{
  "id": 17111088,
  "title": "Show HN: Auto Dismiss Mac OS \"Allow <app> to find devices on local networks?\"",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/show-hn-auto-dismiss-mac-os-allow-app-to-find-devices-on-local",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-29T19:27:44.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Hacker News",
    "slug": "hacker-news",
    "url": "https://github.com/johncassil/dontallow"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "This tool silently prevents the macOS \"Allow Google Chrome to find devices on local networks\" prompt from appearing. It instantly disables the prompt every time it appears. The software requires no computational resources when inactive and persists across system restarts. Built in Swift with a single file and no dependencies, it works on macOS versions Sequoia and later. The prompt is only shown the first time an app interacts with the local network. However, some applications fail to remember this decision, causing the prompt to recur on each launch. There's no supported method to remove the prompt for these apps. This agent eliminates that inconvenience by automatically declining the permission the moment it appears. To implement, it creates a per-user launchd agent, opens System Settings, navigates to Privacy & Security & Accessibility, and programmatically presses the \"Don't Allow\" button. The path to this action is displayed if macOS doesn't prompt the user. Access permissions enable the software to manage the prompt. Each successful dismissal is logged with a notification detailing the application and the action taken. Users can mute these notifications in System Settings if desired. Optionally, a grace period can be set, delaying the auto-dismiss until the user allows it. The prompt is handled by macOS's UserNotificationCenter process, which the agent monitors for window creation. It verifies the dialog text is related to the local network and not a false positive, then checks the user's preferences before pressing the \"Don't Allow\" button. If the auto-dismiss fails, a direct click on the button is executed. No system files are modified, and the software never disables security features. It only requests Accessibility permissions for its operation. For fleet deployment, the binary and a Privacy Preferences Policy Control profile granting the necessary accessibility rights can be distributed and installed on each machine.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}