Macs are powerful devices, and with the introduction of the custom Apple silicon M1 Macs and MacBooks, it has become more imperative that you manage the background apps and monitor power consumption.

Don’t get us wrong, the M1 SOC is fast and is the fastest of the chips that we’ve ever seen, but that doesn’t mean that you should leave everything to the computer and not do anything as it will consistently deliver poor results and keep on getting slower over time. However, using a system monitor brings a lot of benefits, and they are:

• In-depth monitoring of apps and processes.
• Maintaining a smooth user experience.
• Helps terminate unresponsive and unwanted tasks and applications.

• XRG for Mac (free) – Talking about open sources, XRG for Mac is a functional system monitor tool that you could try if you do want to monitor your Mac’s performance for free. The UI is complex and needs a lot of time to get used to, and it also looks like something straight out of the 2000s era.
• Download Apps Tracker. Personal Activity Monitor. Personal Activity Monitor is a free and open source tool that does the simple task of measuring how much time is spent using each application you open and use. This works by recording the time spent for each program while it is focused in the foreground.
• How to monitor overall energy use See real-time CPU, network, or disk status in the Dock It’s easy to keep an eye on your system status without even looking at the Activity Monitor window—you can monitor your CPU, network, or disk usage as a live graph right in the Dock.

Mac GPU Usage in Activity Monitor To view the GPU usage in macOS, first launch Activity Monitor. You can find it in its default location (Applications Utilities) or by searching for it with.

Are you currently taking full advantage of all the techy help you can get?

If you are not sure, I’m glad you are here. As a Mac geek, I have been testing some system monitoring tools and I’m happy to share my favorites with you.

Quick jump to…

Let’s start with the standard: Activity Monitor

Your Mac comes with a built-in system monitoring application known as Activity Monitor. It is excellent for closing unresponsive applications and seeing real-time CPU, Network, Disk status or Energy usage. So, how do you access the Activity Monitor? – Follow the steps below to get the activity monitor running for you.

• Firstly, Go to your “Applications” folder and then to the “Utility” folder.
• Then double-click on the “Activity Monitor”, which will bring up a window.
• This is the Activity Monitor app, and here you’ll see five tabs and a list of entries that changes every few seconds. The Tabs contain the following information – CPU, Memory, Energy, Disk Usage and Network.

Note: The Activity Monitor shows you real-time usage and power consumption. It also allows you to close and terminate all unresponsive tasks or tasks, hogging up too much performance.

Is the built-in Activity Monitor good enough?

The Activity Monitor is a decent app from Apple and is ideally suited to beginners. However, if you want to have extra control over what you’re doing and the processes running, you would have to opt for the third-party solutions listed below.

The Activity monitor helps you by displaying the main processes and the percentage load on the CPU and GPU. It can also force-quit any unresponsive application and help recover your Mac to a normal running state. However, there are many features and information that it misses or hides due to Apple’s clutter-free and simple design idealogy. Hence, third-party applications are better alternatives for the program.

Therefore, the built-in Activity is popular with beginners and casual users, while professionals use 3rd-party apps with more functionality and readily available data.

Try a better monitor: iStat Menus

Pricing: Free for seven days and then a $9.99 per month Setapp subscription, or you can purchase it for $14.15 and can be upgraded for $11.79 (includes six months of weather data)

iStat Menus is genuinely outstanding and deliver some of the best user experience possible. When it boils down to which app provides a better and robust customizable app experience, then the iStat menu shines the brightest and helps you monitor the system performance of your Mac. It works with recognizing all apps and integrating the charts in the menu bar on top of your Mac to access the numbers quickly. It is also lightweight and runs in the background with zero to no performance hit.

You can get started using the app by downloading and installing the app from the link above. After you’re done installing, you will be greeted with a pop-up window for all the settings and customizations that you can do. However, the main feature of monitoring will help you readily keep track of your Mac’s performance and allow you to see if anything is hindering it or not. Here is the complete list of items that iStat Menus keep tracks of and help monitor:

• Disk Usage
• Memory Consumption and Availability
• CPU and GPU performance
• Battery and Power Information
• Displaying data such as Weather, Network information and Sensor state

How can you use iStat Menus to manage processes?

iStat Menus has a straightforward UI that can help you manage operations and terminate unresponsive tasks or background running apps that hog up performance and memory. In addition, we use it to check the background apps and maintain all the processes that impact the performance. This helps us optimizing and planning our workflow and better improve the overall UI experience.

