AppSweeper

Smart App Closer for macOS

Close multiple apps at once — safely, without ever touching system processes.

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What is AppSweeper?

AppSweeper shows all your running user applications in a clean list. Pick the ones you want gone, hit the button — done. Finder, Dock, SystemUIServer and other essentials are permanently protected and will never appear in the list.

Features

• Live app list — see every running foreground app at a glance
• Safe by design — 20+ system processes hardcoded as protected
• Bulk close — select individual apps or close everything non-essential in one click
• Graceful quit — uses AppleScript quit, identical to pressing Cmd+Q
• Clean dark UI — minimal, distraction-free interface

Installation

Download (recommended)

1. Grab AppSweeper-1.0.0.dmg from Releases
2. Open the DMG and drag AppSweeper into your Applications folder
3. Launch from Spotlight or Launchpad

Security warning on first launch: right-click the app → Open, or go to
System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.
(This appears because the app is not yet notarized with Apple.)

Automation permission: the first time AppSweeper tries to close an app, macOS
will ask for permission under Privacy & Security → Automation. Click OK.

Build from source

Requirements: Python 3.10+, macOS 12 Monterey or later

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/AppSweeper.git
cd AppSweeper

# Optional but recommended — for a polished drag-to-install DMG
brew install create-dmg librsvg

# One command: installs deps, generates icon, builds .app and .dmg
chmod +x build.sh make_icon.sh
./build.sh

The finished AppSweeper-1.0.0.dmg will appear in the project root.

Run directly (no build needed)

pip3 install -r requirements.txt   # only needed for building .app
python3 appsweeper.py

Protected system processes

These are always protected — they will never appear in AppSweeper's list:

Process	Role
Finder	File manager
Dock	App launcher & taskbar
SystemUIServer	Menu bar
WindowServer	Window compositor
loginwindow	Session management
NotificationCenter	Notifications
Spotlight	Search
Control Center	Quick settings
SecurityAgent	Authentication dialogs
… and more	Various system services

How it works

1. List apps — queries System Events via AppleScript for all visible (non-background) processes, then filters out the protected set.
2. Quit apps — sends tell application "X" to quit for each selected app. Apps get a chance to show a "save changes?" dialog before closing.

Project structure

AppSweeper/
├── appsweeper.py      # Application (stdlib only — tkinter + subprocess)
├── setup.py           # py2app bundle configuration
├── build.sh           # One-command build: .app + .dmg
├── make_icon.sh       # SVG → .icns conversion
├── requirements.txt
├── .gitignore
└── assets/
    └── icon.svg       # Source logo (512×512, black & white)

License

MIT © 2026