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Show HN: I've built a macOS app for developers to clean their dev machines (apps.apple.com)

29 points by Deszip ↗ HN
Hi there!

During last time we (me and my friend) were building an app to clean various stuff after Xcode. I was fed up as a developer that Apple related things load my drive and I need hundreds of gigabytes just to do my job.

It's live now on Mac App Store and we'll be glad to hear your feedback: https://apps.apple.com/ua/app/cleano/id6469460523

Features

- Simulators cleanup. It's a correct cleanup via 'simctl' so you even don't need to restart Xcode for it to take effect - SPM repos cache. Swift PM stores github repos for packages separately and never removes them unless you ask it via cli. - Derived Data, a first thing you try to fix weird Xcode linking issues :)

Some features currently in development: - Desktop widget, so you can delete derived data with a single mouse click - Support for more package managers like CocoaPods; they also have substantial caches that appear to be ignored

Links

We also have a separate GitHub repo (we're developers, right?) to track issues and feature requests: https://deszip.github.io/Cleaner-Tracker/

17 comments

[ 4.0 ms ] story [ 48.6 ms ] thread
moritz
To potentially save you the click, the app is a subscription service.
jnsie
That is very good to know, thank you. I can't imagine the intersection between devs who need this and devs who would pay for this versus scripting it themselves is that large. But who knows [shrug]
talldayo
There is something terribly ironic about Apple ruining your disk with Xcode, making another developer write the solution for it, then taking 15% of their profits when they try to sell the program (presumably to pay for Apple's annual developer fee).

There is nothing new under the sun on Mac.

CameronBanga
I like the hyper focus on a niche. You'll get negative feedback here from some as it's subscription, but the alternative is a $50 one time purchase that people will dislike too.

One note, I am on 14.5. I just downloaded, then had a screen asking me to give permission my Developer Library folder. I granded/added access, and the app crashed on me. It seems to persistently crash when I try to re-open now as well.

ricardobeat
Part of the backlash against subscription is the lack of transparency. Store pages never mention the cost, so you have no idea until you download, launch the app, subscribe (i.e. volunteer personal data) and then finally face a paywall.

And $50 to clean up some random files? No thanks. We used to pay half of that for full software suites, audio editors, etc and a lot of companies had healthy businesses selling perpetual licenses.

CameronBanga
In I believe all versions of the App Stores that at least Apple has, if an app uses in-app purchase (so many/most subscriptions), there's a dropdown in the store to see the in-app purchases available and the price localized to your region. Don't disagree with your point, but just an FYI.
cjaybo
How much time is this saving you? I’m not seeing how this is worth a recurring subscription cost. Does this do more than simple bash script would?
erdaniels
I think $10 for a lifetime license would be perfect (I'd pay for that).
swah
I already have DevCleaner and DaisyDisk... but what I really need is a 2TB MBP..

-- edit -- Ouch, I hate the dark patterns to sell this subscription. Just put a price to download then...

AJRF
Or just run this;

  #!/bin/bash

  # Script used to create a pristine working directory for a clean build.

  set -euo pipefail

  script_path=$(cd "$(dirname "$BASH_SOURCE")" &> /dev/null && pwd)
  base_dir_path=$(realpath "$script_path"/..)

  echo "Remove DerivedData"
  if [ -d "${base_dir_path}/DerivedData" ]; then
    rm -rf "${base_dir_path}/DerivedData/*"
  else
    sudo rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/*;
  fi

  echo "Reset packages cache"
  rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/org.swift.swiftpm/repositories
  rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.dt.\*
  rm -rf ~/Library/org.swift.swiftpm

  echo "# Done!"
mrbombastic
Might be missing it but this doesn’t delete old sims or device files which in my experience is worst offender for taking up space by Xcode. But agree with sentiment that a paid app is overkill
AJRF
Add

  xcrun simctl shutdown all && xcrun simctl erase all
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