Amphetamine's last update was 2023.
Your agents run in 2026.
Amphetamine was the best keep-awake app on the Mac, and it's still free. It's also been frozen at version 5.3.2 since November 10, 2023, with issues piling up unanswered. Midnight Oil is the maintained, source-available replacement built for the way people keep Macs awake now: overnight agent runs, long builds, the laptop closed in a bag.
The short version
Amphetamine still works and has more trigger types than anything else, but it's unmaintained, closed source, and its closed-lid mode is a three-part install. Midnight Oil does the same core job with a one-checkbox closed-lid mode, installs from Homebrew, and ships updates.
Why people are leaving Amphetamine
Amphetamine earned its reputation. It's free with no catch, it has a 4.8-star rating from more than 3,000 reviews, and for years it shipped updates faster than most paid apps. The problem is what happened after November 2023.
It stopped shipping
The App Store lists version 5.3.2, released November 10, 2023, as current. On the project's GitHub issue tracker, 19 of the 20 open issues have no reply from the developer, going back to December 2023. Those issues include “Amphetamine no effect on macOS 15.3.x” on an M4 Max, a recurring Location Services prompt on launch, an expired certificate, and Drive Alive silently stopping after a few days.
Closed-lid mode is a project
Because Amphetamine lives in the sandboxed App Store, keeping a MacBook awake with the lid shut takes three extra pieces: the separate Power Protect script from GitHub, a sudoers file so it can run pmset disablesleep without a password, and a defaults write command in Terminal. Even then, a 2026 issue reports closed-display mode “silently dropped for timed sessions when no external display is attached,” and another reports a black screen on wake from deep sleep on macOS Tahoe.
App Store only
There's no DMG and no Homebrew cask. Users have been asking for both since 2024. If you manage Macs with a script, or your work Mac blocks the App Store, you're stuck.
The name
Apple tried to remove it over the name in 2021 and backed down. Some managed and corporate environments never did.
Midnight Oil vs Amphetamine
Where it matters, side by side. Amphetamine facts are from the App Store listing and the project's GitHub as of September 2026.
| Midnight Oil | Amphetamine | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Source code public | Yes (FSL, MIT after 2 years) | No |
| Last release | October 2026 | November 10, 2023 |
| Install | Homebrew cask or DMG | Mac App Store only |
| Sessions: minutes, hours, until a time, while an app runs, while a download finishes | Yes | Yes |
| Closed-lid mode | One checkbox; helper approved once | Separate script + sudoers file + Terminal command |
| Sleep restored if the app crashes | Yes, within a second | Not with Power Protect (manual reset) |
| Triggers | Wi-Fi, USB, Bluetooth, display, power, battery, app, IP, schedule, idle | Those plus VPN, DNS, audio, drives, CPU |
| Weekly schedules, like work hours | Own tab, optional conditions, skip a day from the menu | Via a schedule trigger |
| AppleScript | No | Yes |
| Battery floor and unplug rules | Yes | Yes |
| Lid-close alarm on battery | Yes | No |
| Drive Alive | Yes | Yes (reports of it stopping) |
| Download size | 3 MB | 6.7 MB |
| Minimum macOS | 14 Sonoma | 10.13 High Sierra |
What Amphetamine still does better
Breadth. Amphetamine has around fifteen trigger types, including Cisco AnyConnect VPN, DNS server, audio output in use, mounted drives, and CPU load, plus AppleScript support and a periodic cursor-mover. If your workflow depends on one of those, Amphetamine is still the only app that has it, and it's still free.
What Midnight Oil does better
It's maintained, its source is on GitHub, and the closed-lid feature is a checkbox rather than an installation guide. It installs from Homebrew or a notarized DMG. And it was built around the job most people have now: an AI agent, a build, or a render that needs the Mac to stay up while you're somewhere else.
Switching takes about a minute
- Install Midnight Oil.
brew install --cask coreyhaines31/tap/midnightoil, or download the DMG and drag it to Applications. - Recreate your triggers. Amphetamine's settings don't export. Most people have one or two: “docked to a display and on power” and “while Terminal is running” take about thirty seconds each in Settings › Triggers. A schedule-only trigger, like work hours, belongs in Settings › Schedules now.
- Set up closed-lid mode, if you use it. Check “Stay awake with lid closed” in a session; the first time, Midnight Oil asks to install its helper and macOS asks you to approve it in Login Items. That's it.
- Undo Power Protect. If you installed Amphetamine's Power Protect, remove its sudoers entry so nothing else can toggle sleep without a password. The Power Protect README has the uninstall steps.
- Quit Amphetamine. Keep it installed if you rely on a trigger Midnight Oil doesn't have. Otherwise, drag it to the Trash.
Who should stay on Amphetamine
If you're on a Mac older than macOS 14, or you depend on AppleScript control or one of the exotic triggers, stay. It still works for plenty of people. Just know nothing is coming to fix it when it doesn't.
Other ways people keep a Mac awake
Switch in about a minute.
Free. No account, no subscription.
macOS 14 or later · Apple Silicon and Intel · brew install --cask coreyhaines31/tap/midnightoil