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The Activity Monitor alternative for Mac

Why is my Mac slow, hot, loud or draining its battery?

Taskglass answers in plain English: which app is doing it, why, and what to do about it. Not a list of 600 process names.

Get Taskglass for $5Try the live demo

100 left at $5, then $930-day money-back guarantee

macOS 14+6 MBOne-time purchaseUp to 3 Macs

The app's own wording, with simulated numbers.

OverviewTaskglass

Google Chrome is keeping your Mac busy.

It's using 312% CPU, about 3 of your 10 cores.

  • Google Chrome41 processes312%
  • mds_storesSpotlight indexing31%
  • WindowServerPart of macOS18%

Live demo with simulated numbers. Click anything.

Taskglass
3:43 PM
Taskglass

All good.

Google Chrome is your busiest app right now at 116% CPU.

Apple M416 GB memory612 processes → 22 apps

CPU

10 cores
29%in use
Performance38%Efficiency25%

Memory

16 GB
51%pressure
Normal
Used13 GB
Cached2.2 GB
Swap0 B

Plenty of room. High "used" memory is normal on a Mac.

Energy

On battery
11 Wwhole Mac
64%4h 10m leftHealth 86%

Temperature

Cool
43°CPU average
Hottest core 47°

Busiest right now

See all
  • Google Chrome41Google's web browser. Its tabs and extensions run in separate 'Google Chrome Helper' processes.116%3.3 GB
  • mds_storesMaintains Spotlight's search index on disk, updating it as files change.30%355 MB
  • WindowServerDraws every window, menu and animation you see on screen, and routes your clicks and keystrokes.16%822 MB
  • photoanalysisdAnalyses your photos in the background for Memories, People and searching by what's in them.10%220 MB
  • Safari9Apple's web browser. Web pages themselves run in separate WebKit processes.5%1.2 GB
  • Slack7The Slack messaging app (built on Electron) and its helper processes.6%684 MB

What happened

Timeline
  • Spotlight is indexing4 min. agomds_stores is busy after a macOS update. It finishes on its own.
  • Your Mac got hot1 hr. agoCPU reached 92° while zoom.us was screen sharing.
  • Memory got tight3 hr. agoGoogle Chrome reached 5.1 GB with 60 tabs open.

Memory by type

79%in use
  • App9.7 GB
  • Wired2.1 GB
  • Compressed922 MB
  • Cached2.2 GB
  • Free1.1 GB

Memory by app

11 GBall apps
  • Google Chrome3.3 GB
  • kernel_task1.9 GB
  • Safari1.2 GB
  • WindowServer822 MB
  • Everything else3.7 GB

Power by app

3.0 Wof 11 W
  • Google Chrome1.4 W
  • mds_stores586 mW
  • Safari281 mW
  • photoanalysisd227 mW
  • Everything else464 mW

Graphics

15%

Network

↓ 1.6 MB/s↑ 199 KB/s

Disk

412 GB free

Activity Monitor vs Taskglass

Chrome is one row.Not forty.

Activity Monitor lists every helper process on its own. Taskglass puts each helper under the app that launched it, so every app gets one row and one honest total.

Activity Monitor612 processes
Process Name% CPUMemory
  • kernel_task4.41.90 GB
  • Google Chrome Helper (Renderer)38.11.12 GB
  • WindowServer18.0812 MB
  • Google Chrome Helper (Renderer)12.6804 MB
  • Google Chrome Helper (GPU)24.7642 MB
  • Safari Web Content2.3612 MB
  • Slack Helper (Renderer)3.6512 MB
  • Google Chrome15.7410 MB
  • Claude Helper (Renderer)1.4388 MB
  • Google Chrome Helper (Renderer)6.2386 MB
  • mds_stores31.0356 MB
  • Notion Helper (Renderer)0.9302 MB
  • photoanalysisd9.0220 MB
  • Google Chrome Helper (Renderer)3.1214 MB
  • Slack0.7180 MB
  • Google Chrome Helper0.496 MB
  • mdworker_shared0.344 MB

Read the full comparison

What Taskglass does

Answers, not a list of processes.

Know what it is before you quit it.

Click any process for what it does, why it's busy and what to do, in plain English. 214 processes are explained, and an “Is this safe?” badge reads the code signature.

WindowServer

Apple · Part of macOS · PID 401

Part of macOS

Signed by Apple. This is a genuine part of macOS.

What is it?

Draws every window, menu and animation you see on screen, and routes your clicks and keystrokes.

Why it gets busy
  • Many open windows, or apps that redraw constantly (animated web pages, video, games)
  • Several or high-resolution external displays, especially at scaled resolutions
  • Transparency and motion effects, Stage Manager, or many desktops with live content
What you can do
  • Close windows and browser tabs you don't need, especially ones playing video or animation
  • Quit apps one at a time and watch whether WindowServer drops, to find the trigger
  • Turn on Reduce transparency and Reduce motion in System Settings > Accessibility > Display

Don't quit this

Force quitting WindowServer instantly logs you out and closes all your apps, so unsaved work is lost.

More about WindowServer

Your Mac at a glance.

Click the icon in the menu bar or press ⌥⌘T from anywhere. Taskglass keeps running there after ⌘Q.

What happened at 2:12 PM? Scroll back and see.

Taskglass keeps 30 days of CPU, memory pressure, temperature and power, and marks the moments that matter. So when the fans spun up during a call, you can see which app did it.

