Caffeine is a tiny program that keeps your Mac awake, useful for ensuring that long running tasks aren't interrupted by your computer going to sleep.
Just drag Caffeine into your Applications folder, then double-click the icon to launch it.
Caffeine puts a coffee cup icon in the right side of your menu bar. Click the cup to toggle whether Caffeine is active or not -- a full cup means Caffeine will prevent your Mac from automatically going to sleep, dimming the screen or starting screen savers. An empty cup means your Mac will sleep normally.
For more control, right-click (or ⌘-click) the icon to show the menu. From here, you can access the preferences window or set a timeout if you only need Caffeine to prevent sleep for a little while.
Caffeine is intended to be simple, yet powerful. Options you can configure include whether to start Caffeine automatically every time you start up your Mac, whether Caffeine should activate every time it starts, and a default duration if you always want Caffeine to turn itself off after a set time.
Yes! Tomas Franzén of Lighthead Software originally developed Caffeine in 2006, and it has been a well known and loved utility for Mac users for many years. Its simplicity has allowed it to continue working perfectly long after active development had ceased.
In 2018, we reached out to Tomas to inquire if we could continue development of Caffeine, as we believe it fits nicely with our vision of software that is simple, flexible and powerful.
Tomas has graciously provided the source code under an open source license, allowing us to continue developing Caffeine where he left off.
Yes, this version has been updated to work with the improved security and privacy controls that Apple released starting with macOS Mojave.
Due to the long period of inactivity for Caffeine, a lot of different and great options have been developed. While the alternatives are great apps and definitely worth your consideration, we believe that Caffeine's power lies in its simplicity and ease of use.
We're here to help! Common issues, troubleshooting tips and more can be found at https://www.intelliscapesolutions.com/apps/caffeine/support