This Alarming App Will Stop Thieves From Stealing Your MacBook
If you often work outside cafes or other public places, you may be afraid to leave your laptop unattended when you go to the bathroom or leave to make a phone call. You don’t want someone to sense an opportunity and grab your MacBook when you turn your back. There’s now a new Mac app called Clyde that will help you secure your laptop in such situations by using unexpected shame as a powerful theft deterrent.
How Clyde Protects Your MacBook
Once you install and run Clyde, it will be in your menu bar until you need it. When you’re about to step away from your laptop for a short while, click on the Clyde icon in the menu bar and select ” Toggle Clyde “. This will automatically lock your MacBook.
You can now step away from your Mac for a break, but make sure you don’t close the lid. Whenever someone closes the lid of the MacBook, Clyde makes a very loud alarm. It is loud enough to scare would-be thieves and disturb people in cafes, making it an effective deterrent.
Limitations of this app
While Clyde does a pretty good job, he is far from perfect. One of its main drawbacks is that it only works when someone closes the lid of your laptop. If they just take the laptop and run away, the app won’t make a sound. The alarm also stops when the lid is opened. It’s loud enough to alert everyone at a moment’s notice, so a frightened person is unlikely to be able to turn it off quickly enough.
Clyde turns off when you unlock your Mac, which means you’ll have to turn it on every time you plan to move away from your desktop – not a deal breaker if you’re careful.
The app’s website says that Clyde is going to install a companion app on the iPhone that will send iPhone alerts whenever an alarm rings in the Mac app. Until this app is available, Clyde’s usefulness may be reduced in certain situations if you’re not close enough to hear the alarm from your MacBook.
Other Anti-Theft Measures You May Consider
Apps like Clyde are great for secondary protection, but they shouldn’t be your only line of defense against theft. Your Mac comes with built-in full disk encryption called FileVault , which helps protect your data even if your Mac is stolen. This feature is enabled by default on most modern Macs, and you should use a strong password with your Mac’s user account to prevent thieves from gaining access to your data.
Secondly, Find My Mac is a great anti-theft service enabled by default if you’re signed in with your Apple ID. Finally, you should consider insuring your Mac with plans like AppleCare+ with theft and loss protection, other plans that come with credit cards, or general dedicated laptop insurance. Any of these options will help you replace your stolen Mac without spending a lot of money.