It also has a comprehensive graph page that helps us monitor the total time spent working and gaming, and this data helps me out by analyzing and taking out time for other day to day stuff. Finally, the weather information panel that we’ll discuss shortly works excellent to help us plan our day and move forward with our day.

You can also do this and enable the settings to make it more productive by:

• Go into the app and look for the CPU and GPU tab on the left-hand side of your screen.
• Click on the tab and now look for ‘Processes’ and clear any unwanted task or process you want to.

Note: You can also visit the other tabs. We recommend you check out the Memory tab to quickly and efficiently manage all the different processes and apps that can limit your performance by staying in memory.

Customization Options

iStat Menus use a menu bar integration method to display all the information. This can lead to problems such as a cluttered menu bar or accessibility concerns. However, you can lay these concerns to rest as iStat Menus is highly customizable. You can choose what to display on the menu bar and what to hide on the menu bar. You also have the option to hide the icons from your menu bar temporarily and customize the update frequency so that the icons aren’t disturbing.

It also allows the app’s accent colours and personalizes the icons according to your liking and preferences. The total amount of customizations it provides is immense, and you can change the menu bar colours, borders, and even the slightest of details in the shade of the drop-down that highlights the graphs and other information. The interface highlights how changing the colours will affect the app and the menu bar, and with this much customization at hand, iStat Menus becomes the go-to option for a distraction-free and clean activity-monitoring app.

Performance Monitoring

As we have already discussed, the CPU and GPU tab helps you manage your processes and activities. Finally, the memory tab enables you to manage RAM consumption to improve performance and responsiveness all around the UI.

However, this is the basic that iStat Menus is capable of. iStat Menus can also display various graphs and infographics of your workload so that you can manage and learn about your usage and ample insight on how your apps behave. The app is also quite a haven for developers and can help them check and stress test their app performance and requirements on the Mac.

Notifications and Weather Information

Finally, iStat Menus also provides many customization options for what notifications you want to receive. The notification feature allows you to have reports every time your Mac hits a specific condition or issue. For example, it helps you by notifying if your Mac heats up, overuses the CPU, or saturates the memory with background apps.

It also features a built-in weather information widget to help you monitor your area’s current and upcoming weather condition. However, some of the weather tool features are locked behind a paid upgrade which is a bummer considering it is handy. The module displays the daily forecast along with the maximum and minimum temperature based on your preferred units. Oh, and if you are a weather buff, you also get to see the dew point, wind’s speed and direction.

Oh, and the cherry on the cake is that the custom notifications settings and preferences also work with the weather module, which means if you are working on your Mac and the weather suddenly turns grey and stormy, a message pops up right away notifying you of the condition.

Pros and Cons of using iStat Menus

Pros

• It is feature-rich and can help you monitor a lot of stuff at once
• It has a menu integration system that displays data directly on every screen
• You can also set custom notifications, and it has a lot of customization settings for personalization

Cons

• The Pro package can get a little pricy
• Weather Information and Notifications can feel a little cluttered
• The design can feel a little dated and doesn’t fit in with the new macOS Big Sur menu icon set

In Short, iStat Menus is the perfect app if you want to monitor all your process activity and keep your device optimized for best performance at all times. In addition, it helps save battery and improves responsiveness across the UI.

Also great: iStatistica Pro for Mac

Pricing: Free – Trial Version with limited features, $5.99 – Full Package

iStatistica Pro is an excellent alternative for iStat Menus, but it lacks the customization options that iStat Menus provide. It also includes a widget and a status bar menu that comes in handly while displaying a lot of information at once. So, if you don’t need the customization settings and don’t mind downloading a plugin for additional features, then, by all means, get iStatistica Pro.

