2

I used HardwareGrowler for years to get notified about hardware and system events on my Macs.
HardwareGrowler was initially provided as an extra with Growl, and was then proposed as a standalone app in the Mac App Store.

The Growl developper recently announced Growl's retirement (see also ArsTechnica's recent post).
I won't miss Growl, given that I haven't used it for year. But I'll deeply miss one Growl extra: HardwareGrowler.

Hardware Growler's purpose is (was) to notify about hardware-like events, including

  • interfaces connect and disconnect (USB, FireWire, Thunderbolt, Ethernet, WIFI, Bluetooth, ...)
  • other system events like under-the-hood volume mount/umount
  • change of primary IP addresses due to DHCP renewal or network interface changes.
  • connect and disconnect of power adapter

IMHO it's simple, efficient, lightweight, and very useful piece of software for power users (nicely completing a system ressource monitoring like MenuMeters).

Hardware Growler's code is still on GitHub, but the app is no longer available in Mac App Store, nor apparently anywhere else.

I currently still have it installed, and reportedly (in comments) it still works fine on MacOS Big Sur. But the current build will sooner or later become unusable, and so far isn't ported to Apple Silicon.

I looked for an alternative, both on the web and in HomeBrew, but couldn't find any.

So the question is: does anybody would have some suggestions for maintained lightweight MacOS softwares that could provide notifications about hardware and system events, like HardwareGrowler does ?

thanks a million !

[Edited to incorporate information from simonszu's comment about HardwareGrowler working fine on MacOS Big Sur]

Improve this question
6
  • I did see the 3 years old question "Replacement for Hardware Growler?" on Ask Different (apple.stackexchange.com/questions/267175/…), but the answer then was that it was stil available on Mac App Store, which is not true anymore. Commented Dec 7, 2020 at 16:41
  • Does Hardware Growler not actually work on Big Sur? Someone should probably put up a non-MAS compiled version at minimum. Even if it's only for older systems, I really hate seeing software just become lost forever. Commented Dec 7, 2020 at 16:57
  • I haven't switch to Big Sur yet. So I don't know if HardwareGrowler would run on it. The point is that this software is not maintained anymore, and I don't have the know-how to maintain it myself, so sooner or later it'll die (it's already pretty old, even though it keeps doing the job for now). That's why I'm looking for alternatives. Of course if someone feels like taking over HardwareGrowler I would support the move. But I thought maybe other software does that already, and maybe more, but I couldn't find any. Commented Dec 11, 2020 at 12:51
  • 2
    HardwareGrowler runs very well on Big Sur, but since the discontinuation notice of Growl i am also searching for an alternative. Better now than too late. Commented Dec 11, 2020 at 16:26
  • @simonszu thanks for the info about HardwareGrowler running very well on Big Sur. At least it gives time to find an alternative (or a hero that would build a UniversalBinary version of Hardware Growler on a up to date Xcode). Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 15:34

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2
+50

Since the BSD-licensed source for HardwareGrowler is available, the thing to do is to replace its use of the Growl API with the OS-provided notifications API. Its hardware detection code should be fine as is. I don't have the attention to give it now, but if no one else does it I will get around to it for my own use (especially since it is my only remaining use for Growl itself).

I don't currently have an active Apple Developer subscription, but I'd consider getting one to be able to release a new version on the Mac App Store if no one else gets around to it first.

Anyone have any ideas on a rename that shows its Growl origins while also showing its independence from the Growl API?

Improve this answer
2
  • Hi @Gregory. Indeed that's an option, if one knows how to do it (which I don't). On my side, I use HardwareGrowler without Growl for years. And when it was available on MAS, it was a standalone app. So as far as I know it already works with the OS-native notification API, and would just require to have a recent build with an Apple Developper account to be published back on MAS. Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 15:47
  • As for the name, I rather name it something like "System Event Notifier", but retaining its origin in a tag line like "A Growl legacy, based on Hardware Growler original code". Commented Dec 17, 2020 at 15:53

You must log in to answer this question.

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.