Give your Mac a little personality.
MacMate is a fun prank app that makes your MacBook feel alive. Open the lid and it greets you. Try to close it and it protests. If you drop it, it will also complain.
⚠️ Important: MacMate is intended to be installed on your own machine, or on a friend's machine with their knowledge and consent. Installing it on someone's computer without their permission may constitute unauthorised access under computer misuse laws in your country. Don't be that person.
- Apple Silicon MacBook (M1, M2, M3, or M4)
- macOS 12 Monterey or later
- An internet connection for installation
Open Terminal and run:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Jelahu/macmate/main/install.sh | sudo bashThat's it. MacMate installs itself and starts running in the background immediately. It will also start automatically every time you turn on your Mac.
- Open your lid → MacMate says hello
- Close your lid → MacMate begs you not to go
- Handle your Mac a bit roughly → MacMate expresses its displeasure via the motion sensor
MacMate runs two background services:
- Lid Manager — listens for lid open and close events using the lid angle sensor
- Motion Manager — listens for sharp impacts using the Apple Silicon IMU (accelerometer), and plays a sound when it detects a sudden jolt
To remove MacMate completely, run:
sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.lidmanager.plist
sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.motionmanager.plist
sudo rm /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.lidmanager.plist
sudo rm /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.motionmanager.plist
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/macmateMacMate runs two lightweight background services that start at login. They use macOS's native sensor APIs to detect lid movement and physical impacts, then play audio responses accordingly. No data is collected or transmitted — everything runs entirely on your machine.
Nothing is happening when I open/close the lid
Check the logs:
tail -f /tmp/lidmanager.error.logNothing is happening when I tap/knock the Mac
Check the logs:
tail -f /tmp/motionmanager.error.logHow do I check if both services are running?
sudo launchctl list | grep com.apple.lidmanager
sudo launchctl list | grep com.apple.motionmanagerA 0 in the second column means it's running happily.
MacMate is a personal fun project. Only install it on machines you own or have explicit permission to modify. The authors accept no responsibility for any misuse.