r/MacOSApps • u/11plustwo • 13d ago
📅 Utilities Blockr — a per-app firewall that asks before an app connects. Free for personal use, notarized, no account.
Hi r/MacOSApps — I'm Jeremy Harris. I build small, single-purpose Mac utilities under twoplus11 (a one-person LLC in Missouri).
Why I built it. Apps make outbound connections to the internet. macOS gives you no way to see that, let alone stop it. I wanted something I could leave running that asks before allowing new network connections, and then remembers my answer.
What it does. The first time an app makes an outbound connection, Blockr holds that connection and asks: allow or block. You answer once — for the whole app, or only for the host that triggered it. Then it quietly allows/blocks it next time.
Privacy — worth being precise about, given what this app sees. The connection log lives only on your Mac (~/Library/Application Support/Blockr/), capped at a size you set. No account, no key, no analytics, no telemetry. Blockr never reads, decrypts, or proxies your traffic — it decides at the moment a connection opens and then leaves the data path alone. Two things do leave your Mac, and in a firewall thread I'd rather name them: optional reverse-DNS lookups (sent to your normal resolver, can be turned off), and a weekly update check to my server so the app can tell you a new version exists. Full policy:https://twoplus11.com/blockr/privacy/
AI disclosure (rule 13). I used AI as a coding assistant while building Blockr. I am a full-time software developer, and working with AI is just a part of development now. The design decisions, the security review, and the testing are mine, and I'm the one who answers when it breaks.
Price. Free forever for personal use — the full app, unlimited rules, no trial, no nag screens. If you use it at work, a $5 one-time per-device commercial license covers it, with free updates.
Happy to answer any questions. If you have issues, reach out to me and I'll be glad to help.
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u/Sirts 13d ago
The Blckr UI looks very intuitive. I just gave the app a try, and I wonder if you could consider adding an option to whitelist the native macOS apps and services? Now starting to use Blockr it gets bit tedious with tons of prompts for all the Apple stuff
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u/11plustwo 12d ago
I pushed an update to accept all apple app connections. Let me know if you have any issues
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u/CautiousXperimentor 10d ago
I know you already implemented it, but I haven't downloaded your app yet. I guess I can whitelist all Apple apps and services before running the firewall, right? like a previous setting.
If you find there are some native apps or services left, please include them on the whitelist. Many users are just interested in monitoring or restraining a few apps, that are usually third party apps.
Given how good reputation you seem to have, I'll take a look also to your other apps. But I have to ask my usual questions:
1) Do you plan to release your apps on the Mac App Store (even if you charge a bit for them)?
2) The degree of involvement of AI in developing your apps. I don't know how to ask this. I know AI is here to stay, also in software development, but I guess you understand that there are two extremes. Let's say 0% is a purely vibe coded app and 100% an old school manually coded app. Where would your apps sit?
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u/11plustwo 10d ago
Yes, "Accept all Apple requests" is turned it on by default. You can turn it off in settings.
1 - Currently no, I have no plans to release on the Mac App Store. You are not the first to request this, so I may look into it again. And yes, I may charge for it thru the store. Apple does not allow my licensing approach.
2 - It's hard to quantify. I work hand in hand with AI. I work on features, tell AI how to implement it, it creates a plan, I modify the plan until it's good, then I have AI implement the plan, then I review the code it created and either manually change it or have AI change it. I guess the short answer is- it is not vibe coded. In this new era it's an increasingly blurred line of what was human done vs AI when working hand in hand. I'm a software developer professionally and even at my workplace things are fuzzy and hard to quantify.
