Tend
Getting started

Install and first launch

Tend installs like most Mac apps: open the disk image and drag Tend to Applications.

Updated 11 October 2026

What you need

  • A Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later). Intel Macs aren't supported, and macOS will say Tend can't be opened on them.
  • macOS 15 Sequoia or later.
  • A MacBook for the battery features. On desktop Macs, everything else works.

To check, choose Apple menu › About This Mac. Next to Chip you'll see Apple M1, M2, M3, M4 or later on a supported Mac.

Install Tend

  1. Download Tend from tendmac.app. You get a disk image named Tend-latest.dmg.
  2. Open the disk image from your Downloads folder.
  3. Drag Tend onto the Applications folder in the window that opens.
  4. Eject the disk image (click the eject button next to Tend in the Finder sidebar), then delete it if you like.
  5. Open Tend from your Applications folder or with Spotlight.

Keep Tend in your Applications folder. macOS only lets apps there open at login, and updates install most reliably from there.

What macOS shows the first time

Tend is signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized by Apple, which means Apple has checked it for malicious software. The first time you open it, macOS asks whether you're sure you want to open an app downloaded from the internet. Click Open.

If macOS instead says Tend can't be opened because it can't be verified, or that it's damaged, don't work around the warning. Delete that copy and download Tend again from tendmac.app. If it happens again, tell us. Apple explains these messages in Safely open apps on your Mac.

Your first few minutes

  • Tend opens in Simple view: Overview, Energy & Apps, Battery, Clean Up and Updates. Switch to Advanced at the top of the sidebar, or in Settings, to add Processor, Memory, Thermals, Storage and Network.
  • A short welcome walks you through notifications, Simple or Advanced view, and macOS's Charge Limit. You can skip it and find each setting later in Settings.
  • Tend also lives in the menu bar. Its icon shows your battery percentage by default. Click it for a quick panel with the top energy users. Choose what the icon shows in Settings › General › Menu bar shows.
  • The Battery Coach needs a few days. It learns how you charge from a local log and gives its first recommendation after about 3 days (and at least 20 hours with your Mac awake). How the coach works.
  • Energy history starts now. Tend records which apps use the most energy, by the hour, and keeps 30 days of it on your Mac.

Useful settings

  • Open at login starts Tend quietly in the menu bar when you log in.
  • Show in Dock: turn it off to keep Tend in the menu bar only, out of the Dock and Command-Tab.
  • Temperature: Celsius or Fahrenheit. It starts with your Mac's region setting.
  • Refresh rate: how often Tend updates while its window is open (1, 2 or 5 seconds). When the window is hidden it slows to every 10 seconds on its own.

Quitting Tend

Closing Tend's window doesn't quit it; it keeps running in the menu bar. To quit, click Tend's menu bar icon, then Quit.