Tool Auto-Dismisses macOS Local Network Prompts for Chromium Browsers and Other Apps

Addressing Recurring macOS Prompts

A new tool named "dontallow" has been released to automatically handle the macOS "Allow <app> to find devices on local networks?" prompt. This prompt appears when an application attempts to access the local network for the first time on macOS Sequoia and later. The tool is designed to press "Don't Allow" automatically, typically within a fraction of a second, and operates with zero CPU usage when idle.

Why the Prompt Recurs

The macOS system is intended to remember user decisions for these local network prompts. However, for many applications, this decision is not retained, causing the prompt to reappear on every launch. This issue is particularly prevalent with Chromium-based browsers (e.g., Chrome, Brave, Edge, Island, Arc) which copy their app bundles to temporary folders at launch. macOS keys the local network decision to the specific path, making each launch appear as a new application. Similarly, apps with versioned install paths also trigger new prompts with each update.

Other factors contributing to recurring prompts include misattributed dialogs, where macOS assigns the prompt to an incorrect or non-running application. The developer notes that most typical Mac applications do not require this permission, with exceptions being printer/scanner utilities, media servers, or LAN-discovery tools.

Current Limitations and Solution

Currently, macOS does not offer a supported method to prune the list of local network permissions, nor is there an MDM payload to pre-deny the permission. The `tccutil reset` command also does not cover these specific permissions. "dontallow" provides a workaround by acting as a small agent that automatically denies the permission.

Installation and Usage

Users can install "dontallow" via Homebrew or by compiling it from source. After installation, the `dontallow install` command writes a per-user launchd agent, starts it, and guides the user through granting Accessibility permissions, which are necessary for the tool to interact with system dialogs. The tool confirms when the agent is active. The `dontallow status` command provides instructions if the Accessibility grant is missing.

The tool provides options for managing its behavior: users can temporarily pause it for a specified duration (e.g., `dontallow pause 10m`) to manually click "Allow," or add application names to an `~/.config/dontallow/allowlist` file to prevent the tool from dismissing prompts for those specific apps. Each dismissal triggers a notification, which can be muted in System Settings if desired.