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For macOS on Apple Silicon

A cute desktop pet for your Mac

Pawse puts a tiny anime pet on your Mac's desktop. It watches your cursor, purrs when you pet it, taps along while you type and naps when you step away. It never gets in your way: clicks pass straight through it unless you hover to pick it up.

Download Pawse freeSee every feature

Free for macOS (Apple Silicon) and Windows. No ads, no subscription.

In short

Pawse is a free desktop pet for Mac: a small anime cat, dog, panda, hamster, Shiba Inu, kitsune, bunny or red panda that lives on your screen and in the menu bar. It follows your cursor, taps along as you type, cheers on Claude Code and Codex, and reminds you to stretch. It runs on macOS 11 or later on Apple Silicon (M1 to M4), fully offline.

By , the team behind Pawse · Updated

How it works

  1. 1

    Download the .dmg

    Free for Apple Silicon Macs (M1 to M4) running macOS 11 or later. Drag Pawse into Applications.

  2. 2

    Open it the first time

    Pawse isn't notarized by Apple yet, so macOS asks once. Click Done, then System Settings > Privacy & Security > Open Anyway.

  3. 3

    Allow Accessibility

    macOS asks for this for any app that notices global cursor and keyboard activity. It lets your pet react; Pawse never records what you type.

Made to feel at home on macOS

Lives in the menu bar
Switch pets, start a focus timer, stretch now, open gift boxes or pause reminders from the menu bar icon.
Floats over full-screen apps
Your pet and its cards stay visible over full-screen editors and browsers.
Click-through by default
The pet's window ignores clicks until you hover it, so it never blocks what's underneath. Drag it anywhere and it remembers the spot.
Sleep friendly
Timers and reminders run on the real clock, so closing the lid doesn't lose them.

What your Mac pet can do

Pick one of eight pets, each with its own personality: the hamster runs a wheel at your real typing speed, the panda naps while your AI agent works and the dog does zoomies when it finishes. Claude Code and Codex are detected automatically, and Cursor connects with one switch.

Pawse also reminds you to stretch with a one minute guided routine, runs a Pomodoro focus timer in the menu bar, lets you set your own reminders, and earns paws toward gift boxes with 38 collectible hats.

Private and light

Everything runs on your Mac. Pawse counts keystrokes only to animate your pet, never records which keys, has no telemetry and needs no account to run. Its only network request is feedback you choose to send.

Questions

Does Pawse work on Intel Macs?

Not yet. The current Mac build is for Apple Silicon (M1 to M4) on macOS 11 or later.

Why does macOS say it can't verify Pawse?

Pawse isn't notarized by Apple yet. Open it once and click Done, then go to System Settings > Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway. You only do this once.

Why does it need Accessibility permission?

macOS requires it for any app that listens to global mouse and keyboard activity. Pawse uses it so your pet can follow your cursor and react to typing. It never records what you type.

Will it slow down my Mac?

It is a small transparent window with a lightweight animation, and it naps when you are idle.

Is it free?

Yes. Pawse is free, with no ads and no subscription.

Give your screen a pet

Eight anime pets, AI agent reactions, stretch breaks, a focus timer and 38 hats to collect. Free.

Download free

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