fanfan: Mac Fan Control and Temperature Monitoring in the Menu Bar

fanfan is a native macOS menu-bar app for watching temperatures and controlling the fans inside your Mac. Instead of treating fan speed as a single slider, it offers monitoring alongside manual, temperature-based, and firmware control.

The current GitHub Release is v1.5.1 (checked 2026-10-01). The project supports Apple Silicon and Intel Macs on macOS 26 or later; on a fanless Mac, the sensors remain useful but there is no fan to control.

More than a live temperature number

The overview can show fan RPM and available CPU, GPU, SSD, and battery temperatures, with a short rolling temperature chart for spotting changes under load. A detailed Sensors view exposes more of the readings the Mac reports.

Sensor availability and fan ranges vary by Mac model. That makes the app useful as a compact hardware dashboard even before you change a fan setting, but it also means two Macs may not show identical readings or controls.

Choose firmware, manual, or automatic control

fanfan offers three clear modes: let macOS firmware control the fan, set a manual RPM, or let a temperature-based controller adjust it. Macs with more than one fan can configure each fan separately.

Automatic behavior has adjustable targets, maximum speed, and response, with presets such as Power Saving, Balanced, and Performance alongside a Custom option. Smoothing and different ramp-up and ramp-down behavior are there to avoid audible speed swings.

Tune response without bypassing hardware limits

The temperature target and maximum RPM let you shape when the fans react and how far the automatic curve can go. Advanced users can adjust PID gains when the presets do not suit a particular workload.

The helper rejects fan targets outside the minimum and maximum RPM reported by the hardware. High-temperature alerts can also be configured, including an option to return to automatic control when a threshold is reached.

These controls still deserve attention: fan noise, temperatures, and response depend on the Mac and the work it is doing. Use firmware control if you do not want to manage those trade-offs yourself.

Keep a useful readout—or keep the menu bar quiet

The menu-bar item can show temperature, power use, fan-speed percentage, or nothing at all. That keeps the constant glance small while the popover and settings window hold the fuller charts and per-fan controls.

You can set a high-temperature alert and choose what the controller should do when it fires. Version 1.5.1 also improves how a notification returns you to the temperature panel, a small fix that matters when the app normally stays tucked away.

The privileged helper is the important setup step

The main app runs without root privileges. A small C helper, registered through macOS Service Management, owns the low-level SMC handle and accepts commands over XPC; the app does not run its entire interface as an administrator.

On first launch, click Install Helper and allow fanfan under System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions. The current setup does not ask you to enter an administrator password, but you are still explicitly approving a privileged background component.

What happens if fanfan stops?

The helper accepts commands from the developer-signed fanfan app rather than arbitrary processes. When the app quits or crashes, control returns to the Mac's firmware; a short lease is there for the case where the app hangs instead of exiting cleanly.

This handoff is a useful safety property, not a reason to ignore the temperature graph. Verify that the helper is installed and that the fan mode shown in the app matches what you intended before relying on automatic control.

On a Mac without a fan, fan controls are hidden while monitoring remains available. On a Mac with several fans, the supported RPM range is specific to each device.

Compatibility and privacy boundaries

The documented floor is macOS 26, on both Apple Silicon and Intel. Macs without fans are supported for temperature monitoring only, and the sensors the app can read depend on the machine.

The project says sensor readings and control happen locally, with no analytics, network access, or data collection. That is the maintainer's description of the app, not an independent privacy audit; its implementation and release notes are available in the GitHub repository.

The helper is a privileged component, so review the requested Login Items & Extensions approval and remove the app if you no longer want it managing fan controls. The repository also documents how the helper is removed with the app.

Install the official v1.5.1 DMG

The project links users to GitHub Releases and a Homebrew cask; we did not find a matching Mac App Store listing in the project's install links or Apple's catalog. For the ready-to-use installer, download the official fanfan v1.5.1 macOS DMG, open it, and move fanfan.app to Applications. On first launch, approve Install Helper in Login Items & Extensions.

open 'https://github.com/hoobnn/fanfan/releases/download/v1.5.1/fanfan-1.5.1-macOS.dmg'

MIT-licensed code, plus an optional package-manager route

The repository uses the MIT License. If you prefer package-manager updates, the README also documents the official hoobnn/tap Homebrew cask; that is an alternative convenience, not a reason to build the app from source.

Is fanfan a good fit for your Mac?

fanfan is a good fit if your Mac has controllable fans, you want temperature context beside fan speed, and you are comfortable approving a small privileged helper and choosing a control mode.

It is not a fan-speed controller for fanless Macs, and its current release needs macOS 26 or later. Start in monitoring or firmware mode, check the readings for your model, and only then decide whether a custom automatic curve is worth tuning.

# Open the official v1.5.1 DMG:
open 'https://github.com/hoobnn/fanfan/releases/download/v1.5.1/fanfan-1.5.1-macOS.dmg'