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I’m currently on the fence about buying Little Snitch. I tried the trial for a week and interestingly there were no outboard connections I did not expect so end

I’m currently on the fence about buying Little Snitch. I tried the trial for a week and interestingly there were no outboard connections I did not expect so ended up allowing basically everything. I run a limited set of applications and that hasn’t changed in a number of years. Obviously I feel quite happy that I’ve not found I’ve been allowing connections I didn’t want to but it also makes me feel perhaps I am being a little over the top by adding Little Snitch into the mix. I went in thinking it would catch dozens of secret connections but nothing. So part of me feels it is over kill and a time waster for myself. Anyone care to explain how wrong I am? I would be grateful to be corrected and happy to buy if I can be convinced it is indeed worth while :)

lapcat 4y ago
To me it's more about personal control than surprises. It doesn't surprise me that Apple software is phoning home; I just want to stop it and control which connections and data I allow to leave my Mac.
- satysin 4y ago
  Do you find LS causes any kind of network speed impact when dealing with systems that have hundreds or thousands of connections? I often have Transmission open downloading and as I have a 2.5gbps connection it can easily hit several hundred in and out connections when bandwidth hits >2gbps. I’m wondering if LS either slows that down or causes additional power use/heat?
  - lapcat 4y ago
    > Do you find LS causes any kind of network speed impact when dealing with systems that have hundreds or thousands of connections? Not that I'm aware of. Only my main Mac has Little Snitch installed, but as a developer I have other Macs and iOS devices for testing that don't have Little Snitch, and I've never noticed any difference in speed.
    - satysin 4y ago
      Thanks. I think I will reset the trial and stress test it a bit with and without LS installed to gauge for myself then. Shouldn’t take long to notice an impact. If all is good I guess I might pick it up to run with for a year and see how it goes. If it makes no performance difference and doesn’t introduce any other issues I don’t see any reason to not err on the side of paranoia :)
ambicapter 4y ago
You're like the guy who says "I'm never sick, why am I being forced into paying health insurance".
- satysin 4y ago
  I do not understand what point you’re trying to make?
  - dylan604 4y ago
    Because Little Snitch is the tool that will help you from getting surprised in the future by something you don't have now. Sure, you might be surprise free in your outbound traffic now, but what happens 6 months from now when you suddenly are hit with something from a new download or some other method of infection? Little Snitch will block it from the first attempt and bring it to your attention. Without it, it'll just happily do it's little tasks until the next time you think about auditing with a reset trial version of Little Snitch. Just like you don't need health insurance until you do, then it's too late if you don't have it. The comparison seems obvious enough
    - satysin 4y ago
      Ah yes thanks for clarifying. As I've never lived where I've needed health insurance I didn't connect the dots that way.
sneak 4y ago
It whitelists all of the Apple privacy-invading phone home nonsense by default. You have to disable those rules to see the dozens of alerts from different OS processes phoning home to Apple (even if you don't use iCloud or iMessage or FaceTime or the App Store or any other service at all).

lapcat 4y ago

To me it's more about personal control than surprises. It doesn't surprise me that Apple software is phoning home; I just want to stop it and control which connections and data I allow to leave my Mac.

satysin 4y ago
Do you find LS causes any kind of network speed impact when dealing with systems that have hundreds or thousands of connections? I often have Transmission open downloading and as I have a 2.5gbps connection it can easily hit several hundred in and out connections when bandwidth hits >2gbps. I’m wondering if LS either slows that down or causes additional power use/heat?
- lapcat 4y ago
  > Do you find LS causes any kind of network speed impact when dealing with systems that have hundreds or thousands of connections? Not that I'm aware of. Only my main Mac has Little Snitch installed, but as a developer I have other Macs and iOS devices for testing that don't have Little Snitch, and I've never noticed any difference in speed.
  - satysin 4y ago
    Thanks. I think I will reset the trial and stress test it a bit with and without LS installed to gauge for myself then. Shouldn’t take long to notice an impact. If all is good I guess I might pick it up to run with for a year and see how it goes. If it makes no performance difference and doesn’t introduce any other issues I don’t see any reason to not err on the side of paranoia :)

ambicapter 4y ago

You're like the guy who says "I'm never sick, why am I being forced into paying health insurance".

satysin 4y ago
I do not understand what point you’re trying to make?
- dylan604 4y ago
  Because Little Snitch is the tool that will help you from getting surprised in the future by something you don't have now. Sure, you might be surprise free in your outbound traffic now, but what happens 6 months from now when you suddenly are hit with something from a new download or some other method of infection? Little Snitch will block it from the first attempt and bring it to your attention. Without it, it'll just happily do it's little tasks until the next time you think about auditing with a reset trial version of Little Snitch. Just like you don't need health insurance until you do, then it's too late if you don't have it. The comparison seems obvious enough
  - satysin 4y ago
    Ah yes thanks for clarifying. As I've never lived where I've needed health insurance I didn't connect the dots that way.

sneak 4y ago

It whitelists all of the Apple privacy-invading phone home nonsense by default. You have to disable those rules to see the dozens of alerts from different OS processes phoning home to Apple (even if you don't use iCloud or iMessage or FaceTime or the App Store or any other service at all).