← LOTSE

LOTSE HELPER

An optional companion for LOTSE on macOS.

LOTSE ships through the Mac App Store, which means it runs in a sandbox. That sandbox is a good thing — it is also why a handful of features cannot work from inside the app. Setting your Wi-Fi interface's MTU, for one, requires root. So does reading the system's own list of remembered Wi-Fi networks.

The Helper is a small background service that does exactly those jobs and nothing else. LOTSE works without it. Install it if you want the features below; skip it and everything else behaves normally.

Check what you downloaded

You are about to install something that runs as root. You should not have to take my word for what it is, so here are the two commands that let you check it yourself:

shasum -a 256 ~/Downloads/LOTSE-Helper.pkg
pkgutil --check-signature ~/Downloads/LOTSE-Helper.pkg

The first must print the digest listed above. The second must name Stefan Gentz (FXNM9Q94Z4) and report that the package is trusted by Apple's notary service. If either disagrees, do not install it — and please tell me.

What it does

• Sets your Wi-Fi MTU. LOTSE measures the largest packet a network carries and writes it to the interface, which fixes the "connected but some sites never load" class of problem. Measuring happens inside the app; only the writing needs root.
• Reads your remembered Wi-Fi networks. macOS keeps that list in a file locked to root. Reading it lets LOTSE fill in networks you joined long before you installed it.
• Turns Wi-Fi off and on from the LOTSE menu, in one click.
• Releases a held-back connection. macOS keeps an iPhone's USB tethering dormant while Wi-Fi is associated. Clearing that flag is what lets LOTSE fail over to your phone when the Wi-Fi dies.

It has no user interface, sends nothing anywhere, and stores nothing about you. It answers requests from LOTSE and is idle the rest of the time.

Install

Open the package and follow the installer. macOS will ask for your administrator password — installing a system service is exactly the moment it should.

LOTSE notices the Helper within a minute and unlocks the features by itself. Nothing to restart.

One extra step for the Wi-Fi history

To read the remembered-networks list, the Helper needs Full Disk Access — the same permission Time Machine and backup tools ask for. Grant it in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access, where it appears as LOTSE Helper. The other features work without it.

Remove it

The Helper is a separate install, so removing LOTSE does not remove it. To take it off:

sudo launchctl bootout system/cloud.lotse.app.helper
sudo rm -rf "/usr/local/lib/cloud.lotse.app"
sudo rm -f /Library/LaunchDaemons/cloud.lotse.app.helper.plist
sudo pkgutil --forget cloud.lotse.app.helper

LOTSE goes back to behaving as if the Helper had never been there.