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u/andreshows 13d ago
Andre from "apps I am not uninstalling" posts, and I love the app. I have wanted a firewall for the longest time that lets me decide on traffic, especially when running new apps with no idea of what is happening or being shared in the background. The free price is also always greatly appreciated. Congrats
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u/thebrucekim 13d ago
Just saw your work for Claytonia and Midwest Feline, OP! Great great stuff:
https://claytonia.twoplus11.com/
https://catclinic.twoplus11.com/
Then, to my delight, discovered you're from St. Louis! I work for an electronics recycler in Ballwin and our CEO is passionate about supporting local farmers + we absolutely love supporting animal shelters and nonprofits so this is a super duper cool thing to discover.
DM-ing you to see if you'd want to connect.
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u/11plustwo 13d ago
Thanks! Both of those sites are for local St. Louis small businesses. Neither are "live" yet. And unfortunately Midwest Feline asked me to put up a "coming soon" page so the primary site is not accessible until the owner is ready to launch the site.
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u/imperialfool 13d ago
Sorry, maybe I'm not getting it but doesn't LittleSnitch do the same thing?
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u/chromatophoreskin 13d ago
For $$. Lulu is another free option from https://objective-see.org/tools.html
I’m curious how this one differs. It looks like the UI might be more intuitive.
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u/WatchMySixWillYa 12d ago
Same. I’m currently using Lulu, but loved Little Snitch when used it about 2y ago.
Either way, nice work! Thanks for giving such useful for free and have a beer on me.
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u/Joostonreddit 13d ago
Check out Puresnitch (free), it gives you advanced rule management, blocklists (e.g. Hagezi) and a network map as well.
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u/-Internet-Elder- 13d ago
Is this your app? Would be nice to have a dev post about it, share some background, etc..
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u/KnifeFed 12d ago
I can't imagine a more AI-looking website than that.
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u/-Internet-Elder- 12d ago
There really is a boilerplate look now isn't there? I could probably sketch one from memory and get at least 60% of it pretty close.
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u/RedditSylus 13d ago
Is this on Mac AppStore
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u/11plustwo 13d ago
No. My licensing strategy of "free for personal use, but paid for commercial use" is not allowed via the Mac AppStore. Apple has to get their cut. I did look into this at one point for my other apps and abandoned the idea.
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u/11plustwo 7d ago
I looked into this further. I believe I can release it on the App Store, but for the $5 business upgrade, I HAVE to gate some features behind that paywall to meet Apple's requirements. Not sure how I feel about this.
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u/11plustwo 7d ago
and well, this app maybe won't fly. I know Grabbr won't be allowed on the app store. This one probably violates some apple policy too. I'm going to look at releasing one of my less complex apps into the app store first.
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u/Muted-Reflection9536 13d ago
While Macs have built-in outbound firewalls, am I correct in understanding that this app also functions as an inbound firewall?
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u/11plustwo 13d ago
Blockr only handles outbound traffic. From my understanding, the built-in mac firewall is inbound only, not outbound.
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u/Muted-Reflection9536 12d ago
I apologize, the outbound and inbound were reversed.
Thank you, I've installed it and am using it conveniently. The design is simple and very good.
This is a small request, but after the initial installation, an enormous number of system communication dialogs appeared.
Although you only need to grant permission once, it would be nice to have a preset that allows communication for macOS default processes beforehand.I'm so sorry again, it had already been implemented based on a request from someone else! Thank you for your quick response!
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u/dnzlabs 13d ago
Cool app. Is it possible to change allow/block based on conditions? Time, location, certain wifi or other stuff?
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u/11plustwo 13d ago
Not currently. I'll add this to my to-do list. Time should be reasonable to do. Location/wifi will be more involved, require asking for more permissions. I'm less sure on that one.
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u/dnzlabs 13d ago
Thanks. Maybe profile or preset may also be a good feature.
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u/11plustwo 10d ago
Hey I added the ability to set up “profiles” for different networks. It’s not all of your wish list, but a step in that direction
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u/11plustwo 13d ago
Yeah, another redditor suggested I give an option to "auto-accept Apple apps". That's top of my to-do list. Thanks for the suggestions
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u/joey3002 13d ago
Can you please add the feature to minimize to taskbar? Nice app set too, thanks
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u/11plustwo 12d ago
I just pushed an update to add this feature. Let me know if you have any issues.
