Smart Charge

A native macOS menu bar application that implements intelligent battery charging algorithms to maximize battery lifespan while ensuring device availability.

Overview

Smart Charge provides real-time power monitoring, customizable charging rules, and beautiful visualizations of your system's energy flow. It is designed with a philosophy of Availability First, ensuring you never have a dead battery when you need it, while intelligently managing charge cycles to prolong battery health.

Quick Start

For Users

1. Download: Get BatterySmartCharge-1.0.4.pkg from the Releases page.
2. Install: Double-click the .pkg file and follow the installer prompts. (If MacOS blocks the installation, press "Done" then go to System Settings > Privacy & Security and click "Open Anyway".)
3. Authorize: Enter your password when prompted (required for power monitoring helper).
4. Run: The app will be installed to /Applications/. Launch it from there.

The installer automatically sets up the privileged helper needed for real-time power monitoring.

For Developers

1. Clone: git clone https://github.com/calebyhan/smart-charge.git
2. Open: Open BatterySmartCharge.xcodeproj in Xcode
3. Build: Press Cmd+R to build and run

To create a distributable installer:

# Build Release version
xcodebuild -project BatterySmartCharge.xcodeproj -scheme BatterySmartCharge -configuration Release clean build

# Create installer
./create_installer.sh

The installer will be created at dist/BatterySmartCharge-1.0.4.pkg

Note: The installer automatically bundles the battery CLI tool. If building the installer yourself, ensure battery is installed on your system (brew install battery) so it can be bundled.

Dependencies

The installer includes:

• PowerMetrics Helper: Monitors CPU/GPU power consumption (bundled)
• battery CLI: Controls charging behavior via SMC (actuallymentor/battery) (bundled)

Both are automatically installed by the .pkg installer with proper permissions.

Documentation

Comprehensive documentation is available in the docs/ directory:

• User Guide: Learn about charging modes, time rules, and the dashboard.
• Architecture: High-level system design, data flows, and data models.
• Development: Setup, building, testing, and contributing.

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.