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Show HN: Auto Dismiss Mac OS "Allow <app> to find devices on local networks?" (github.com)

5 points by johncassil ↗ HN
This popup has been a constant gripe of mine for years. I almost NEVER want to allow this permission and there is no system setting to disable it globally and prevent the popup from interrupting your typing, etc. This tiny swift app I built will autoclose it in 1/4th of a second and leave behind a little notification that it did so. Would love to hear feedback!

50 comments

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poszlem
Yes. Thank you. This is such a simple thing that should be a part of the operating system, and in the ideal world it would be. This is the perfect problem for the LLM to solve, because the reason it does't exist in the system is a decision by some stupid PM at Apple, and not an actual system constraint.
johncassil
I maintain that Steve Jobs would have taken the engineers to task over this poor UX.
browningstreet
Thanks. It’s macOS' own cookie banner and dick bar.

It’s weird they haven’t just made this a menu flag…

LoganDark
"One Swift file" except it's two Swift files
johncassil
oof, it was originally one, forgot about the refactor lol
HughParry
side note but what is the consensus on figuring out whether small brew packages like this one are malicious?

I'm sure this one probably isn't, but I have no clue how I would know whether it is without reviewing the source code myself (or pointing an agent at it etc)

hmokiguess
so we are back at choosing where we draw the line and you picked this one to get us going
[deleted]
(comment deleted)
johncassil
Good question -- I have been pointing claude at repos for security reviews before I install stuff now for exactly this reason.
ShinyLeftPad
It's so funny to read these, as if countless examples didn't prove that llms don't actually distinguish between your instructions and the data they read at your request.

Do you think a malicious repo author won't think of hiding a suitable prompt within?

NavinF
> countless examples

Show me just one where a frontier model got prompt injected when checking if code if malicious.

FWIW I can do this, but I bet you can't.

poszlem
That's why I like small, open source projects like this one. I don't have to figure out if it's malicious. I just fork it, then ask claude to review the code, then run my own fork.
ASalazarMX
Even if they're not malicious, there's no guarantee that they won't become malicious in the future. Prefer living off the land, and install only the very essential extras.
john_strinlai
this is exactly the type of app that makes me excited to see what the future will hold with ai. any regular joe or jane can now realistically solve many of their small annoyances with little effort and no experience.

(not saying this is ai or not, i have no idea, just speaking generally)

nottorp
Hmm another gripe of mine. Mac OS's vnc brings a popup that steals your focus when someone connects to the machine while you're physically in front of it.

I know it's well intentioned but I have this weird setup where I am almost constantly keeping vnc on from my laptop to my desktop. And the mbpro randomly wakes up to do whatever, even when not used, which reactivates the vnc connection, which pops up a warning on my desktop, which steals my focus.

Anyone knows a way to disable that? Possibly just for connections from a specific other machine.

Edit: as for this app, I think the OS only asks once for a new app? I don't remember being asked a second time even when denying it.

I could also whine a bit about "this app wants to access files on a removable volume" since my desktop has a thunderbolt ssd plugged in for extra space...

InsideOutSanta
Can I have the opposite, a tool that automatically clicks on "allow"? I installed the app, it's fine.
nobleach
So you're kinda looking for a "I want to allow this software to do whatever it wants - I accept all risks?" button? And with each new update you're re-evaluate?
InsideOutSanta
> So you're kinda looking for a "I want to allow this software to do whatever it wants - I accept all risks?" button?

Yes.

> And with each new update you're re-evaluate?

No. Hope that helps.

ryandrake
Some people like to live dangerously!
danpalmer
"I want to allow the software to talk to devices on my local network", not "whatever it wants".

I've never had a case of this where the access was malicious, and devices on my network have security controls. For me this popup is exceptionally low value.

Qerub
You can allow-list certain IP address ranges to not need the local network permission and I believe that should stop the popup from appearing (but I'm not sure). See https://developer.apple.com/documentation/technotes/tn3179-u... for more information, TL;DR:

  sudo defaults write com.apple.network.local-network AllowedEthernetLocalNetworkAddresses -array "169.254.0.0/16"
  sudo defaults write com.apple.network.local-network AllowedWiFiLocalNetworkAddresses -array "169.254.0.0/16"
ShinyLeftPad
Have a problem with pesky permissions dialogs from sandboxed apps? This unsandboxed unverified app that requests Accessibility permissions, to the rescue!
seemaze
It's a couple hundred lines of code. You could just, like, read it.
jshier
I'd rather something tell me exactly why this popped up in the first place, as every new OS version seems to introduce more triggers. I have apps that now pop this up when I quit, which doesn't make much sense.
ryandrake
Ideally, every API to call a function that provides the developer "dangerous" access to your system, should give the developer a text string argument to explain/justify to the user why it's needed. Then, instead of a confusing "Do you want this app to use Bluetooth?" pop-up with zero context, you let the developer convince the user.
thiht
Agree with that, I like the idea of permissions for specific things like this but it’s way to hard to know what’s actually being asked and why.
tobi_bsf
Says a lot about the state of Mac OS.
skissane
The big problem with these permission dialogs, is their lack of technical detail about what the app is actually trying to do which triggers them.