CPU · last 24 hours

Today, 2:12 PM

CPU
70%
Temp
73°
Power
28 W

Your Mac is running hot

zoom.us was screen sharing while Chrome played video.

Drag across the chart, or use the arrow keys.

What drained your battery? In watts.

On Apple Silicon, Taskglass reads each app's real energy use in watts, not an “energy impact” score. Unplug in the morning and it tells you what used your battery since then.

Power right now

Whole Mac
11 W

What drained your battery

Google Chrome used 60% of the energy your apps used since you unplugged.

  • Google Chrome60%
  • zoom.us17%
  • Slack9%
  • photoanalysisd6%
  • Claude4%

Catch a runaway app before your fans do.

Smart alerts for runaway CPU, memory that keeps growing and heat. Quit the culprit right from the alert.

Slack is using a lot of CPU

now

92% of a core for 5 min. This drains battery and heats your Mac.

Simulated. The real alert appears in Notification Center.

40+ temperature sensors.

CPU, GPU, SSD, battery and more on Apple Silicon, with fan speed alongside. No admin rights needed.

43°
CPU average
47°
Hottest core
41°
Graphics
  • Memory40°
  • SSD38°
  • Battery35°
  • Wi-Fi42°
  • Palm rest31°

And the details that make it a Mac app.

  • RAM Advisor

    Thirty days of memory pressure turned into one answer: is your memory enough?

  • ⌘K search

    Find any app or process from the keyboard, then inspect it or quit it.

  • Shows its own cost

    Taskglass's own CPU and memory, live, in the sidebar and the popover.

  • Updates built in

    Updates arrive inside the app, with a “What's new” sheet after each one.

Built to be light

A monitor that doesn't become the problem.

Native Swift and SwiftUI. No Electron, no web views. It samples less when you're not looking.

CPU in the background
0.2%CPU in the background
CPU with the window open, updating every 2 s
~2.5%CPU with the window open, updating every 2 s
of memory
~70 MBof memory
of history written per day
~3 MBof history written per day

Measured on an M4 MacBook Pro with a Release build. Percentages are of one CPU core.

Private by design

What happens on your Mac stays on your Mac.

  • No account

    Paste a license key and you're done.

  • No analytics

    No tracking, telemetry or analytics SDKs.

  • Stays on your Mac

    Your history and process data never leave it.

  • Two network calls

    To activate your license and check for updates.

Read the privacy policy

Pricing

Pay once. Use it on 3 Macs.

Early buyers pay less, and the ladder is published upfront: the first 100 licenses are $5, the next 150 are $9, then $14.

Taskglass for Mac

Launch price · step 1 of 3
$5
$14
one-time
100 left at $5, then $90/100 sold
  1. $5
    First 100Now
  2. $9
    Next 150Later
  3. $14
    After thatLater
  • One-time purchase. No subscription.
  • One license for up to 3 Macs
  • All 1.x updates included
  • 30-day money-back guarantee
  • macOS 14 or later, Apple Silicon and Intel
  • No account and no analytics
Get Taskglass for $5Download the app

Secure checkout by Polar, our merchant of record. Prices in USD; tax may be added at checkout. There's no free trial: download the app and it shows your own live Mac data before asking for a key. If Taskglass isn't for you, get a full refund within 30 days.

Questions, answered.

Still wondering about something? Email hi@taskglass.app.

What is Taskglass?

Taskglass is a native macOS app that shows what's slowing, heating or draining your Mac, and explains it in plain English. It's an Activity Monitor alternative that groups helper processes under their app, explains 214 macOS processes, and keeps a 30-day timeline.

How much does Taskglass cost?

Taskglass is a one-time purchase. During launch the first 100 licenses cost $5, the next 150 cost $9, and after that it's $14. One license covers up to 3 Macs and includes all 1.x updates.

Is there a free trial?

No. Instead there's a 30-day money-back guarantee. You can download the app for free and the onboarding shows your own live Mac data before it asks for a license key, so you can see it working on your Mac first.

Which Macs does Taskglass support?

Taskglass runs on macOS 14 Sonoma or later, on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. It's a native Swift and SwiftUI app (a 6 MB download), with no Electron.

Does Taskglass collect my data?

No. There's no account and no analytics in the app, and everything stays on your Mac. Taskglass only connects to the internet to activate your license and check for updates.

How is Taskglass different from Activity Monitor?

Activity Monitor lists hundreds of processes. Taskglass groups helpers under their app, explains what each process is and whether it's safe, keeps 30 days of history with event markers, shows per-app battery drain in watts, and alerts you about runaway apps and heat.

Will Taskglass itself slow down my Mac?

No. Measured on an M4 MacBook Pro, it uses about 0.2% of one CPU core and about 70 MB of memory in the background, and about 2.5% of one core with the window open. It writes about 3 MB of history a day. You don't have to take our word for it: a self-cost meter shows Taskglass's own CPU, memory and disk writes live inside the app.

How do I get my license key?

After checkout your license key arrives by email and is always available in your Polar customer portal. Open Taskglass and paste it in. You can move a license between Macs yourself.

Can I use one license on several Macs?

Yes. One license activates Taskglass on up to 3 Macs that you own or use.

How do I get a refund or ask a question?

Email hi@taskglass.app within 30 days of your purchase for a full refund. The same address is for support questions too.

See through your Mac.

Plain-English answers about what's slowing, heating or draining it. Pay once, use it on 3 Macs.

Get Taskglass for $5Download

Launch pricing: 100 left at $5, then $9