Awake

A lightweight macOS menu bar app that keeps your Mac awake. Similar to Amphetamine, but simpler.

Features

• Menu bar app - Lives in your menu bar, no dock icon
• Global hotkey - Toggle with ⌘⇧A from anywhere
• Two modes:
  • Prevent Display Sleep - keeps screen on
  • Prevent System Sleep Only - screen can sleep, Mac stays awake
• Timed sessions - 15 min, 30 min, 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, or indefinite
• Visual feedback - Icon changes: ☕ (active) / 😴 (inactive)

Installation

Build from source

Requires Xcode.

git clone <repo-url>
cd Awake
xcodebuild -scheme Awake -configuration Release build

Then copy to Applications:

cp -r ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Awake-*/Build/Products/Release/Awake.app /Applications/

Run directly

open ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Awake-*/Build/Products/Release/Awake.app

Or open Awake.xcodeproj in Xcode and press ⌘R.

Usage

1. Launch the app - look for ☕ or 😴 in your menu bar
2. Click the icon to access the menu
3. Click Enable to keep your Mac awake
4. Use ⌘⇧A to quickly toggle from any app

Menu Options

Option	Description
Enable/Disable	Toggle sleep prevention
Mode	Choose what to keep awake
Duration	Set auto-disable timer
Quit Awake	Exit the app

Requirements

• macOS 13.0 or later

How It Works

Awake uses macOS IOKit power assertions (IOPMAssertionCreateWithName) to prevent sleep. This is the same API used by system utilities and is fully supported by Apple.

License

MIT