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Little Snitch is one of the best pieces of software out there. It’s essential for every macOS user, works very well, and is a one-time payment. I truly hope it

Little Snitch is one of the best pieces of software out there. It’s essential for every macOS user, works very well, and is a one-time payment. I truly hope it stays that way and doesn’t go down the same path as 1Password. I’m very grateful to the developers for creating such an excellent product. I wish more software were like this.

Hikikomori 2y ago
Whats wrong with 1password?
- aosaigh 2y ago
  I assume its switch to subscription payments
- tiffanyh 2y ago
  A few years ago, 1password became an electron app - and the Internet seemed to lose its mind when that happened.
  - teruakohatu 2y ago
    I think it’s native (rust) on Linux. The OP is probably referring to subscription and dropping support for syncing via. Dropbox.
    - danpalmer 2y ago
      The UI is Electron, especially on Linux as it was the move to Electron that allowed them to do a Linux port. The data layer is all Rust and shared widely across their ecosystem as I understand it. Honestly the whole UI thing was overblown. It's a great Electron app, and their macOS app was always a little iffy (old AppKit oddities). The port unlocked: Linux, a fully featured Windows client, noticeably faster improvements (Watchtower, family sharing, improved SSH and CLI support), and seems to have allowed for much better apps on iOS and Android, all at likely no user cost.
  - Aurornis 2y ago
    I think they’re referring to the forced changeover to cloud hosting and subscription services. For years you could buy 1Password and then store your vault on your own syncing service like Dropbox. You owned the software and controlled your data. Then they switched to subscription-only and forced you to use their cloud. Really changed the nature of their software for many of us.
- sneak 2y ago
  It switched from being a product that you can buy, to a service to which you must subscribe in perpetuity. AKA IAP subscription cancer
cynix 2y ago
> and is a one-time payment Well technically it's like a "subscription with indeterminate renewal cycle". Every few years they release a new major version and sometimes you have to pay to upgrade. Of course you can choose to not upgrade... but then you don't get the new features, and it's unclear if the old version will support all newer macOS releases.
- jen729w 2y ago
  Technically that's what we call "buying software".
  - randmeerkat 2y ago
    > Technically that's what we call "buying software". What a novel idea. You mean once upon a time you didn’t have to pay a monthly racket for a piece of software you wanted..?
    - jen729w 2y ago
      That's right. Rather than paying your $10/month 'racket', you simply paid $300 one time. Then every 3 years or so you spent $300 again to get the updated version. It was a much better system! /s
      - randmeerkat 2y ago
        > Then every 3 years or so you spent $300 again to get the updated version. It was a much better system! By your math it was. 10x12x3=360 > 300. Subscriptions cost more than buying the actual software. Why do you think most companies switched to a subscription model?
      - jedberg 2y ago
        It was a better system, because if I didn't need the new features, I could keep using the version of Microsoft Word that I bought 15 years prior. That's why they stopped selling it that way.
      - 2y ago
danpalmer 2y ago
> It’s essential for every macOS user Is it? I'm interested in hearing why. I've been using macOS for ~15 years, so very familiar with Little Snitch. I think I owned a version many years ago but haven't for a long time. I don't really see what I'd use it for. I don't run dodgy software, I don't want to partially break the software I do run by nit picking what connections it can make as that wouldn't improve my experience and would most likely cause issues. I also mostly trust Apple's anti-malware efforts to protect me from other software I don't want to run, but if I didn't I'd run better anti-malware software before a firewall.
- SanjayMehta 2y ago
  The best feature is the map which shows the locations of all the connection attempts. You can quickly spot anomalous connections to countries/servers, and locate the specific process doing this. I found a daemon left over from an uninstalled app which was attempting to connect to its mother ship in China. Very strange.
  - saagarjha 2y ago
    I mean renting us-east servers is not hard if you’re trying to conceal what you’re trying to do
    - kstrauser 2y ago
      Sure is nice for spotting the low hanging fruit though.
  - danpalmer 2y ago
    What exactly does one learn from this normally? A leftover daemon is a bit of an edge case, and you could have learnt the same from looking at Activity Monitor, seeing a permissions pop-up, noticing higher energy use, etc, but learning that software connects to China seems... fine? Unless one wants to classify all connections to China as by-definition bad, which is discrimination that I don't want to engage in personally. A bad actor can conceal whatever they want by renting a server anywhere they like. Meanwhile, there are many legit reasons why software might connect to China – maybe the company hosts services on Alibaba Cloud, maybe the software is from a Chinese producer and they chose local hosting. To me, the map is mostly fear-mongering.
jonpurdy 2y ago
This is the absolute top of my wish list for software on iOS (impossible with Apple’s draconian restrictions though).
- dunham 2y ago
  I'd expect that you could do something like this with the api that vpn software uses
Aurornis 2y ago
> and is a one-time payment I feel like I’ve done many one-time payments to get the new version of Little Snitch through the years. I’m not currently using it, but for a long time it was on my list of Mac apps that I feared having to pay to upgrade with every new macOS release.
- haswell 2y ago
  Paying for an upgrade to a new major version seems entirely reasonable and is the model I strongly prefer vs. ongoing subscriptions.
- drewbitt 2y ago
  One time payment... per major version, and it may be required to pay again if you update your OS. Not as good sounding as 'one-time payment'...
dcreater 2y ago
I have it installed on my main Mac. But honestly I don't use it/don't know if it's doing anything. Should I be doing something?
- haswell 2y ago
  That probably depends on what you do with your computer. If you regularly clone git repos and run code you didn’t write or run unsigned apps from untrusted developers, it’s probably a good idea to scrutinize the connections that code is making.
  - dcreater 2y ago
    oof I do. good point. but even relatively established apps show connections to weird places. Syncthing of all apps has made connections to 107 places.
nox101 2y ago
I own many more devices than just a Mac. I have an iPhone, Apple TV, Linux box, Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, Quest 2, Kindle. I'd prefer one piece of software that covers all of them over different software for each of them.
- arresin 2y ago
  This is unreasonable.
  - nox101 2y ago
    why? Isn't there some PI software or network router software I can use that will monitor all devices on my network and given me all the same info?
    - haswell 2y ago
      1. Sufficiently advanced routers that have such functionality are expensive and generally complex to manage 2. The reason tools like Little Snitch are valuable is they instantly indicate that a connection was attempted, indicate which binary/app attempted it, and allow you to decide whether or not to allow the connection in realtime Being able to associate a specific action you’re taking (e.g. clicking a button in a specific app) with a specific network request isn’t really feasible when the device keeping track is not the device you’re currently using. It’s significantly harder to retroactively analyze connections once you’ve completely lost the context of what initiated the connection. The only way to make a centralized device achieve the same thing is to institute a default-deny policy, but carefully allowing only the connections you want becomes tedious and quickly leads to just giving up for practical reasons.
- OutOfHere 2y ago
  This is an application level firewall software. Applications are OS specific.
- Aurornis 2y ago
  Little Snitch and similar programs let you manage connections per application. You can’t do that outside of the device.
runjake 2y ago
It's not a one-time payment. You pay for the current major version. You generally have to pay for the next major version. In many cases, when a new macOS comes out, you must pay for the next major version if you want to continue running Little Snitch. Not a gripe, just a clarification. Nicety: If you buy a single user license, you can use it on multiple devices.

