Keep your Mac awake until the work is done.
On The Go keeps your Mac awake while long jobs and AI agents run, and turns itself off before the battery runs low or the Mac gets too hot.
A one-time purchase. No subscription, no account.
For Apple silicon Macs with macOS 14 Sonoma or later.
Made for long jobs
AI coding agents
Let an agent session work through a long task while you step away from the keyboard.
Builds and tests
Big builds, test suites and scripts that take longer than your Mac's sleep timer.
Downloads and renders
Large downloads, uploads, exports and renders that shouldn't stop halfway.
Turns itself off in time
Staying awake is easy. Knowing when to stop is the point. On The Go turns itself off, and lets your Mac sleep normally again, when:
- The battery reaches your floor. 10% unless you pick 5%, 15%, 20% or off.
- The Mac gets too hot. A heat cut-off is always on.
- The time is up. 1, 2 or 4 hours, or until you turn it off.
Every time it turns itself off you get a notification (if you allow them) and a sound (unless you turn it off), so it doesn't stop quietly.
Leaving Now
One window for the moment before you pack up. Pick how long the job needs, and see at a glance:
- Battery: how long it should last at your pace, and a warning if that's less than the time you picked.
- Heat: normal, warm or too hot.
- Internet: whether you're online right now.
- Closing the lid: whether your Mac will sleep when you close it.
Then one click turns the mode on. It only advises: you can always turn it on, whatever it says.
Working from a train, a café or a car?
On The Go knows when your Mac is on your iPhone's Personal Hotspot and helps the connection along.
Keeps the link from sitting idle
While the mode is on and you're on your iPhone's hotspot, it can send a tiny connection check every 45 seconds. Apple doesn't say how long an iPhone keeps an idle connection, so think of it as a precaution, not a promise. You can change the interval or turn it off.
Remembers the switch
When macOS moves your Mac to your iPhone by itself, On The Go notes it, so Leaving Now can tell you whether that has worked on this Mac before.
Light on data
Each check is one small request to Apple's own connectivity check, well under 1 MB an hour, and nothing about you. These checks only go out on your iPhone's hotspot.
Out of the way until you need it
No Dock icon, no window to keep open. Turn it on for an hour from the menu bar and get back to work.
Battery estimate
The menu shows how long the battery should last before the cut-off.
Trips
A record of your recent sessions: how long, how much battery, why it ended.
Keyboard shortcut
One system-wide shortcut turns the mode on or off.
Shortcuts and scripts
onthego://links turn it on or off from Shortcuts, scripts or a bookmark.Launch at Login
Ready in the menu bar whenever your Mac starts. Off until you turn it on.
Sounds you can hear
A short sound when it turns itself off, so you know without looking.
What about closing the lid?
Closing the lid puts a Mac to sleep, even while On The Go is on. Apps from the Mac App Store aren't allowed to change that, so On The Go doesn't try. There are two ways around it:
- At your desk. With the Mac plugged in and an external display, keyboard and mouse connected, macOS keeps it working with the lid closed.
- Between places. The free On The Go Helper, a separate download from this site, lets On The Go keep your Mac awake with the lid closed while the mode is on, and turns normal sleep back on as soon as the mode turns off.
Everything else on this page works without it. Keep a Mac that's running with its lid closed somewhere it can breathe.
Private by design
No account
Buy it once and use it. There's nothing to sign up for.
No tracking
No analytics, no ads and no third-party code in the app.
Settings stay local
Your settings and trips are stored on your Mac, nowhere else.
Get On The Go
A short guide walks you through it the first time, and everything after the safety page is optional.
A one-time purchase. No subscription, no account.
- Works on
- Apple silicon Macs
- Needs
- macOS 14 Sonoma or later
- Price
- One-time purchase
