What Memory Watch does
Memory Watch keeps an eye on how much memory your Mac has left and tells you in colors and words. It lives in the menu bar and checks every 5 seconds. You don’t need to open Activity Monitor and read the numbers — the icon’s color tells you how things are.
Memory Watch never quits other apps. When you find a heavy app, you decide whether to quit it.
Who it’s for
- People whose Mac sometimes feels slow and who want to know whether memory is the cause
- People who would rather not open Activity Monitor and read the numbers
- People who want to notice changes in free storage, battery, and backups before they become a problem
- Companies and schools that want to install it on several Macs (there is no limit on the number of Macs)
At a glance
| Price | Free (no account, no ads, no in-app purchases) |
|---|---|
| Requirements | Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later) / macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later |
| Where it lives | The menu bar (checks every 5 seconds) |
| What it watches | Memory pressure, swap, free internal storage, CPU usage, thermal state, SSD temperature and health, battery, apps that quit unexpectedly, Time Machine |
| How it tells you | The icon’s color and stars (4 levels), and notifications |
| What it does not do | It does not clear memory or quit other apps |
| Network | Only when you choose “Check for Updates…” (it reads the latest version number once) |
| Languages | English and Japanese |
| Made by | Wada Digital Lab (About us) |
Colors and stars show how much memory is left
The color is based on the memory pressure level that macOS reports. Apple calls this “memory pressure” and shows it as a green, yellow or red graph in the Memory tab of Activity Monitor. Hold the pointer over the icon to see a short explanation.
- “Normal ★☆☆☆” (green)There is enough memory.
- “Caution ★★☆☆” (yellow)Memory use is growing, or available memory is temporarily low.
- “Warning ★★★☆” (orange)Memory pressure is sustained, or an app may have stopped responding.
- “Critical ★★★★” (red)macOS reports critical memory pressure. The icon also turns red when free internal storage falls below 10 GB.
- “Unknown” (gray)Memory Watch has just started, the Mac is asleep, or a fresh reading is not available. This is not a fault.
Find out which app is heavy
Choose “View Analysis” in the menu to open the analysis window.
- “Apps”: How much memory each app uses. Sort by usage or by name.
- “Responsiveness”: Finds apps that have frozen and stopped responding (optional; it needs a permission).
- Cards at the top: memory, swap, free internal storage, CPU use, the Mac’s thermal state, and SSD temperature and health.
When you find an app you want to quit, choose “Open Activity Monitor” in the menu and quit it there.
It tells you before things go wrong
Besides memory, Memory Watch keeps an eye on slow changes you might not notice.
- Memory: When your Mac may run short of memory.
- Free space: When free internal storage falls below 20 GB, and when, at the current pace, the disk will be full in about 14, 7, or 3 days.
- Power and battery: When the battery drains while plugged in, and when maximum capacity falls below 80%, 70%, or 60%.
- Crashed apps: When the same app crashes 3 or more times in 24 hours.
- Time Machine: When 7, 14, or 30 days have passed since the last backup (only if Time Machine is set up).
During a meeting or screen sharing, “Pause notifications (urgent ones still appear)” in the menu pauses them for 5 minutes to 2 hours. Urgent ones still appear while paused.
There is no button to clear memory
Memory Watch watches and tells you. It does not clear memory or make room in it. Apple’s own guide says that having free or unused memory does not necessarily make your Mac perform better. Memory Watch looks at the memory pressure macOS reports, not at how much memory is free.
- It cannot predict every hardware failure.
- If a reading is unavailable, it says “Unavailable”. On some Macs, CPU temperature and SSD temperature or health cannot be read. SSD health is not available for external disks.
Safe to install
- It connects to the internet only when you choose “Check for Updates…”. It reads the latest version number once from the download site and compares it on your Mac.
- Records stay on this Mac. It never records screen text, document contents, or passwords.
- “Send Feedback…” only opens an email draft. You can read it and delete anything before sending.
Getting started
- Download “MemoryWatch.dmg” with the button above It’s free. No email address needed.
- Open the DMG and move “MemoryWatch” to the Applications folder If you open it from the download location, notification permission and opening at login may stop working later.
- Open “MemoryWatch” in the Applications folder The icon appears in the menu bar and monitoring starts. The first time, the guide below appears.
- Notifications: Tells you about the changes listed in “It tells you before things go wrong” above.
- Open at login: Opens Memory Watch automatically when you log in to your Mac.
- App response checks: Use this only if you want to find apps that have frozen. It needs the macOS Accessibility permission. Memory Watch only asks each app’s interface whether it answers. It does not save screen text or document contents.
To go through the guide again, choose “Setup Guide…” in the menu.
What’s new in 0.4.1
- First public release. The color and stars of the menu bar icon show how much memory your Mac has left.
Questions
- Is it really free?
- Yes. There is no account to create, no ads, and no in-app purchases.
- How is it different from Activity Monitor?
- Activity Monitor comes with your Mac, and you open it to look at the numbers yourself. Memory Watch tells you through the menu bar color and notifications, without you having to look. To dig deeper, open Activity Monitor from the Memory Watch menu.
- Is my Mac slow because it is short of memory?
- Sometimes it is, and sometimes the cause is something else. Apple’s guide says that green memory pressure in Activity Monitor means your Mac is using its RAM efficiently, yellow means it might eventually need more RAM, and red means it needs more RAM (Apple’s guide). Memory Watch shows this level as the color in your menu bar. If it is green but your Mac still feels slow, the cards in the analysis window let you check CPU usage and free internal storage.
- Which Macs does it work on?
- A Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later) running macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later. It does not work on Intel-based Macs.
- What happens when a new version comes out?
- Choose “Check for Updates…” in the menu. If there is a new version, “Open Download Page” opens this page. Your settings and records carry over.
- How do I uninstall it?
- Deselect “Open at login for this account” in “Monitoring Setup” in the analysis window, choose “Quit Monitoring for This Account” in the menu, then move “MemoryWatch” in the Applications folder to the Trash. The app’s Help explains where its records and settings are kept.
- Is it available in other languages?
- Memory Watch is in English and Japanese. It follows your Mac’s language.
- I found a problem. How do I report it?
- Choose “Send Feedback…” in the menu to open an email draft. You can also write to wadadigitallab@gmail.com directly.
No account, no ads, no in-app purchases / Mac with Apple silicon, macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later
By downloading Memory Watch, you agree to the Terms of Use for Free Apps.