Sparkplug alternative (or how to limit tethered usage)

[qtrim]

When I tether my Macbook, I don't want OneDrive, or system updates using up data in the background. With Mavericks, I bought Sparkplug (http://sparkplugformac.com/). I liked it because it ONLY let through what I specified which was Safari and Messages. But under Yosemite is no longer works. Is there another app that I can specify just a few programs to use data?

 

[whiteatom]

Can you contact them and ask when a Yosemite compatible version is coming out? You paid for it, so there is some expectation of service and maintenance.

 

[qtrim]

Can you contact them and ask when a Yosemite compatible version is coming out? You paid for it, so there is some expectation of service and maintenance.

I did. Here was the response:

Thanks for reporting this. It seems like Safari in Yosemite behaves in a strange way. Instead of the Safari process being identified as “Safari”, it changes its identifier to the site you’re currently browsing. Other browsers and previous versions of Safari simply identified themselves as expected.

When you allow an app in Spark Plug, the app itself and anything launched by it will be allowed network access. Here, it seems like Safari doesn’t launch an extra process called, for example, “www.google.com”, but instead renames itself to “www.google.com”. As such, Safari is unfortunately incompatible with Spark Plug on Yosemite.

I’m very sorry.

Juuso Salonen
Private Eye