How do I know whether to say "Allow" or "Disallow" when it gives me no idea what either option actually means in concrete?

OptionOfT
Well, usually the answer is no, and then when something breaks the app will tell me.

Which reminds me. Why does the CVS app need access to Bluetooth?

derefr
My charitable presumption would be "so that if you open in while inside a particular CVS, it can know what CVS you're in and not have to ask you." (The Apple Store app also does this.)

Annoyingly, Apple has no specific system API available to apps to scan for "their" specific burned-in set of wi-fi APs / BLE beacons / RFID tags to enable this (quite common) thing; so apps doing it have to ask for the much-more-general "let me play with your radios any way I like" permission.

joshuat
This also happened on iOS when they began to prompt users before apps could access the clipboard. I built an app that would handle the inbound redirect automatically if you had a relevant URL in your clipboard - did this for years with many users happy with the feature.

Then it started prompting users before allowing them to paste, and then the claims of privacy violations began to come in.

If instead I were able to specify what was happening in the prompt rather than iOS giving users an ambiguous statement, or even provide a detection pattern, it wouldn't have been nearly as bad.

I feel like this really harms security and privacy awareness by flooding the field with unimportant prompts/warnings to the degree that a real issue is similarly ignored because it is assumed to just be noise.

ryandrake
I think the visibility of these dialogs serves as a warning to the user--but they should do a better job directing the user's attention to where the threat is. If the user is getting annoyed at all these pop-ups, he should direct this annoyance at the developer who is (in all likelihood) asking for access to more of the user's computer than he needs.

The fact that there are so many popups should mean apps are reaching for access to your system way beyond what they should be. It shouldn't mean Apple needs to get rid of the pop-ups.

johncassil
Regardless, apple should definitely not send popups unless an app is being engaged with.
mook
I get the pop-up semi-frequently from Chrome. I don't think complaining to Google has ever helped with anything; but then it's not like complaining to Apple has a better track record.

Yes, I don't know why the OS isn't tracking the pop-up by bundle id or anything. It's not like I changed my mind the last dozen times…

pishpash
It can be a completely different app after auto update as far as Apple is concerned. But it's unacceptable to get ghost items in Settings for past versions of Chrome, that's just wrong.
dd8601fn
> If instead I were able to specify what was happening in the prompt rather than iOS giving users an ambiguous statement

No. They’re correct, there.

The app developer should not get to provide the message text for a prompt like that.

A secondary note somewhere in less than ten words, maybe, where it explicitly warns that the statement may be false.

i386
This is the correct answer.
internet2000
Counterpoint: do not read my clipboard without any action on my side, dude!
QuadmasterXLII
as a user with an itchy delete app finger, this is exactly why i like apple.
mschuster91
> Chromium browsers (Chrome, Brave, Edge, Island, Arc) copy their own app bundle into a random temp folder at launch so the code signature survives in-place updates. macOS keys the Local Network decision to that random path, so the next launch looks like a brand-new app.

OH DEAR GOD that explains so much other cursed behavior, including the "do you want to allow google chrome helper to show notifications" always reappearing. or teams. or anything that does autoupdates.

> Nothing on a typical Mac needs this permission except a printer or scanner utility, a media server, or a LAN-discovery tool, and those you answer once and they're done.

This is wrong. Browsers and media players need it because that is how multicast discovery for stuff like Chromecast works. Spotify, same thing. And Steam plus virtually all games with LAN multiplay for the same reason. Did I note already that Steam also has an autoupdater and so does Spotify and... argh.

Apple really needs to fix the very first point, preferably in a way that doesn't force app developers to ship a "helper" binary.

(Side note: it might even be the case that opening the file picker may be enough, if you got network-discoverable paths in your Finder Locations sidebar, but i'm too tired to test that one out...)

johncassil
Even for chromecast and spotify I never want or use these features, and if I am not turning such a feature on I never want to be asked about a permission related to it, as a user. If I am turning a feature on or I am trying to use chromecast, THAT is the time to prompt me about it
bluehex
The permission keying off of a temp folder feels so broken. I don't know whether Google / Chrome deserves the blame for the weird hack of running an app from a place the user never specified or Apple the OS for making such a hack necessary and not giving the permission system a way to understand the canonical user installed app as the source of the request.
dingdingdang
This is the sort of classic MacOS situation that has mandated the use of Hammerspoon scripts and the like for more than a decade by now (this is not a sectarian point btw, Windows requires winutil just the same according to my optics)
tonymet
Permissions consent prompts are broken. they are far too coarse, and out of context. The customer is forced to consent without knowing the scope or what will break.

A better experience would be an async consent screen, with placeholder content and calls to action until permission is granted.

For example, a network ping scanner could show placeholder host names & status until the user clicks to allow access.

The operating system could easily stub the sensitive APIs with placeholder content and a flag indicating the content is false. So even legacy apps could work.

crazygringo
Amazing. I'd LOVE for you to expand it, to also auto-dismiss "Foo.app would like to access data from other apps."

Adobe programs ask for this every time they start, and Claude Code randomly asks me this daily out of nowhere. It doesn't matter how many times I click "Don't Allow", it never gets remembered. (But of course if I ever mistakenly click "Allow" even once, that gets remembered for eternity and I never get asked again...)