The full version for iStatistica Pro has a lot of features and can help you manage the following:

• A complete System Monitor dashboard
• Bluetooth device battery information
• Sensors and Fans data
• Network activity monitoring
• Remote access through your iPhone
• Widgets and instant notifications

How can you use iStatistica Pro to manage processes?

iStatistica Pro has many monitoring features to help you manage your apps to the fans on your Mac. So, how do you so?

• Well, Firstly, you need to download and install the app
• Secondly, you would be greeted with a homepage that would allow you to access all your data on a single screen

Note: You can access all the device information on a single screen which can be a little clunky, but after a bit of experience, you would easily be able to navigate the entire UI and understand all the information.

App Management

App Management is simple and straightforward, with the main features directly being listed on the app’s home page. Here you can manage all the settings and even kill misbehaving or performance hogging apps running in the foreground or the background. You also get a detailed analysis report for all the performance hits and CPU and Memory utilization. Finally, it has graphs and other information related to battery and temperature that can help you better analyze and monitor your Mac apps. We also enjoy the fact that you can manage all the tasks under the same section, and it proves helpful in killing apps and maintain good performance overall. Oh, and did we mention it also has fan controls and temperature monitoring capabilities for all the CPU cores, GPU and other inbuilt hardware.

Alerts and Notifications

Alert and Notifications are a big part of monitoring and getting crucial information right at your fingertips, and iStatistica Pro has a robust alert management system that allows you to get notifications regarding the CPU utilization limit and memory utilization limit instantly notify you if your device hits that threshold. Finally, you also get a companion app for your iPhone, and it lets you remotely access all the monitoring data right on your phone. It also has webhook commands and additional notification plugins, but it can get a little confusing for beginners, so try that when you get comfortable using the app.

Widgets

Widgets are a big thing for macOS, and iStatistica makes full use of them. It has multiple widgets that go on your home screen and provide you with crucial information regarding app, CPU and memory utilization. It also helps track your storage data and network connectivity with download and upload speeds for the entire time you’re using your device. You can also add additional devices for monitoring, such as your Bluetooth connected Apple Watch and headphones for easier access and battery management on the home screen.

Pros and Cons of using iStatistica Pro

Pros

• Easy and seamless widget integration
• Powerful alerts and notification options
• A clubbed intuitive app management and data monitoring system

Cons

• The initial experience using the app may feel a little clunky
• Most features are locked behind a payment

Other alternatives

MenuBar Stats ($4.99) – MenuBar Stats helps you monitor the performance of your Mac in a clean, sleek and straightforward interface. It has been ‘completely re-written from the ground’ and comes with modules such as CPU, disk, network, Bluetooth, fan, and more. Each of these modules can be accessed front he menu bar and/or the notification center of your Mac OS.

TG Pro ($10) – TG Pro is a diagnostics app that works the best with monitoring temperature and fan data. However, it also has system monitoring capabilities with CPU, GPU, Battery and storage information that helps you maintain your device with ease. Finally, it is the only app on the list that can accurately display all the temperature information for the new M1 Macs, including any older gen models.

XRG for Mac (free) – Talking about open sources, XRG for Mac is a functional system monitor tool that you could try if you do want to monitor your Mac’s performance for free. The UI is complex and needs a lot of time to get used to, and it also looks like something straight out of the 2000s era. This app lets you monitor your CPU and GPU activity, memory usage, machine temperature, battery status, network activity, disk I/O, stock market data, and current weather.

App Tamer ($14.95) – helps you tame the apps that hog your CPU. It’s a lightweight menu bar utility with the ability to detect the average percentage of your processor(s) being used by each app, or access a graphical history or your CPU usage.

Monity ($4.99) – Monity is an excellent app for those who want infographics to work as a widget. It is available in the ‘Today View’ section of your macOS UI and can oversee various device hardware components. Monity does not have menu bars and displays information straight through the widget without cluttering your menubar workspace. The app comes in fifteen languages and can be purchased from the app store for $4.99.

coconutBattery3 ($12) – coconutBattery has been around the battery monitoring space since 2005 and does a fine job displaying the health of your Mac’s battery. It also comes with a companion app for your iPad and iPhone to track and manage their batteries as well. However, it is strictly a battery-monitoring app and cannot work as a fully functional activity manager.