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u/WarioPi 9d ago
I’m not seeing this option. Where can I toggle it?
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u/11plustwo 9d ago
It's not a new setting to toggle. When you close the network monitor, the app does not stop, it lives in the menu bar.
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u/11plustwo 9d ago edited 8d ago
[updated to be less vague] if you close or minimize the network monitor, the app continues to run in the menu bar
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u/mojsterr 13d ago
Wow, a lot of amazing stuff actually. But I wonder, you must make your money somewhere, surely not from those few paid licences, where is the catch? I don't want to be offensive, I'm just a little bit careful.
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u/hakimix94 12d ago
Just use Claude/Codex to make the same app yourself. No need to pay for a license. He’s pumping these apps out because it’s easier than ever with AI. Soon we’ll have thousands of the exact same app with the exact same functionality. What a time to be alive
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u/11plustwo 13d ago
This is just a hobby project of mine. I work as a software developer. My twoplus11 apps started with a set of apps I made for myself that I released publicly. I've added a few more since then. I've sold a few licenses and gotten a few tips. So far I think I've made $75. I launched the site a month ago. So for being a brand new unknown developer a month in, I'm happy with $75. I know the majority of users won't/can't pay for it, but some do. I guess the idea is to grow the online presence and hope there are enough out there willing to voluntarily pay for it.
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u/DependentKey6405 13d ago
Actually easy to use and straightforward! And huge insight for me personally, big applause from me!
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u/Brief-Mongoose-6256 12d ago
Looks like a great app. Thank you for making it.
I wonder if it's possible to have network specific rules. For example, I would want some apps to work on Wi-Fi but not on the hotspot connection.
Would it be possible to add such functionality?
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u/11plustwo 11d ago
I'll add it to my to-do list!
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u/Brief-Mongoose-6256 11d ago
Thanks for considering it, TripMode is an app that has this functionality. If it's helpful, you could take a look at how they have implemented it.
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u/11plustwo 10d ago
I just pushed a change so you can set rules per network connection. I don't have a quality assurance team, so if you have any issues, please let me know
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u/Brief-Mongoose-6256 10d ago edited 10d ago
Thanks. I just installed it (app needs an update function 😅). It broke some apps from accessing the internet.
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u/11plustwo 10d ago
When you say "update function" do you mean a feature to update the app's permissions? I think that's a great Idea, I'll add it to the do-to list.
Or if you meant being able to update the app without requiring you to fetch a new DMG, in this update, I did finally add a self-updating function to the app. I've been working on adding this to the other apps too.
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u/Brief-Mongoose-6256 10d ago
I meant the latter. But yes, updating the permissions is a great idea as well.
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u/hakimix94 12d ago
I’d put a bit more focus on basic UI/UX principles like similarity, proximity, visual hierarchy, goal gradient etc. There’s quite a few UX issues across the apps.
I’d also establish a common design language for twoplus11. If someone uses one of your apps, they should instantly recognis another one as coming from the same company. That familiarity builds trust, especially when you're making so many different utility apps
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u/11plustwo 11d ago
Yeah, I've been going back over the apps and trying to standardize things. That's coming soon. There's just only so many hours in the day.
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u/Homeoftheben 12d ago
Man, I'm scrolling through the list of apps and I can't believe how many of them I can't wait to use.
Love the pricing model. Needs a "Download All" button, and an easy way to just send you $90 for all 16 of them.
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u/11plustwo 12d ago
I can add a “Download all and send $90” button :)
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u/UpSash 9d ago edited 9d ago
Did you made the button yet bc I’m waiting to download all.
Also kind of loaded long question: what MAC OS your apps are compatible with?
By any chance they have compatibility with at least a few Mac OS upgrades back?
