Keep Your Mac Awake
With the Lid Closed
Awayke prevents your Mac from sleeping when the lid is closed. No external monitor, no Terminal commands. One click in the menubar.
What it does
your Mac won't sleep even if you close the lid.
normal macOS sleep behavior fully restored.
macOS has a separate sleep pathway for lid-close events, independent from the display sleep that most "keep awake" apps target. Lungo, KeepingYouAwake, and similar tools cannot touch it due to App Store sandbox restrictions.
Awayke wraps Apple's own pmset disablesleep in a single menubar toggle. A privileged background helper means no password prompt after the first approval.
Why it exists
I kept carrying my MacBook through the apartment with the lid half-open, just to keep my mac alive.Then I realized I wasn't the only one. Business Insider profiled AI coders doing the same thing at airports, in offices, at their kids' ice skating practice. There's a single macOS command that fixes it, but most "keep Mac awake lid closed" apps don't touch it.
Closing your lid to sleep your Mac is one of the best things about macOS and Awayke doesn't want to change that. Toggle Awayke occasionally when it's needed quickly, then turn it off to restore normal behavior.
alternatives
| Awayke | Amphetamine | caffeinate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lid-close sleep prevention | ✓ | buried | ✗ |
| One-click toggle | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| No sudo prompt | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Nothing else | ✓ | ✗ | — |
Other apps exist to solve the isue such as Amphetamine with the same feature. But Awayke isn't trying to replace Amphetamine or be a full keep-awake utility. It does one thing: prevents lid-close sleep with a single click. That's it.
Install
Download Awayke.app.zip from GitHub Releases.
Safety
Use this tool AT YOUR OWN RISK. That being said, the command Awayke runs is Apple's own tooling. Thermal risk is low for short period of time. I cannot guarantee safety though.
Two rules: keep your Mac on AC power while active, and never put it in a bag while Awayke is active. A closed laptop in a bag with sleep disabled will overheat.
macOS will still force sleep on critical battery regardless of disablesleep. Use at your own risk.
FAQ
Does Awayke work without an external monitor?
Yes. Most keep-awake apps target display sleep, which doesn't touch the lid-close pathway. Awayke uses pmset disablesleep directly, so the lid can close without your Mac sleeping, monitor or not.
What's the difference between Awayke and Amphetamine?
Amphetamine is a full-featured keep-awake utility with timers, triggers, and layers of configuration. Awayke does one thing: prevents lid-close sleep with a single click. Amphetamine's lid-close option exists, but it lives inside a submenu labeled "Allow Display to Sleep." Awayke's whole interface is that toggle.
Does Awayke work on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs?
Yes. The GitHub Releases download is a universal binary covering Apple Silicon (M1 and later) and Intel.
Is Awayke safe to use?
The command Awayke runs is Apple's own. The real risk is thermal: a closed laptop in a bag with sleep disabled will overheat. Keep it on a surface, leave the lid cracked, and quit Awayke when you're done. Quitting restores normal sleep.
Does it drain battery faster?
Yes. Your Mac stays active instead of sleeping, so expect normal active-use battery draw. Plug in when you can.
Does Awayke send any data anywhere?
No. It has no network access, no telemetry, and no analytics. It runs one system command and nothing else.
Does Awayke work on macOS Sequoia and Tahoe?
Yes. Tested on Ventura through Tahoe.