SMART Utility ($25) – All new Macs come with faster SSDs with high data transfer speeds and fantastic read and write rates, sometimes leading to drive management issues. SMART Utility is built to keep track of the health of all your drives and to diagnose any problem that may arise. It can also get information such as drive temperature, capacity, and health, making it great for Disk Utility software.

MenuMeters (free) – Finally, taking a look at MenuMeters, which looks like a simple Aciitiivty manager application but can get seriously complex and feature-rich with use. It has unique features and customization options and details every activity and process with graphs and memory colours.

FAQs

iStat Menus vs iStatistica Pro?

iStat Menus is a great Activity Monitoring application, and compared to iStatistica Pro can be a lot feature-rich. So, we would recommend you to stick with iStat Menus as it is impressive with what it does and is lightweight enough not to be a problem with the performance. See the detailed comparison here.

Why is my MacBook Pro so hot?

There can be multiple reasons for your MacBook Pro getting so hot, but the primary one is that it’s being stressed with all the performance demands from applications and tasks. So, a quick fix is to use an Activity Monitoring app to identify the most demanding app and terminate it for your device to cool down and regain all the performance is lost.

What should the CPU usage percentage be for my Mac?

There is no set rule for what CPU usage percentage should be good for your Mac, but anything over 80% usage should be a cause for concern, and generally, you should max out the CPU at around 70-80% load and not more.

How to fix kernel_task CPU usage on Big Sur?

kernel_task is a variety of low-level processes that allow your computer to work and is a part of macOS. It won’t generally concern you, but it can sometimes be the biggest culprit of slowing down your Mac with utilizing the CPU to the max. However, you can fix this by restarting your Mac and updating it to the latest software update available.

How to get CPU temperature for the new M1 Macs?

The new M1 Macs aren’t compatible with most apps for temperature monitoring, but TG Pro works perfectly. So, you can download TG Pro from the link above and monitor your M1 Mac without and compatibility issues.

Before you go

After spending over 20 years working with Macs, both old and new, there’s a premium tool I think would be useful to every Mac owner who is experiencing performance issues.

CleanMyMac X is highest rated all-round cleaning app, it can quickly diagnose and solve a whole plethora of common (but sometimes tedious to fix) issues at the click of a button. It also just happens to make it very easy to free up disk space on your Mac by identifying junk files and allowing you to get rid of them with a click, so Download CleanMyMac X to get your Mac back up to speed today.

These days, a lot of people use their desktop computer or laptop for doing work or homework as well as using it for for entertainment. When that is the case, it doesn’t take much to perhaps get distracted and browse the internet or play a game of solitaire when you should be working. One way of finding out if you are using a game, program or web browser too much is by checking how long each application has been is use.

Using a tool that shows how many minutes or hours each program you have opened has been in use will help determine if you have been spending too long doing one thing when you should be doing something else. This can also help when monitoring other users of your computer or your children’s computer. Seeing how long your child has used a web browser or chat program today is less invasive than installing a keylogger application to see everything they type.

Here we list 5 free tools that can check application usage times for everything you run on your computer. Each tool was tested in Windows 7 and 10 64-bit.

1. Apps Tracker

Apps Tracker is a very clean looking program with an up to date Modern UI interface. It also has some useful features besides tracking application usage. These include tracking web browser tab usage, taking screenshots at timed intervals (10 seconds – 1 hour), password protection to stop anyone else changing the settings and app limits to warn you or shut shut down an app after it’s been open longer than the specified time.

By default Apps Tracker will start monitoring straight away and will open on the apps list where you can click on individual apps to see their usage. Click the Day Summary to see everything in one list with percentages, duration and open windows/tabs all listed in the same window. In the bottom half of the window you can also select Logs which shows a list of what each logged program was doing, and when.

Apps Tracker has several graphs, bar charts and tables to show the usage of applications, many of which can be found in Statistics window. Memory usage is a bit on the high side, with about 110MB of RAM in use during testing. If you want to pause or stop tracking check the tiny red box at the bottom of the window.