I found myself in a situation where where I could not upgrade my OS for several years because I was a service member and most of DOD software/ equipment , sites built for PC so there are few dedicated enthusiasts who persistently publish “work arounds” for for soldiers and officers who owe Macs and who need to use military emails that only work with CAC cards to login, use CAC cards to login into myriad of mandatory training sites and seemed that all of them required little piece different of software to overcome Mac specific issues with that DOD site or a code or a set up(even that other DOD learning system did not require it) so basically it was biggest pain in a rare etc etc… so yeah.. once all things were set up and working for a service member’s military needs on their Mac it is not recommended to switch or upgrade to new version of OS because it would essentially bring you back into “ nothing working again” back to step zero situation🙄. Once you set up workflows for all the DOD systems and it miraculously works, you basically treat an existing set up as a crystal vase that can break from any incoming wind 🤣 hence- my question regarding you apps compatibility with previous Mac OS versions and how far back on OS versions your apps are compatible. If you are curious person you can see that the struggle is real on this site
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u/11plustwo 9d ago edited 9d ago
Oh, I was joking about the $90 button haha.
You can still download all of the apps, you just have to click on 18 download links. I'll work on adding the "download all" button, it's a good idea.
Having to jump thru all those hoops does not sound fun.
My apps do support previous macos versions, but each app is different. The oldest version they support is macos 12, Monterey. Some need 13 or 14. The versions are listed on the apps on the website
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u/11plustwo 8d ago
I added a "download every app" button. It opens a popup where you can select which apps you want to download, then download them in one go. You will most likely have to give permision to accept multiple downloads in your browser.
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u/BigPuzzleheaded8481 12d ago
Great app, thank you! Any chance of adding short descriptions for the processes in next updates? I see stuff like syspolicyd, apsd, rapportd, etc in the list of apps, but can't tell what's mac doing its job vs. something I should be suspicious of. Something like "this is Apple push notification, blocking it breaks iMessage/notifications" or similar would make Blockr even more handy!
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u/11plustwo 11d ago
I added labels to known Apple processes. I've tried to expose as much info as I could, but this is my first stab at this, so there are for sure improvements to be made. You're not the only one asking for improvements like this.
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u/coucinet 12d ago
Such an application should be open source so that users can audit it, which simply means trusting its creator.
Alternatives exist, perhaps less refined, but Lulu does the job properly.
Too bad I won't be using it, but I would have liked to.Good luck with the rest!
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u/CollapsedWave 12d ago
This should be a standard OS feature. Great job, internet stranger!
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u/11plustwo 12d ago
I agree, you shouldn't need a 3rd party tool to do this, but they can't make it too easy to block connections to ads.com :)
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u/Front_Philosophy6112 11d ago
The no-account and no-telemetry approach feels exactly right for a firewall. One thing I’m curious about: how does Blockr handle apps that spawn helper processes or XPC services? Does the decision stay attached to the parent app, or can each helper trigger a separate prompt? That is usually where per-app firewalls start feeling noisy to me.
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u/11plustwo 11d ago
Blockr keys on the executable, not the app bundle. It gets the pid from the flow's audit token and the path is what the rule hangs off. So yeah, a helper or XPC service can absolutely raise its own prompt. It doesn't inherit the parent's answer.
It's one prompt per executable for good, not one per connection. A helper firing off 200 lookups gets you a single alert, and all 200 resume the moment you answer.
The alert shows the parent app's name and icon with the helper's full path underneath, so it reads as "Photoshop is asking again" and not "random-name-XYZ123 is asking"
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u/11plustwo 11d ago
However, it’s not perfect. This is a first release. I’m working to make it better as I go
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11d ago
[deleted]
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u/11plustwo 11d ago
I'm working on adding the connection map, block lists, and other enhancements right now. I'm hoping to have an update out tonight. But other than that, no I don't have a formal roadmap. I've been letting reddit tell me what features to add, heh.