Hikikomori 2y ago

Whats wrong with 1password?

aosaigh 2y ago
I assume its switch to subscription payments
tiffanyh 2y ago
A few years ago, 1password became an electron app - and the Internet seemed to lose its mind when that happened.
- teruakohatu 2y ago
  I think it’s native (rust) on Linux. The OP is probably referring to subscription and dropping support for syncing via. Dropbox.
  - danpalmer 2y ago
    The UI is Electron, especially on Linux as it was the move to Electron that allowed them to do a Linux port. The data layer is all Rust and shared widely across their ecosystem as I understand it. Honestly the whole UI thing was overblown. It's a great Electron app, and their macOS app was always a little iffy (old AppKit oddities). The port unlocked: Linux, a fully featured Windows client, noticeably faster improvements (Watchtower, family sharing, improved SSH and CLI support), and seems to have allowed for much better apps on iOS and Android, all at likely no user cost.
- Aurornis 2y ago
  I think they’re referring to the forced changeover to cloud hosting and subscription services. For years you could buy 1Password and then store your vault on your own syncing service like Dropbox. You owned the software and controlled your data. Then they switched to subscription-only and forced you to use their cloud. Really changed the nature of their software for many of us.
sneak 2y ago
It switched from being a product that you can buy, to a service to which you must subscribe in perpetuity. AKA IAP subscription cancer

cynix 2y ago

> and is a one-time payment Well technically it's like a "subscription with indeterminate renewal cycle". Every few years they release a new major version and sometimes you have to pay to upgrade. Of course you can choose to not upgrade... but then you don't get the new features, and it's unclear if the old version will support all newer macOS releases.

