Your Mac should choose the right connection before you have to.
A native macOS menu bar utility that moves gracefully between wired and Wi-Fi networks, keeps network services under control, and shows what your connection is doing — without telemetry or cloud accounts.
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Docking a Mac should be boring. Plug in Ethernet and use it. Unplug it and return to Wi-Fi. FlowLink turns that expectation into a predictable local policy instead of making you toggle radios, disconnect networks, or reorder services by hand.
It follows the network service priority already configured in macOS. Once a higher-priority wired service receives a usable IP address, FlowLink waits for your chosen delay and then disconnects Wi-Fi or powers it off. When the wired link disappears, it restores only the Wi-Fi state that FlowLink changed.
flowchart LR
A["Wired network gets a valid IP"] --> B["Wait 0 / 3 / 5 / 10 seconds"] --> C["Disconnect or power off Wi-Fi"]
C --> D["Wired link disappears"] --> E["Restore only Wi-Fi managed by FlowLink"]
| What FlowLink gives you | |
|---|---|
| 🔁 Reliable handoff | Debounced, cancellable wired/Wi-Fi switching that waits for a real address before changing anything. |
| ⚡ One-click preference | Make wired or Wi-Fi preferred from the menu bar while preserving VPN and virtual-service ordering. |
| 📶 Nearby Wi-Fi picker | See nearby networks, identify the current and locally preferred network, and join personal-security networks. |
| 🧭 Network service control | Inspect Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Thunderbolt, Bridge, Hotspot, and VPN services; enable, disable, or reorder them. |
| 📈 Live traffic | View upload/download rates, session totals, the current path, and the top five apps by traffic every two seconds. |
| ✨ Native macOS 26 design | Liquid Glass surfaces, smooth disclosure animation, dark/light appearance, and Reduce Motion support. |
| 🧩 A menu bar that fits you | Show, hide, reorder, collapse, and persist individual status modules. |
| 🔔 Useful essentials | Local activity history, notifications, launch at login, manual policy runs, and signed automatic update checks. |
- Open the latest release and download
FlowLink-<version>-macOS.zip. - Unzip it and move
FlowLink.appto/Applications. - FlowLink is distributed with the project's local self-signing method and is not Apple-notarized. On first launch, Control-click the app in Finder, choose Open, then confirm Open. If macOS still blocks it, use System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.
- Launch FlowLink and click its icon in the menu bar. Grant Location access only if you want macOS to reveal nearby Wi-Fi names.
- Turn on automatic connection management, choose a response delay, and decide whether Wi-Fi should be disconnected or powered off when wired networking is ready.
Note
Documentation is available in six languages. The app interface follows the macOS language and currently supports Simplified Chinese and English.
Keep Ethernet above Wi-Fi in macOS network service order, enable automatic management, and choose a delay. FlowLink waits until wired networking has a usable address before touching Wi-Fi, so a cable with link but no connectivity does not trigger a premature switch.
Use the wired and Wi-Fi tiles in the menu bar panel, or the swap button between them. FlowLink updates physical-service priority without disturbing VPN and virtual network services.
Switch to Wi-Fi mode and expand the network picker. Personal-security networks can be joined directly with a secure password field. Enterprise, certificate-based, and unknown security modes are handed off to macOS System Settings.
Open the traffic module or full dashboard to see live rates, session totals, interface activity, and the top five attributable applications. FlowLink reads local macOS counters; it does not install a network extension or decrypt traffic.
The full dashboard provides service status, IPv4, DNS, router and path details, activity history, notifications, appearance, startup behavior, and module customization. macOS may request administrator authorization when you reorder, enable, or disable network services.
- No telemetry, analytics, account, or cloud sync.
- SSIDs are read only after you grant Location access; BSSIDs are not stored.
- Wi-Fi passwords remain in memory only for the current connection attempt and are never written to preferences, logs, notifications, or diagnostics.
- Traffic details remain in memory and disappear when FlowLink quits.
- FlowLink does not decrypt network traffic or install a network extension.
- Update archives and the update feed are verified with Sparkle EdDSA signatures.
- Apple Silicon Mac running macOS 26 or later.
- Building from source requires the macOS 26 SDK and Swift 5.10-compatible tooling.
- The distributed app uses local self-signing and is not Apple-notarized.
- Nearby Wi-Fi names require macOS Location permission.
- Enterprise and certificate-based Wi-Fi networks are managed by macOS System Settings.
- Service ordering and enable/disable operations can trigger an administrator authorization prompt.
- FlowLink 1.1.5 and earlier did not include the updater; install 1.2.0 or later manually once to receive future update checks.
The menu bar icon is missing
On macOS 26, open System Settings → Menu Bar and make sure FlowLink is allowed to appear.
Nearby Wi-Fi names are unavailable
Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services and allow FlowLink. Core connection switching still works without this permission.
macOS will not open the downloaded app
Use the Control-click → Open flow described above. This warning appears because the public build is locally self-signed rather than Apple-notarized.
A protected Wi-Fi network cannot be joined
FlowLink directly supports personal-security networks. Open macOS Wi-Fi settings for enterprise, certificate-based, or unknown security types.
git clone https://github.com/Lv-0/FlowLink.git
cd FlowLink/FlowLink
zsh scripts/verify.sh
zsh scripts/package-app.sh
open .build/flowlink-package/FlowLink.appFor a complete local release build, run zsh scripts/release.sh. It runs the verification suite, creates application and source archives, validates the embedded Sparkle framework, and refreshes the signed appcast.xml.
Issues and focused pull requests are welcome. Great places to help include:
- Testing more Apple Silicon Macs, docks, adapters, and network-service combinations.
- Improving translations and making the application UI multilingual.
- Refining documentation, accessibility, and onboarding.
- Reporting reproducible connection-policy or traffic-attribution problems.
Please open an issue before starting a large behavioral change so the scope can be discussed first.
If FlowLink saves you from one more manual Wi-Fi toggle, consider starring the repository. A star helps other Mac users discover the project, and sharing a real-world dock or adapter setup helps make its switching policy better for everyone.
FlowLink is available under the MIT License. © 2026 Lv-0.