---
id: appnope
version: "0.1.4"
license: BSD
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# appnope — Disable App Nap on macOS >= 10.9

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 9.8M/mo

## What it is and what it does

appnope is a lightweight utility for macOS developers who need to prevent the operating system from throttling their Python applications. On macOS >= 10.9, the App Nap feature automatically reduces CPU and I/O for backgrounded applications to save power, which can cause performance problems for long-running tasks. appnope wraps the native NSProcessInfo API using ctypes to temporarily disable App Nap around critical code sections.

The package provides three ways to control App Nap: a simple toggle function to disable it globally, a function to re-enable it, and a context manager for scoped disabling. It has no external dependencies and installs as a pure Python wheel, making it trivial to add to any macOS-based project that needs predictable performance during intensive operations.

Use it for:

- Prevent App Nap during long-running data processing or scientific computations on macOS.
- Ensure consistent performance for background services or daemons running on macOS systems.
- Disable App Nap around critical test suites or benchmarks to avoid timing interference.
- Protect specific code blocks from throttling while keeping App Nap enabled elsewhere in the application.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Disables App Nap on macOS >= 10.9 to prevent performance degradation during long-running operations, using ctypes to wrap NSProcessInfo system calls.

Yes, if you develop or run Python applications on macOS that perform long-running or performance-sensitive tasks. The package is actively maintained, has no dependencies, and solves a real macOS-specific problem. Not relevant for non-macOS environments.

## Install

pip install appnope
uv add appnope
poetry add appnope

## Installing appnope

Before you install: Low friction install with no runtime dependencies. Actively maintained as of 2026-08-03.

License in practice: BSD license is permissive; you can use this package freely in commercial and open-source projects with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart:

pip install appnope

import appnope
appnope.nope()  # disable App Nap

# or use as context manager
with appnope.nope_scope():
    do_important_stuff()

macOS >= 10.9 required; package is macOS-only and will not function on other operating systems.

Verify before relying:

- Whether App Nap behavior or system integration has changed in recent macOS versions beyond 10.9

## Package facts

- License: BSD (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 9.8M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

disable app nap macos, macos performance degradation, prevent app nap python, macos system activity control, long-running tasks macos, nsprocessinfo wrapper, macos-specific, performance-tuning

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