jen729w 2y ago
Technically that's what we call "buying software".
- randmeerkat 2y ago
  > Technically that's what we call "buying software". What a novel idea. You mean once upon a time you didn’t have to pay a monthly racket for a piece of software you wanted..?
  - jen729w 2y ago
    That's right. Rather than paying your $10/month 'racket', you simply paid $300 one time. Then every 3 years or so you spent $300 again to get the updated version. It was a much better system! /s
    - randmeerkat 2y ago
      > Then every 3 years or so you spent $300 again to get the updated version. It was a much better system! By your math it was. 10x12x3=360 > 300. Subscriptions cost more than buying the actual software. Why do you think most companies switched to a subscription model?
    - jedberg 2y ago
      It was a better system, because if I didn't need the new features, I could keep using the version of Microsoft Word that I bought 15 years prior. That's why they stopped selling it that way.
    - 2y ago

danpalmer 2y ago

> It’s essential for every macOS user Is it? I'm interested in hearing why. I've been using macOS for ~15 years, so very familiar with Little Snitch. I think I owned a version many years ago but haven't for a long time. I don't really see what I'd use it for. I don't run dodgy software, I don't want to partially break the software I do run by nit picking what connections it can make as that wouldn't improve my experience and would most likely cause issues. I also mostly trust Apple's anti-malware efforts to protect me from other software I don't want to run, but if I didn't I'd run better anti-malware software before a firewall.

SanjayMehta 2y ago
The best feature is the map which shows the locations of all the connection attempts. You can quickly spot anomalous connections to countries/servers, and locate the specific process doing this. I found a daemon left over from an uninstalled app which was attempting to connect to its mother ship in China. Very strange.
- saagarjha 2y ago
  I mean renting us-east servers is not hard if you’re trying to conceal what you’re trying to do
  - kstrauser 2y ago
    Sure is nice for spotting the low hanging fruit though.
- danpalmer 2y ago
  What exactly does one learn from this normally? A leftover daemon is a bit of an edge case, and you could have learnt the same from looking at Activity Monitor, seeing a permissions pop-up, noticing higher energy use, etc, but learning that software connects to China seems... fine? Unless one wants to classify all connections to China as by-definition bad, which is discrimination that I don't want to engage in personally. A bad actor can conceal whatever they want by renting a server anywhere they like. Meanwhile, there are many legit reasons why software might connect to China – maybe the company hosts services on Alibaba Cloud, maybe the software is from a Chinese producer and they chose local hosting. To me, the map is mostly fear-mongering.

jonpurdy 2y ago

This is the absolute top of my wish list for software on iOS (impossible with Apple’s draconian restrictions though).

dunham 2y ago
I'd expect that you could do something like this with the api that vpn software uses

Aurornis 2y ago

> and is a one-time payment I feel like I’ve done many one-time payments to get the new version of Little Snitch through the years. I’m not currently using it, but for a long time it was on my list of Mac apps that I feared having to pay to upgrade with every new macOS release.

haswell 2y ago
Paying for an upgrade to a new major version seems entirely reasonable and is the model I strongly prefer vs. ongoing subscriptions.
drewbitt 2y ago
One time payment... per major version, and it may be required to pay again if you update your OS. Not as good sounding as 'one-time payment'...

dcreater 2y ago

I have it installed on my main Mac. But honestly I don't use it/don't know if it's doing anything. Should I be doing something?

haswell 2y ago
That probably depends on what you do with your computer. If you regularly clone git repos and run code you didn’t write or run unsigned apps from untrusted developers, it’s probably a good idea to scrutinize the connections that code is making.
- dcreater 2y ago
  oof I do. good point. but even relatively established apps show connections to weird places. Syncthing of all apps has made connections to 107 places.

nox101 2y ago

I own many more devices than just a Mac. I have an iPhone, Apple TV, Linux box, Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, Quest 2, Kindle. I'd prefer one piece of software that covers all of them over different software for each of them.

arresin 2y ago
This is unreasonable.
- nox101 2y ago
  why? Isn't there some PI software or network router software I can use that will monitor all devices on my network and given me all the same info?
  - haswell 2y ago
    1. Sufficiently advanced routers that have such functionality are expensive and generally complex to manage 2. The reason tools like Little Snitch are valuable is they instantly indicate that a connection was attempted, indicate which binary/app attempted it, and allow you to decide whether or not to allow the connection in realtime Being able to associate a specific action you’re taking (e.g. clicking a button in a specific app) with a specific network request isn’t really feasible when the device keeping track is not the device you’re currently using. It’s significantly harder to retroactively analyze connections once you’ve completely lost the context of what initiated the connection. The only way to make a centralized device achieve the same thing is to institute a default-deny policy, but carefully allowing only the connections you want becomes tedious and quickly leads to just giving up for practical reasons.
OutOfHere 2y ago
This is an application level firewall software. Applications are OS specific.
Aurornis 2y ago
Little Snitch and similar programs let you manage connections per application. You can’t do that outside of the device.

runjake 2y ago

It's not a one-time payment. You pay for the current major version. You generally have to pay for the next major version. In many cases, when a new macOS comes out, you must pay for the next major version if you want to continue running Little Snitch. Not a gripe, just a clarification. Nicety: If you buy a single user license, you can use it on multiple devices.