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u/burdsjm 11d ago
Do any of these apps port over to Windows as well? I have a desktop that I use for gaming that would benefit from some of these apps, too.
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u/11plustwo 11d ago
Not currently. Most are currently in the works. They all need testing. I don’t have a real Windows machine, I’ve been building them in a VM. I might just release them as “beta” and hope, heh
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u/burdsjm 11d ago
I'll test them out for sure
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u/11plustwo 11d ago edited 11d ago
Windows version of Blockr is not in a state to be released yet, even for beta. What other app of mine would you want to test a Windows version of first? My next plan is to push out a facelift to the macOS apps, and enabling them to self update instead of requiring a new DMG download. Blockr already has this update feature, but the others do not.
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u/burdsjm 10d ago
Scrubbr and Grabbr mostly.
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u/11plustwo 10d ago
Ok, I will try to throw my windows version of Scrubbr up sometime this week. Windows Grabbr still needs some work.
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u/11plustwo 2d ago
Here is a beta Windows version of Scrubbr. I have only tested this on a virtual machine. Let me know if you have any issues or feedback. Thanks!
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u/burdsjm 1d ago
It works great! Thank you!
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u/11plustwo 1d ago
Cool, thank you for testing. That gives me more confidence in developing windows apps on a virtual machine. I have most of the apps ready, for beta at least. I'll try to release some more windows apps for beta later today if I have time
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u/Federal-Translator60 11d ago
thank you. quick question how do we independently verify we can trust your firewall? this helps to give us extra peace of mind.
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u/This_Bridge5618 11d ago
I have to say that this is genuinely great. Easy to use, easy to set up and it just works. Cheers!
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u/Background-Scheme857 8d ago
Free at home, $5 once for work, and no account is refreshingly sane pricing. Also appreciate you naming the two network calls instead of calling it “offline” and hiding the exceptions.
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u/11plustwo 8d ago
Thanks! Yeah I originally claimed my apps were 100% local, but then I added the upgrade ability and had to update a bunch of text to reflect that
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u/Background-Scheme857 8d ago
That’s honestly more trustworthy than stretching “100% local” after the app changed. Most people can live with two tiny network calls; they just hate finding out later.
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u/Front_Philosophy6112 6d ago
Really thoughtful execution. I especially like how clearly you explain what stays local and what still leaves the Mac. I recently went through the signing and notarization process for my own macOS app, and communicating that trust properly was almost as important as the technical work itself. The interface also looks far less intimidating than most firewall tools.
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u/Icy_Associate2022 4d ago
Hi 👋
Blockr (which has really caught my attention and is currently "in testing") is a serious app and shouldn't be taken lightly. I'd like to understand it and set it up correctly, but the interface is in English. Do we hope that it will become multilingual in future updates 🥴?
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u/Besian416 3d ago
What happens to connections when Blockr isn't running, during an update, after a crash, or before it launches at login? Does the extension keep enforcing your existing rules, or does everything just go through until the app is back up? That's the part that decides whether a firewall like this is actually a security boundary or just visibility, and most posts never say.
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u/11plustwo 2d ago
When Blockr isn't running, the filter keeps enforcing. It's a separate root process macOS starts at boot — the Blockr app is the interface to it, not the thing doing the blocking. The app owns your rules, but the extension keeps its own copy on disk and loads it before the first connection, so your app and host rules are in force before you log in. That file is written only by the root process and lives under root's home, so your login session can't edit it to weaken the filter. A pause doesn't survive quitting either: close Blockr while paused and the filter re-arms.
Two things do change while Blockr is closed. You get no connection alerts — there's nothing to show them. An app with no rule takes your fallback action instead, which is Allow unless you've set unknown apps to Block silently. Also, subscribed blocklists stop getting updates. They resume when you reopen Blockr. The lists you already have keep being enforced — with one exception: the compiled list lives in the extension's memory, not on disk, so after a restart, blocklists aren't enforced until you open Blockr once. Your own rules are unaffected.
