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Hotspot Guard

Per-App Data Limits for Metered Connections

Utilities Free by Jinhui Zhu 42 views

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At a glance

  • macOS
  • Utilities
  • Free

About Hotspot Guard

Hotspot Guard is a Mac menu bar app that tracks how much data each app uses on a metered connection, typically an iPhone hotspot, and steps in when one of them runs away with it. Set per-app limits over 1-minute and 1-hour windows, watch a monthly and daily budget with an overspend forecast, and let the response escalate in four steps. It works at the process level rather than through a network extension, so it can never take your connection down.

Features

  • Per-App Data Tracking: See exactly which apps are spending your hotspot allowance, not just a single total for the whole Mac.
  • 1-Minute and 1-Hour Limits: Set per-app caps across two windows so a sudden burst and a slow drain are both caught.
  • Four-Step Escalation: The response ramps up through highlight, notify, ask, and act, so you get warned long before anything happens automatically.
  • Automatic Action Off by Default: Nothing acts on your behalf until you turn it on; out of the box it only tells you.
  • Budget with Overspend Forecast: A monthly and daily budget sits at the top of the panel, projecting whether you're on track to overshoot.
  • Process-Level, Not a Network Extension: It never sits in the path of your traffic, so it can't take your connection down.
  • Metered-Only Guarding: It guards when you're on a metered connection and goes idle on regular Wi-Fi.
  • Fully On-Device: No account and no telemetry, everything stays on your Mac.

Why Hotspot Guard?

Tethering to your phone is fine until a backup, a cloud sync, or an update decides this is the moment to move several gigabytes. Hotspot Guard makes that visible per app, warns you early, and only takes action if you've explicitly asked it to.

Connect

Join a metered connection like your iPhone hotspot: Hotspot Guard wakes up and starts guarding.

Set Limits

Give the noisy apps a per-minute or per-hour cap, and set a daily and monthly budget.

Stay Under

Watch the forecast, get warned as apps approach their caps, and act before the bill does.

Questions

What is Hotspot Guard?

It's a Mac menu bar app that tracks per-app data usage on metered connections, typically an iPhone hotspot, and escalates when an app starts using more than you allowed.

What are the four escalation steps?

Highlight, notify, ask, and act. The earlier steps just surface what's happening; only the last one intervenes.

Will it cut off my apps automatically?

Not unless you turn that on. Automatic action is off by default, so out of the box Hotspot Guard only informs you.

Can it break my internet connection?

It works at the process level rather than through a network extension, so it never sits in the path of your traffic and can't take the connection down.

Does it run all the time?

It guards on metered connections and goes idle on regular Wi-Fi.

Does it collect my data?

No. Everything runs on-device with no account and no telemetry.

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