Download Apps Tracker

2. Personal Activity Monitor

Personal Activity Monitor is a free and open source tool that does the simple task of measuring how much time is spent using each application you open and use. This works by recording the time spent for each program while it is focused in the foreground. The last update for Personal Activity Monitor was in 2012 and sadly it looks like development has ceased. The .NET Framework version 4 or above installation is required for Windows 7 or below users.

After installing and launching Personal Activity Monitor, it will begin recording straight away. Any open programs will not be listed until they are clicked on and brought into the foreground at least once. The list will grow as new programs are opened and it can be sorted by ascending or descending usage. The top section will show information for the currently focused program.

From the settings window in the tray icon, you can set the idle timeout and export data to an XML file every xx number of seconds/minutes. The program only records data for the current session so if you close it or logout of Windows, everything will start again from zero. One issue with the program is it alerts you to a new update although there isn’t any new version to download.

Download Personal Activity Monitor

3. ProcrastiTracker

ProcrastiTracker is another program that is pretty simple to operate although the data is not quite as easy to read as Personal Activity Monitor. What you can do is apply colored tags to each running program which will split them into easy to read categories. Add Chrome or Firefox to the Surfing tag or Word/Excel to the Work tag etc.

Monitoring will automatically begin after installing the program, right click the tray icon and select View Statistics to open the main window. Most of the options down the left are for filtering the list of applications, including text string, date range or a set time period. To apply a tag click the process, click on the tag and press the Apply button. Programs are split into sub groups when other windows or tabs are involved, the list can be expanded to show everything with the slider at the top.

If you want to export the data to an HTML page or export/import the ProcrastiTracker database, use the right click menu on the tray icon. Do be aware that the website and download may produce a security warning in your browser. We’re not sure why as the program is open source and the downloaded installer contains no adware.

Download ProcrastiTracker

4. Kiwi Application Monitor

This is slightly different to those above because it’s not a general application usage monitor. Instead, it watches an application process and applies specific actions based on what the process is doing. You can apply alerts when the program starts or stops, when it exceeds certain memory or CPU usage or run external programs as a trigger. There is a premium version of Kiwi Application Monitor but the free version offers enough for the purpose of application usage timing.

The easiest way to add a program to monitor is running it first and then going to Tools > Process Explorer. Double click the process in the list and click Add, then exit the Process Explorer. Select the program from the list of monitored applications and on the right there’ll be statistics about how long the program has been running currently, per session and overall. If you want to monitor a program for a period of time simply minimize Kiwi to the system tray.

Download Kiwi Application Monitor Free

Data Usage Monitor Mac

5. RescueTime

RescueTime is a two phase setup, firstly, create a free account and download the software. Then install the software onto the computer you want to monitor. RescueTime is a commercial product but has a free Lite version limited to three computers which will allow you to monitor activity time for applications and visited websites. In addition to Windows, RescueTime also works on Mac, Linux and Android with dedicated extensions for Chrome and Firefox to measure website activity.

After creating an account, download and install the application onto the computer to monitor. Enter the email for the account into the box, click Activate and login via the browser to start monitoring. It could take up to 15 minutes or more for application and website usage data to start appearing in the RescueTime dashboard (right click the tray icon > go to Dashboard), until then you will see nothing. When data is available, go to the Reports menu > Applications & Websites. There you will be able to see which programs and websites have been used and how long each has been used for.

If you only want to monitor applications and not websites, click on the settings icon top right > Account Settings > Privacy. Change the option from Monitor all websites to Monitor only domains you specify. Click Save Privacy Settings at the bottom. RescueTime can also set daily goals or categorize and rank applications by productivity levels so you can see how well your time is being spent. The Lite version can keep activity records for up to 3 months.

Visit RescueTime

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For web application usage for logged in user, you can use tools like fibotalk.com. It tracks all predefined events and clicks, along with user session details.

Reply

Check Cpu Usage Mac

Hi,
we need to find application last usage in system and need to deploy that tool in our organization to find the application last use but here kiwi application manager is suitable to find the same but that is limited for One system and it is display only one application details at a time..actually our requirement is need to monitor all the tools in one shot…so can you please tell me,which tool is helps to find the application last usage..?

Thanks

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