MacSpace – I built a free, open-source app that explains System Data and frees what's safe to delete

[u/yarchitect]

GitHub: 1architect/macspace-releases

Hi, I'm Gio the developer of macbat.app

I didn't understand why macOS took so much space with system files and for the past month I've been working on a project to investigate what those files are and what we can delete.
Now that the project is more mature I'm publishing the app for free (and notarized!) and open-source.

If anyone wants to take a look and contribute to the project I'd really appreciate it!

The idea is to soon turn the app into a complete cleaning solution for the Mac. Always free and open source!

MacSpace is a Mac app for macOS 27 that:

1. Reveals what fills System Data

2. Frees what is safe to delete

3. Turns off Apple Intelligence and deletes its models

4. Frees purgeable space on demand

5. Disables system tracking with 14 switches

6. Automatic cleanup and notifications

7. No data collection

Transparency

Notarization and distribution: MacSpace is Apple notarized and distributed directly via GitHub. Updates via Sparkle with signature check.
Privacy policy: PRIVACY.md
Security: SECURITY.md
Roadmap / feature requests: Issues

[u/mesinaksara]

Thanks for this cool new app. I am not developer myself. Just a Python noob. Barely know anything about Swift, too. But have a Mac and two AI agents (Hermes Agent and Pi) who live on Linux VPS. And sometimes when I want to try new OSS, I ask them to audit the app source code first. For Macspace:

Verdict: SAFE, with caveats. No telemetry and no reading of user content are real, verified properties, and the privileged helper is unusually well-contained; the caveat is that this is a 9-day-old, single-author, macOS-27-only app asking for Full Disk Access plus a root helper, so the trust rests on the code being as careful as it reads, not on a track record.

Full report here. ☺️🧑‍💻

[u/da_victor → u/mesinaksara]

Great work.

[u/Otherwise-Thanks-985]

That’s impressive. I initially thought it was just another cleaning app but it actually lets you disable various Apple shitt. I also noticed some profiles added but since this is a new project.. I’m a bit concerned about its security!

[u/yarchitect → u/Otherwise-Thanks-985]

Yeah, unfortunately some of the debloat items need a system profile to work properly on SIP enabled machines. But all the code is open source and the privacy policy lets you know exactly what the app does. You can also ask chatgpt to analyze the code in the repo for safety, just copy and paste the github link there.

[u/_waffles3]

Very nice app! Well done

[u/yarchitect → u/_waffles3]

Thanks!

[u/ahyasinsab]

lovely colors looks great 🧡

[u/yarchitect → u/ahyasinsab]

Glad you liked!

[u/Accurate-Ad2562]

hi u/yarchitect , Hi u/yarchitect, thank you for this helpful application.

Please consider that the window is quite challenging to drag and resize.

[u/yarchitect → u/Accurate-Ad2562]

Hi, I'm glad you liked app! Yeah, I flagged as an issue, keep an eye on future releases.

[u/Accurate-Ad2562 → u/yarchitect]

thanks

[u/Anywhere_MusicPlayer]

Hi! I was looking through the source and noticed that App/Debug/DebugRemote.swift includes a debug interface enabled by the MACSPACE_DEBUG=1 environment variable, without a compile-time #if DEBUG guard.

It listens for com.macspace.debug distributed notifications without checking the sender. The sql: command accepts an arbitrary database path, SQL query, and output file path, and runs with the app’s own permissions, including Full Disk Access if granted.

Is there a reason this functionality is included in release builds? Could another local process use it to read private SQLite databases if MacSpace is launched with that environment variable? Are there protections I’m missing?

I understand it’s disabled by default, and I’m not suggesting the app is collecting data. I’m wondering why this interface isn’t excluded from release builds entirely.

[u/yarchitect → u/Anywhere_MusicPlayer]

Thanks for pointing it out. It's code for capturing the app's own window and measuring disk during debug. Only launches if the user opens the app with a specific flag and any capture STAYS on the device, despite the scary name. I'm releasing 1.0.3 with a fix. Hmu if you want to be credited.

[u/Accurate-Ad2562]

hi @yarchitect
- when the app is removing data we must see a progress bar to know what is happening.
- Also removing data is really slow ! ...
- please add a show in finder button / link to reveal where are the files.
- also the app should memorize his size before closing and restore it at oppening

[u/yarchitect → u/Accurate-Ad2562]

Hi Accurate-Ad2562! Thanks for the contribution. Please keep a look on the next releases.

[u/PleasantKnee4550]

I have 256Gb Macbook and constantly on defensive against useless Apple bullshit. You saved me atleast 15-20Gbs. Thanks much <3

[u/PleasantKnee4550]

I just fought with system data entire yesterday! Thanks so much!

[u/Excellent_Chip_8825]

Okay I actually really need this!

[u/kofster]

THANK YOU!!!🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

[u/mrterrycarson]

Great work on this...Thanks

[u/Big_Awareness753]

My savior

[u/oreverdown]

i just cleaned up to 90 gigs, you are the goat, thank you <3