News and Updates – DssW

Power Manager 5.12.0 Released

DssW — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 07:00:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce the launch of Power Manager 5.12. This update introduces a new notifying section in the menu status bar, notification options for non-administrator users, and continued improvements to the Scheduler.

Creating Hourly Triggers

DssW — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 09:00:00 +0000

In this recipe we show how to create hourly triggers for a Power Manager event. This recipe shows how an event can be triggered each hour, between two times, on specific days of the week.

Power Manager 5.11.0 Released

DssW — Sun, 11 May 2025 09:00:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce the launch of Power Manager 5.11. This update introduces a modernised status menu bar item, multiple-display support for warnings, and a new software update API.

Legacy Guides

DssW — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 09:00:00 +0000

Power Manager’s history goes back to 1997, when we launched version one. Back then the software’s requirement was Apple’s System 7.6. The original documentation was written in HTML and thus has been incredibly resilient to technological change in the intervening decades.

Two Steps Forward

DssW — Sat, 02 Nov 2024 09:00:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, we unfortunately confirmed a critical encoding bug in the then latest release of Power Manager. While we fixed the problem, we reverted to an earlier version of Power Manager.

Support for macOS 15 – Sequoia

DssW — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 09:00:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce support for macOS 15, aka Sequoia, with the launch of Power Manager 5.10.2.

We continue to recommend waiting for the first minor update to any major macOS release. For macOS 15, the first minor update from Apple should be macOS 15.1.

Scheduling a Shut Down on macOS

DssW — Thu, 02 May 2024 09:00:00 +0000

In this recipe we will look at the options available and their caveats.

Built in to macOS

macOS has built in support for scheduling shut downs based on the time and day of the week. Before macOS 13, this functionality was available in the System Preferences’ Energy Saver settings.

Power Manager 5.10.0 Released

DssW — Fri, 25 Aug 2023 09:00:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce the launch of Power Manager 5.10. This update introduces new Schedule Assistant tasks for requesting URLs, a new user session time condition and improvements to the command line tool pmctl.

Power Manager and pmset on macOS

DssW — Fri, 21 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Power Manager is often considered a replacement for macOS’s built-in power management tool pmset. This is not true but the assumption is understandable.

We are often asked about how macOS’s power management System Settings, the built-in command line tool pmset, and our own Power Manager all work together. Does one replace the other? Do they conflict? Can they work together?

How to Script Power Manager Licensing

DssW — Thu, 20 Apr 2023 09:00:00 +0000

Power Manager’s licensing is certificate based. This means your licence is represented by a certificate file¹ and that file needs to be applied to Power Manager to work.

Typically, a licence is applied by following the steps included with the purchase or at licensing support. This approach uses the graphical Power Manager application and the menu item: