CoverMyCamera - One-click software cover for your MacBook camera and mic
I'm the developer of CoverMyCamera. Posting here because I built this for MacBook users who want camera/mic privacy without a plastic shutter. Problem Sticky webcam covers are still the default advice for Mac privacy. Apple has warned…
A concise extract from the original post, kept together with the community response below.
“I'm the developer of CoverMyCamera. Posting here because I built this for MacBook users who want camera/mic privacy without a plastic shutter.
Problem
Sticky webcam covers are still the default advice for Mac privacy. Apple has warned…”I'm the developer of CoverMyCamera. Posting here because I built this for MacBook users who want camera/mic privacy without a plastic shutter.
Problem
Sticky webcam covers are still the default advice for Mac privacy. Apple has warned they can damage the display when the lid closes. System Settings can revoke camera or mic access, but that is not a fast one-click control you use several times a day.
I wanted something simpler: a local menu bar app that blocks the built-in MacBook camera and mutes the mic system-wide, no product telemetry, and fail-open behavior so you are not permanently locked out if the app quits or crashes.
Comparison
There is not a direct category peer doing this exact thing in one product today. What people usually use instead:
Physical lens covers – familiar, but can damage the display when closed
System Settings – works, but slower and not a one-click daily toggle
Monitoring tools – alert when camera/mic activate; different job than a preventive cover
CoverMyCamera is built as a one-click preventive control for built-in camera + mic, local-first, with fail-open safety.
How it works (short)
Lives in the menu bar
One click turns camera privacy on/off and mic mute on/off for the entire system
Runs locally on your Mac
If the app stops unexpectedly, camera access is restored (fail-open) so you are not stuck blocked
Privacy
No product telemetry
Paid builds only talk to licensing services for purchase/activation/status checks
Site has no analytics cookies
Pricing / trial
$12.99 one-time license
Up to 3 Macs per license
24 hour free trial and no subscription
You can download from the site, but full protection requires a purchased license
Links
Site: https://www.covermycamera.app
Privacy: https://www.covermycamera.app/privacy
Terms: https://www.covermycamera.app/terms
Refunds: https://www.covermycamera.app/refund
Not on the Mac App Store. Notarized distribution from my site.
Developer: Mohamed Akram
Happy to answer install, Gatekeeper, licensing, or fail-open questions in the comments.
Collected discussion
10 collected
Comments are shown in source order. Reply indentation appears only when the scraper captured a parent relationship.
I don't find it very useful because of the green camera indicator. I always know when it's on. and as someone said in the comments - if a hacker is good enough to bypass this camera indicator - he'll easily bypass your software. Best of luck!
I think this is mostly to avoid accidental cases. I had this problem myself and I just bound the f5 key (originally for dictation) to a karabiner script for muting my mic. Gonna take a look at how this app turns off the camera and create another script for binding shift f5 to camera lol
Totally fair take, and I agree with the core point: this is not an anti-hacker product. The green LED is a real hardware signal when the camera is actually capturing. CoverMyCamera is aimed at a different job: one-click preventive control for everyday use — stop apps from grabbing the built-in camera, mute mic system-wide, and avoid plastic covers apple specifically warns against. If someone already has kernel/root-level control of your Mac, yes, they can bypass software controls like this. I’m not claiming otherwise. If the LED already covers your threat model, you’re good — no need for this app.
Thanks, AI.
I'm usually highly critical of apps like this, but I'm upvoting you because I think that you are dealing with folks fairly and honestly in your responses. In particular there is nothing in the response above that's worthy of a downvote, and coming from me, that's really saying something. 😁 I will say that my one criticism of the app is that it requires admin privs. I haven't checked, but I'm sure that is likely required in order to do the system wide lockout, so I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but that's too high a bar for me to be willing to even give this a try. I'm one of those that feel that the LED indicators are sufficient protection, and while I've used those slider covers for other laptops in the past, I haven't bothered on my "new" MBP. Not to mention, anyone who hijacks my camera to look at ME naked is already being punished enough. Good luck, I hope you'll keep working on new ideas.
I honestly feel like the point of the app was missed entirely. The application stops your camera from even being used in the first place. It can have the effect of stopping someone from seeing your camera, but the primary purpose was to stop the camera from being turned on unintentionally during Zoom meetings, or just having it covered in your day-to-day life. It's not a reactive measure to tell you if someone is using your camera — it's proactive, stopping any system app from accessing your camera in the first place. Again, I understand the criticism and will make changes accordingly. I just wanted to clarify my thinking here, since I'll admit I'm a little surprised by how the downvotes landed given the actual point of the app.
Oh, yeah, I get it. Although, between you and I, it's a little sad that there are like 27 comments that all say "hurr, durr, but there is a green light!!!" All I'm saying, and I do not intend this as a criticism, is that the threat your app combats is not meaningful to me. If it were free, and didn't require admin privs, I'd probably give it a look, but honestly I was surprised that Apple doesn't have this kind of thing in Control Center already, and I wouldn't be surprised if they added it soon. Especially if your app is successful. That's why I encouraged you to keep thinking about new ideas. It's rare that we get anything even approaching an original idea in this sub, and I'd like to see you succeed.
Can you write a single post without using ChatGPT?
Yeah seems like people here missed the point entirely. Green light doesn't stop the cam from flashing my ugly face 😔 P.S. Nice work btw
The hardware LED can’t be bypassed; it is hardwired to the camera somehow. I’m not sure about the on-screen one