Recento Guard · Part of Recento Pro
Leave your MacBook on a café table and know if it's touched. Recento Guard sounds a siren when someone moves, opens or uses it, and photographs whoever did.
macOS 14 or later · Apple Silicon & Intel
You need the restroom, a refill, or a word with someone across the room. Packing up the laptop every time is a pain, and leaving it out means trusting everyone nearby. A screen lock keeps people out of your files, but it does nothing to stop someone picking the Mac up and walking off.
Recento Guard is an anti-theft alarm for your Mac. Arm it and walk away. If the Mac is moved, the lid is touched, a key is pressed or the charger is pulled out, it gives you a few seconds to disarm, then sounds a loud siren right there at the table. It can take photos and a short video of whoever it was, and with Recento Pro it can text your iPhone too. The alarm itself runs on your Mac, with no internet needed.
Recento Guard watches for five things: the Mac being moved or bumped, the lid being closed or tilted, a key press or trackpad use, the Mac waking from sleep, and the charger being unplugged. Switch on only the ones you want. Movement sensitivity has three levels, so a busy table doesn't set it off.
While it's armed, every display shows a screen saying the Mac is guarded and that touching or moving it sounds an alarm and records photo and video. Most people take the hint. You can also have it lock the screen when you arm it.
An arm delay (0, 5, 10 or 30 seconds) gives you time to step away before it starts watching. When something trips it, a siren delay (0, 3, 5 or 10 seconds) gives you time to disarm before the noise starts.
Rest a finger on Touch ID and it disarms, without ever touching the trackpad and setting itself off. Your login password works too. Macs without Touch ID can use an unlocked Apple Watch.
Choose a full siren or a rising whoop for maximum attention, or a chirp, a pulse or a chime for a quiet library. It can turn the volume up and unmute the Mac while the alarm sounds, then put your volume back afterwards.
When the alarm goes off, the built-in camera takes up to three photos and a short video (10 to 60 seconds). Everything is saved on your Mac only, in an incident list you can look back through.
With Recento Pro, Recento Guard sends a message through the Messages app to your own iPhone or iPad, with the photos attached, so you know even if you can't hear the siren. A test button lets you check it works before you leave.
Each alarm is saved with the time, what set it off, and its photos and video. Review them later, or delete them when you're done.
A shield icon in the menu bar shows whether Recento Guard is armed and counts down while it arms, so you can always tell at a glance.
| Feature | Free version | Recento Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Alarm & every trigger | Included | Included |
| Guarded screen & Touch ID disarm | Included | Included |
| Camera evidence | Included | Included |
| Remote alerts to your iPhone | Not included | Included |
The alarm is free in full. Recento Pro, which adds remote alerts, is $9.99 a month or $99 one time for every module.
Plans, trial and refund terms are on the Recento Pro pricing section.
No. The alarm, the guarded screen and the camera all run on your Mac. Only the optional remote alert to your iPhone needs a connection, because it goes through Messages.
Not if you disarm with Touch ID: resting a finger on the sensor isn't a key press or trackpad movement, so it doesn't trip the alarm. If you click the Disarm button instead, that counts as a touch, and the siren delay gives you time to enter your password before the siren starts.
Closing the lid is itself a trigger. Recento Guard briefly holds off sleep after the lid is closed so the siren can still be heard. It can't stop someone holding down the power button to force the Mac off.
The siren plays through the Mac's current audio output. If headphones are connected, the sound goes to them instead of the speakers, so unplug them before you arm.
Yes, with one exception: the Movement trigger needs the motion sensor in Apple silicon MacBooks. The lid, keyboard and trackpad, wake and charger triggers work on Intel MacBooks.
On your Mac only, in Recento Pro's own folder, listed under Incidents. If you switch on remote alerts, the photos are also sent to your own iPhone through Messages. The video always stays on the Mac.
Yes. The alarm, every trigger, the guarded screen, Touch ID disarm and camera evidence are all in the free version. Recento Pro adds remote alerts to your iPhone.
No. Recento Guard is about the moment someone touches your Mac: a loud alarm and a record of who it was. Keep Find My switched on as well for locating a Mac after it's gone.
Download Recento Pro and arm Recento Guard in seconds.
Recento Focusstay on task in that same café with an app blocker for focus sessions.
Keyboard Locklock the keyboard and trackpad for a quick clean or a curious child.
Stay Awakekeep your Mac awake for long jobs, even with the lid closed.
Recento Batterylook after the battery of the MacBook you carry everywhere.
Recento Statscheck battery and disk from the menu bar.