NetGlint

Live download speed, quietly in your Mac menu bar.

NetGlint is a small, native, open-source macOS app that shows the Mac's current network activity in real time.

↓ 24.8 Mbps

The compact menu bar shows download only and switches between bps, Kbps, Mbps, and Gbps. Open it for a polished live panel with download, upload, interface, and startup controls.

NetGlint reads local network-interface counters once per second. It does not send your data anywhere, run analytics, create an account, or continuously download speed-test files.

Highlights

• Native SwiftUI/AppKit app with no third-party dependencies.
• Dynamic bps, Kbps, Mbps, and Gbps formatting.
• Passive local measurement with no telemetry or synthetic test traffic.
• Download-first menu-bar label plus upload and interface details.
• Launch-at-login control and no Dock icon.

Requirements

• macOS 13 or newer
• Apple Swift 6 toolchain (Xcode or Command Line Tools)

Build and run

./scripts/test.sh
./scripts/build-app.sh
open .build/app/NetGlint.app

To install it for the current user and open it:

./scripts/install.sh

The app registers itself to launch when you sign in. It prefers Apple's Login Item API and uses a scoped per-user LaunchAgent only when an ad-hoc local build is unavailable to that API. Its panel includes a Launch at Login toggle and a shortcut to System Settings if approval is needed.

To remove the app and the login item it manages:

./scripts/uninstall.sh

Public downloads

The source is ready for public use. A one-click binary will be added after Developer ID signing and Apple notarization are configured; until then, the build-from-source path above avoids asking users to bypass Gatekeeper.

What the number means

This is live throughput: the amount of data the Mac is transferring right now. It is not the maximum capacity promised by an ISP or a synthetic Speedtest result. Values rise while downloads, streaming, calls, or uploads are active and fall toward zero while idle.

Development

swift build
./scripts/test.sh
swiftformat --lint .

See ARCHITECTURE.md, docs/TESTING.md, and docs/DEPLOYMENT.md.

Contributions are welcome—see CONTRIBUTING.md. NetGlint is available under the MIT License.