Find the right support path for your issue — setup guidance, troubleshooting, bug reports, or a direct line to the MacShield maintainer. MacShield is maintained by one person, so clear reports get faster responses.
MacShield is designed, built, and maintained by Vivek W (AryanVBW). GitHub is the primary and preferred contact channel for all project-related communication.
MacShield is a solo open-source project. Vivek W handles all bug reports, feature discussions, documentation updates, and releases. The most reliable way to reach the maintainer is through a GitHub Issue or Discussion on the MacShield repository.
Choose the channel that fits your situation. GitHub Issues is the right place for almost everything.
The main support channel. Use this for bug reports, crashes, permission issues, extension problems, broken blur selectors, and anything reproducible. Public issues help other users with the same problem.
github.com/AryanVBW/MacShield/issues →For questions, feature ideas, general feedback, and open-ended conversations about MacShield. Not for bugs — use Issues for reproducible problems.
GitHub Discussions →View the maintainer's GitHub profile for other projects, activity, and any contact information they have listed publicly.
github.com/AryanVBW →For sensitive security vulnerabilities, use GitHub's private security advisory feature. Do not post secrets, credentials, or private data in public issues.
Private security advisory →Following these steps before opening an issue helps the maintainer triage and fix your problem much faster.
Most common issues are covered in the docs troubleshooting section. Check it first — it covers overlay behavior, Touch ID, Apple Watch, browser extension, and permissions.
Search open and closed issues for your symptom. If one exists, add a comment with your macOS version and any new information. Duplicate issues slow down triage.
Collect: MacShield version, macOS version, Mac model, browser version (if extension-related), exact reproduction steps, expected behavior, and actual behavior. Screenshots are helpful — redact any private content.
Use the issue template. Fill in all fields. A good issue title describes the symptom precisely (e.g. "Overlay not appearing on second monitor with M3 MacBook Pro, macOS 15.2"). Vague titles get slower responses.
Never paste passwords, private messages, access tokens, customer data, or unredacted personal screenshots into public issues. If your reproduction case requires sensitive information, describe it in abstract terms only.
MacShield is maintained by one person as an open-source side project. Support is best-effort. Clear and complete reports are triaged faster.
| Report type | Priority | What helps |
|---|---|---|
| Security vulnerability or data exposure | Highest | Use GitHub private security advisory. Minimal reproduction only — no private data. |
| Crash or data loss | Highest | Include crash log, macOS version, Mac model, and reproduction steps. |
| Accessibility permission regression | High | macOS version, MacShield version, and whether a prior version worked. |
| Overlay not appearing or wrong screen | Medium | Display setup, macOS version, and exact app that triggered the issue. |
| Touch ID or Apple Watch unlock broken | Medium | Mac model, watchOS version, macOS version, and error message if any. |
| Browser blur broken on a platform | Medium | Platform name, URL, Chrome version, extension version, and redacted screenshot. |
| Website Lock not blocking a domain | Medium | Domain pattern, Chrome version, extension version. |
| Feature request | Reviewed | Describe the user problem, privacy impact, and why it belongs in MacShield. |
| Documentation question or improvement | Reviewed | Link to the specific page or section and describe what is unclear or wrong. |
Try these fixes before opening an issue. They resolve the majority of common problems.
Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility and confirm MacShield is listed and enabled. If missing, drag MacShield in manually. After enabling, restart MacShield. Remove the protected app from the list, re-add it, then quit and relaunch that app to test.
Reconnect or rearrange displays in System Settings → Displays. Restart MacShield. If you use multiple monitors, confirm macOS display arrangement is correct. Include your monitor configuration in any bug report.
Verify Touch ID works in macOS (try unlocking a Keychain item). In MacShield settings, confirm Touch ID is enabled. Relaunch MacShield. If the issue persists, use the password fallback and include your Mac model and macOS version in a GitHub issue.
Confirm the Watch is paired and unlocked on your wrist. Open MacShield settings and verify the Apple Watch feature is enabled. Bluetooth must be on. Move closer to your Mac. Note: Apple Watch unlock requires macOS 13+ and a supported Apple Watch model.
Web apps frequently change their DOM structure, which can break CSS selectors. Update the MacShield Chrome extension to the latest version. If the issue persists on the latest version, open a GitHub issue with the platform name, your Chrome version, extension version, and a redacted screenshot showing the unblurred area.
Confirm the domain is entered without https:// prefix (e.g. mail.google.com not https://mail.google.com). Reload the Chrome extension from chrome://extensions. If it still fails, provide the exact domain string and Chrome version in an issue.
There is no recovery mechanism. MacShield stores only a salted SHA-256 hash — there is no way to reverse it. To reset: go to chrome://extensions, remove the MacShield extension, reinstall it from the Chrome Web Store, and set a new password. All locally stored extension settings will be cleared.
Open MacShield preferences and toggle the “Launch at login” option off and back on. If the option is missing, open System Settings → General → Login Items and add MacShield manually. This uses SMAppService on macOS 13+.
Auto-lock relies on IOKit idle time detection. Confirm the idle threshold is set correctly in MacShield preferences. Some peripherals (game controllers, USB audio devices) reset idle time. Disconnect non-essential peripherals to test.
Yes. MacShield is free and open-source under the MIT License. There is no paid tier, subscription, or in-app purchase. The source code is available at github.com/AryanVBW/MacShield.
No. MacShield has no analytics, advertising SDK, hosted account service, or telemetry pipeline. Protected app settings, passwords (as one-way hashes), and extension preferences all stay local on your device. See the privacy policy for full details.
Accessibility permission allows MacShield to detect when a protected app is launched or returns to focus. Without it, the overlay cannot appear at the right moment. MacShield uses this permission only to watch for app activation events — it does not read screen content.
Website Lock supports any domain the user chooses to protect. To show the lock screen before content renders on an arbitrary domain, the extension must be allowed to run content scripts on all URLs. The extension only activates on domains you have added to the protected list.
Yes. Bug reports, documentation improvements, pull requests, and feature discussions are all welcome. Read the contributing guide in the repository and open a GitHub issue before starting a large change, to align with the project direction.
Include everything the maintainer needs to reproduce and fix the issue on the first pass.