Setup Guide
Install Ping Warden, activate your license, approve the helper, and verify Ping Protection. Set up Game Mode, latency targets, and Control Center.
On this page
Ping Protection keeps Apple's AWDL network interface offline. While it is active, AirDrop, AirPlay, Handoff, and other nearby-device features may be unavailable. You can turn protection off at any time or pause it for 10 minutes from the menu bar.
Install and verify
1. Install Ping Warden
- Buy the Ping Warden License on Gumroad. The signed DMG is attached to the purchase and your license key arrives in the same email. To try the free features first, download the same build from Releases.
- Open the DMG and drag Ping Warden to Applications.
- Launch Ping Warden from Applications or Spotlight.
2. Activate your license (prebuilt app)
Ping Protection in the prebuilt app requires a one-time $15 license. Buy it at Gumroad, then open Settings → License and enter the key. The app verifies once and then works offline for up to 14 days.
If protection was enabled with an approved helper when you first launched version 4, it remains available for 90 days from that launch. Updates preserve the original deadline. Check the time remaining in Settings → License. If you donated through Buy Me a Coffee before version 4, email oliver@ames.consulting with your receipt and it will be honored as a full license.
3. Approve the helper
The welcome appears automatically once. Choose Not Now to use the free dashboard and finish setup later.
- Click Turn On Ping Protection in the welcome window, or Finish Setup in Settings → General if you already closed it.
- Approve Ping Warden in System Settings when macOS asks.
- Return to Ping Warden after the approval is complete.
The helper needs one-time approval because changing the AWDL interface requires elevated access.
4. Turn on Ping Protection
Open the menu bar menu and choose Turn On Ping Protection. If you haven't activated a license (and you aren't in the transition period), the app will point you to Settings → License. The menu bar icon will show that protection is active.
5. Verify the connection
Open the dashboard and confirm that Ping Protection is active. Leave it open during a normal game or call to compare live latency, jitter, and probe failures. The intervention count increases whenever macOS tries to reactivate AWDL and Ping Warden blocks it.
For a helper health check, open Settings > Advanced and click Run Test.
Automatic protection for games
- Open Settings > Automation.
- Turn on Game Mode Auto-Detect. No permission is needed.
- Optional: click Enable Fullscreen Detection… and allow Screen Recording if you also want fullscreen games behind other windows caught.
Ping Warden turns protection on when a recognized game is the frontmost app and restores your previous state when the game closes. It stays off while your Mac is on Ethernet, where AWDL cannot interfere. Some games do not declare the metadata that macOS uses for Game Mode; use the menu bar toggle for those titles.
Control Center widget
The Control Center widget requires macOS Tahoe 26 or newer and a signed release build.
- Open Settings > Automation and turn on Hide Menu Bar Icon.
- Open System Settings > Control Center.
- Find Ping Warden and add it to Control Center or the menu bar.
Everyday controls
- Choose Pause for 10 Minutes when you need AirDrop, AirPlay, or Handoff briefly.
- Start a Latency Session from the dashboard when you want a beginning-to-end recap for one game or call.
- Turn on Launch at Login under Settings > General if you want protection available after every restart.
- Use Settings > Advanced > Diagnostics Snapshot to create a local troubleshooting file you can review before sharing.
Get help
- Read the Troubleshooting guide.
- Read the full documentation.
- Report a bug with the exported diagnostics attached after you review it.