Support
Questions, problems or ideas: write to support@blinken-labs.com. Most problems have a quick fix below.
Write to us
Email support@blinken-labs.com. It helps to include:
- The version of each app: the host's is in its menu-bar item, the client's at the bottom of its menu-bar item.
- The version of macOS on each Mac involved.
- What you did, what you expected, and what happened, including any message word for word.
- A screenshot, if it's something you can see.
We use your email only to answer you. See the privacy policy.
The client can't reach the host
The client's menu-bar item says why. Find the message below.
"…didn't answer" or "…isn't running"
Check that the host Mac is awake, that SystemStatusRemote is open on it, and that both Macs are on the same network. To rule out trouble finding the host by name, choose Enter an Address in the client and type the host's IP address (shown in the host's Add Client…) and port 47820.
"This Mac isn't allowed to use the local network"
Turn on SystemStatusClient in System Settings › Privacy & Security › Local Network.
If SystemStatusClient isn't in that list, and macOS never asked: a macOS 27 bug, which Apple has acknowledged, can leave an app refused the local network without ever asking. On the client Mac:
Quit the client and reset it
Quit SystemStatusClient from its menu-bar item. Open Terminal and run:
tccutil reset All com.blinken-labs.SystemStatusClient
Remove every copy, and restart
Move every copy of SystemStatusClient to the Trash, empty the Trash, and restart the Mac.
Install it again and allow it
Install the client again and open it. Request pairing; when macOS asks to let it find devices on your local network, choose Allow.
"The host turned the request away"
The host isn't taking pairing requests right now. On the host, open Add Client…, or choose a time under Accept pairing requests in Settings (Clients). Or pair with a code instead.
"The host already has this Mac paired"
The host still trusts this Mac's earlier identity, for example after the client was removed or reset. On the host, right-click the Mac in the sidebar and remove it, then request pairing again.
The check words don't match
Deny the request on the host, and choose No on the client. Different words mean the two Macs aren't seeing each other directly: something on the network may be posing as one of them. Try again on a network you trust, or pair with a code: on the host, Add Client… › Pair with a code instead.
The same goes if the client says the host accepted it when nobody accepted it on the host: choose No.
Updating from 1.0
Version 1.1 comes from Blinken Labs, so macOS sees the apps as new ones. Settings and history start afresh, and every Mac pairs again once:
- To keep your history, export it first from the 1.0 host (Settings › History › Export…).
- Quit the old apps and install the new ones on each Mac.
- Pair each Mac again, as the first time.
- Answer macOS's prompts again (Keychain: Always Allow; local network: Allow), and turn Open at Login back on if you used it.
Updates within 1.1 and later keep your pairings, settings and history.
Remove the apps, or reset them
SystemStatusUninstaller (on the download page) removes either app or both, with their settings, pairings, history and keychain identities. It finds the 1.0 apps too. Turn off Remove the apps themselves to keep the apps but return them to a first-launch state.
After a fresh start, remove the Mac on the host as well before pairing again, or the host refuses the new request.