IOKit and SMC access used for live power and detailed battery readings. Reading a connected iPhone or iPad also uses a private framework that App Store rules do not allow. Direct Developer ID distribution preserves those features while still using Apple's signing and notarisation checks.

Next steps