You may be worried about leaving your laptop unattended when you take a short break to use the restroom or walk away from your desk to take a call if you routinely work from public areas such as coffee shops or other public places.
When you turn your back on your MacBook, you don’t want someone else to see the chance and take it from you while you’re distracted.
Now, a new Mac program called Clyde helps you secure your laptop in similar scenarios by leveraging unexpected humiliation as a powerful anti-theft technique.
You can find more information about Clyde on its official website.
Safeguards that Clyde Provides for Your MacBook
After you have Clyde installed and have run it for the first time, it will remain in the menu bar until you need it.
- Click the Clyde menu bar icon when you are going to move away from the laptop for a while, and then pick the Toggle Clyde option from the drop-down menu that appears.
- It will cause your MacBook to lock itself automatically.
- You may now step away from the Mac to take your break, but keep in mind that the lid should not be shut.
- Clyde will emit a thunderous warning each time the top of the MacBook is closed by another person.
- Because it is loud enough to frighten would-be burglars and disrupt those eating in the café, it is an effective deterrent.
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Restrictions Imposed by this Application
Clyde is not ideal, even though it performs its duties satisfactorily. The fact that it is dependent on someone else closing the lid of your laptop is one of its most significant flaws.
The application won’t create a sound even if someone picks up the computer and runs away.
- The alarm will also cease sounding as soon as the cover is lifted.
- A person who is startled is not likely to be able to turn it off soon enough since it is loud enough to notify everyone in the room at any one instant.
- When you unlock your Mac, Clyde will automatically deactivate itself.
- You will need to enable it each time you intend to move away from your workstation; however, this is okay if you are diligent.
- According to the website for the application, Clyde will soon have a companion app available for the iPhone.
This app will notify the user on their iPhone anytime the alarm on the Mac application sounds. In the meantime, until such software is made accessible, the usefulness of Clyde may be reduced in some circumstances if you are not close enough to your MacBook to hear its alert.
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Other Preventative App Against Theft:
It’s a good idea to use apps like Clyde as a supplementary layer of protection, but you should rely on something other than them as your sole line of defense against theft.
Even if your Mac is stolen, the built-in full-disk encryption system known as FileVault will help keep your data secure. This feature is included with every Mac.
It would be best if you used a strong password with the user account on your Mac to make it more difficult for hackers to access your data.
This feature is activated by default on most current Macs, and most Macs come with a password prompt.
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Find My Mac
Second, if you are logged in to your Apple ID, you will automatically have the anti-theft program Find My Mac active on your device.
- This service is an effective deterrent against theft.
- Last but not least, you should consider protecting your Mac with an insurance policy.
- Whether it be AppleCare+ with protection against theft and loss, one of the other plans that come packaged with credit cards, or a generic dedicated laptop policy.
You may replace your lost or stolen Mac with one of these alternatives without additional financial strain.
Beepify
The digital security program Beepify, which you can use on your laptop, may alleviate many of those concerns.
After being activated, Beepify will remain inactive until one of three events occurs:
- The laptop is closed, the device is disconnected, or the display is turned off.
- A piercing and startling beep will issue from the gadget if any of those triggers are set off.
- The notion that would-be thieves should be so frightened, or at the very least publicly chastised, that they give up their attempt at robbery and flee into the night instead.
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The most significant benefit of using Beepify is that it eliminates the embarrassing and inefficient practice of asking the person seated next to you at a coffee shop to guarantee that they would look after your laptop while you use the washroom.
- Beepify accomplishes this for you. What precisely do you anticipate them doing if a persistent thief comes up? Should I punch the man or try to tackle him sliding?
- What if they are so preoccupied with the script they’re working on that they don’t even notice when your MacBook Air gets stolen by a crafty crook and ends up in someone else’s possession?
- Beepify normally charges $299 for a lifetime membership, but now you can get one for only $39.99 if you act fast.
On the other hand, if you want to err on the side of caution, you can get a one-year membership (usually costs $59.99) for only $19.99.
