I will explain how to use the Mac sleep control application “Amphetamine” in an easy-to-understand manner with illustrations.
This app is very versatile, but if you master the basic usage first and then learn the detailed usage as needed, you will not get lost.
- Features of “Amphetamine”
- About the term “Session” in “Amphetamine”
- How to install “Amphetamine”
- Examples of how to use “Amphetamine”
- Ex.① I want to temporarily prohibit sleep, apart from the settings in “System Preferences”.
- Ex.② I want to ban sleep for a specific time or until a specific time.
- Ex.③ I want to ban sleep while using certain apps (Music app, Spotify, etc.)
- Ex.④ I want to ban sleep while downloading files.
- Ex.⑤ Laptop Mac does not sleep when the screen is closed.
- Conclusion
- Reference articles
Features of “Amphetamine”
On Mac, sleep settings are made in “Energy Saving” in “System Preferences”, but there is a disadvantage that you can only make rough settings.
Therefore, using the app “Amphetamine”, you can set the following. (Click to jump to each step.)
- Ex.① I want to temporarily prohibit sleep, apart from the settings in “System Preferences”.
- Ex.② I want to ban sleep for a specific time or until a specific time.
- Ex.③ I want to ban sleep while using certain apps (Music app, Spotify, etc.)
- Ex.④ I want to ban sleep while downloading files.
- Ex.⑤ Laptop Mac does not sleep when the screen is closed.
The above usage will be explained later in【Examples of how to use “Amphetamine”】.
These are the very basic uses of “Amphetamine”.
In addition, you can use it with various triggers, such as prohibiting sleep when connecting to a specific WiFi or wired LAN, or when connecting a USB device.
If you are interested, please explore the “Preferences…” in menu item of “Amphetamine” dropdown menu.
About the term “Session” in “Amphetamine”
In “Amphetamine”, the sleep prohibition setting is called “Session”.
- Start New “Session”: Under certain conditions, start setting sleep prohibition
- End Cyrrent “Session”: Unset sleep prohibition
Sleep is prohibited while “Session” is running, but when it is stopped, sleep is activated according to the settings in “System Preferences” of Mac.
Keep in mind that we will use the word “Session” in the discussions that follow.
You can tell if the session is stopped or running by looking at the icons on the menu bar.
With the default icon, the pill line is in landscape orientation when the session is stopped, and in portrait orientation the session is in progress.
Session stopped
（the pill line is in landscape orientation）
Session running
（the pill line is in portrait orientation）
In addition, the icon can be selected from multiple from “Appearance” in “Preferences”.
How to install “Amphetamine”
Available from Apple’s Mac App Store.
After completing the installation, make sure that “Amphetamine” starts automatically when you start your Mac.
The procedure is as follows.
▶ First, click the “Amphetamine” icon on the menu bar and select “Preferences” from the menu list.
▶ When “Preferences” opens, check “Launch Amphetamine at login” from the “General” tab.
If you check it, the “Preferences” screen will close.
Examples of how to use “Amphetamine”
Click to jump to each step.
- Ex.① I want to temporarily prohibit sleep, apart from the settings in “System Preferences”.
- Ex.② I want to ban sleep for a specific time or until a specific time.
- Ex.③ I want to ban sleep while using certain apps (Music app, Spotify, etc.)
- Ex.④ I want to ban sleep while downloading files.
- Ex.⑤ Laptop Mac does not sleep when the screen is closed.
Ex.① I want to temporarily prohibit sleep, apart from the settings in “System Preferences”.
▶ Click the “Amphetamine” icon on the menu bar and select “Start New Session”-“Indefinitely” from the menu list.
▶ When set, the icon on the menu bar changes to indicate that sleep is prohibited indefinitely (= session start).
▶ To end the session, click the icon on the menu bar again and select “End Current Session” from the menu list.
▶ Once set, the session will end and the menu bar icon will change.
Ex.② I want to ban sleep for a specific time or until a specific time.
▶ Click the “Amphetamine” icon on the menu bar, select “~ min” or “~ hour” or “Other time / up to …” from the menu list, and set the time on the screen displayed for each. increase.
“Minutes”
“Hours”
“Other Time/Until”
▶ When set, the icon on the menu bar changes to indicate that sleep is prohibited (= session start) until a specific time.
▶ To end the session, click the icon on the menu bar again and select “End Current Session” from the menu list.
▶ Once set, the session will end and the menu bar icon will change.
Ex.③ I want to ban sleep while using certain apps (Music app, Spotify, etc.)
▶ Click the “Amphetamine” icon on the menu bar and select “Start a new session”-“While App is running …” from the menu list.
▶ Select from the list of apps that are displaying apps that you do not want to sleep while this app is running, and then click the “Select” button.
▶ When set, the icon on the menu bar changes to indicate that sleep is prohibited (= session started) while using the app.
▶ To end the session, click the icon on the menu bar again and select “End Current Session” from the menu list.
▶ Once set, the session will end and the menu bar icon will change.
Ex.④ I want to ban sleep while downloading files.
▶ Click the “Amphetamine” icon on the menu bar and select “Start New Session” – “While File is Downloading…” from the menu list.
▶ When the timeout setting screen is displayed as shown, set an appropriate timeout time.
The timeout is, as written on the screen, “the time to set the timeout without changing the size of the file”.
For example, if you set it to 5 seconds, the session will end if the file size remains unchanged for 5 seconds.
If you’re not sure, leave the default “5 seconds” and click the “Continue” button.
If the line speed is slow and the session ends before the download, try extending this time further.
▶ As shown in the figure, an eye log box for specifying the file being downloaded is displayed. Specify the file being downloaded and click the “Open” button.
▶ When set, the icon on the menu bar changes to indicate that sleep is prohibited (= session started) during download.
▶ When the download is complete, the session will end and the menu bar icon will change.
Ex.⑤ Laptop Mac does not sleep when the screen is closed.
Please see the following article for the procedure.
Conclusion
“Amphetamine” is a great and versatile app, even though it’s free.
However, if you have too many features and are wondering if you don’t need the features so far, please see the links below that also introduce other apps.
Reference articles
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