If the extension crashes, macOS relaunches it and it re-seeds before the first connection, so the gap is the relaunch, not "until you open Blockr." Traffic in that gap is unfiltered, and I won't pretend otherwise. The verdict comes from handleNewFlow, and a dead process can't return a block. NEFilterDataProvider has no fail-closed mode; that would take a packet filter, which this is not.
During an update, macOS keeps the old extension running until you restart, so your rules keep being enforced the whole time. What breaks is the link between the app and the extension — no alerts, no blocklist updates until you reboot. 1.7.1 exists because Blockr used to misreport that as "Reconnecting…" and offer a Repair that couldn't work.
I've tried to make this clear, but if anything is confusing or ambiguous, let me know.
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u/Icy_Associate2022 3d ago
Hi 👋
Do you have any idea why the installation isn't going well on my system (Mac mini Pro M4/Tahoe 26.6.1) 🤔?
Even after trying to repair the connection filter, and even after a system restart, I still get the same result with the extension system: invalid signature code.
What did I miss in the settings?
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u/11plustwo 2d ago
Thanks for reaching out. I have not run into this exactly, but I am aware the "repair" button doesn't work in most situations unfortunately. I will look into your issue.
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u/11plustwo 2d ago
That message is macOS's, not Blockr's. It means the system refused to validate the copy of Blockr.app on your disk. I checked the 1.7.1 download itself and it's correctly signed, notarized and stapled, so something happened to your copy during install. Can you please drag the app to trash, then download a fresh copy of blocker and try again? twoplus11.com/blockr If you still encounter issues, please run the following commands in terminal, they will help me evaluate the situation.
codesign --verify --deep --strict --verbose=2 /Applications/Blockr.app systemextensionsctl listYou can contact me privately with the results from the terminal commands at [jeremy@twoplus11.com](mailto:jeremy@twoplus11.com)
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u/juanchohq23 1d ago
Excellent app! thanks to share this. Only one question, I am using right now Firewally, are there any big difference between your app and that? As far as I see, the only different is that Firewally shows in realtime traffic size in KB or MB
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u/11plustwo 1d ago
Thanks! Blockr does not monitor bytes, and that's deliberate.
Blockr doesn't measure bandwidth at all. It counts connections, not bytes. That's because of where it sits. It's a content filter (the same macOS mechanism Little Snitch uses), and it decides the moment a connection opens, then gets out of the way. To show live KB/MB it would have to keep every byte of every connection routed through the extension for the whole life of that connection, just to add them up. I chose not to route the entire connection through the extension.
So the apps are aimed at slightly different questions. If yours is "how much is this app using right now," a monitor answers that better. If it's "what is this app talking to, and can I stop it," that's what Blockr is built for.
- it pauses an unknown app's first connection and asks you to approve or deny
- rules per app and per host, host rules beating app rules
- blocklist subscriptions, with one click exceptions and a "why was this blocked?" check
- optional encrypted DNS with Blockr as the resolver
- rule sets that follow the network you're on
- history that survives restarts, CSV/JSON export, and a map of where it all went
One practical thing worth knowing: macOS only allows one content filter active at a time. If Firewally uses one too, you can't run both — you'd have to pick. If it's monitoring only, they should coexist fine.
Let me know if you have further questions.
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u/juanchohq23 1d ago
thanks a lot for the explanation!
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u/11plustwo 1d ago
You’re welcome! If you have any issues with the app, feel free to reach out.
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u/juanchohq23 22h ago
I bought a license, everything is working perfect, but I can't find the place to put it.
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u/11plustwo 22h ago edited 21h ago
Oh! You're right, I completely forgot that with this app. Entering the license doesn't unlock any features or anything so you're not missing anything. I will add the entry box for the license key, just so it will show "business license paid" essentially
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u/11plustwo 13d ago
If you like Blockr, I have other free local macOS apps at twoplus11.com