StatusBuddy checks Apple's services for problems and puts them in your Mac's Menu bar

StatusBuddy Screenshot (Image credit: StatusBuddy)

What you need to know

StatusBuddy keeps tabs on Apple's services.
It'll let you know when one is having issues.
The app is free, but you can pay to help its development.

StatusBuddy is a new Mac app from developer Guilherme Rambo that keeps tabs on Apple's service statuses and then lets you know if something isn't working properly. That's the kind of information that can be really important to developers, for example.

StatusBuddy is a simple app that lives in your Menu bar. When a service isn't working – like the App Store or TestFlight – the app's icon will notify you. Then, you can click it to see more information.

StatusBuddy is a simple app that shows an icon on your Mac's menu bar. When an Apple service is having issues, the icon shows a red badge and you can click it to check what's going on. The app will show the same issues Apple reports in their official system status dashboards for developers and consumers, so it includes both developer services such as App Store Connect and TestFlight and consumer services such as Apple Music and TV+.

This isn't an app that everyone will need, but if you are someone who relies on Apple's services it can be important to know when they're experiencing issues. And now you can do it without having to check Apple's status web page.

StatusBuddy is a free download, but you can pay any price you like if you want to help Rambo continue developing the app.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.