A minimal macOS menubar tool for monitoring network connectivity

Name: A minimal macOS menubar tool for monitoring network connectivity
Availability: InStock
Author: someniak

by someniak·Mar 18, 2026·1 point·2 comments

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AI Analysis

●MidCozyNiche Gem

Yet another network monitor, but HTTP ping avoids captive portal issues.

Strengths

•HTTP ping to captive.apple.com works through train WiFi login pages without root
•Zero external dependencies — pure Swift using only Apple frameworks
•Detects USB tethering and shows SSID names for location context

Weaknesses

•macOS-only with no Windows or Linux support planned
•GPS tracking feature mentioned but not yet implemented

Post Description

I travel by train in Belgium a lot, and mobile connectivity (4G/5G) is notoriously unreliable on Belgian rail. I used to open a terminal and run ping 8.8.8.8 to keep an eye on things, but constantly switching windows on a laptop while trying to work got old fast.

So I built a small macOS menubar utility that gives me what I actually need and nothing more: a live connectivity indicator in the top bar, rolling latency averages, and alerts when connectivity drops. No account, no setup, no bloat.

I intentionally kept the codebase small and readably, it's easy to audit and understand what it does. What's next: I'd like to add GPS-correlated tracking so you can build a connectivity quality map over time. Think of it as collecting evidence to send to your telco.

Would love feedback on the overall tool. The binary is available at https://github.com/Someniak/macos-network-badge/releases/tag... — just download and run.