FireAI 0.1.6 is out, and it widens what FireAI can see. Until now it showed you every connection your Mac’s apps make. Now it also shows you what’s around your Mac: the other devices on your Wi-Fi, the network you just joined, the USB stick you just plugged in, and who can see you over AirDrop.
Five new protections, a window and world map that change colour with your security mode, and one fix people asked for: the licence no longer asks for your keychain password. Everything runs on your Mac. Nothing about your network is sent to us.
Below is a 48-hour challenge. Each step takes about five minutes and ends on something you can see for yourself. Do them this weekend and by Monday you’ll know exactly what your Mac and your home network are up to.
What’s new in 0.1.6, in one minute
- Who’s online: every device on your local network, with its maker and a type icon (Mac, phone, TV, speaker, printer, router…). Name a device, switch on Watch, and get a Mac notification when it joins or leaves.
- USB Network Protection: an app launched from a USB stick, SD card or external disk always asks before it connects — and in Paranoid or Under attack it’s refused outright.
- Coffee Shop Armor: FireAI warns you when a Wi-Fi network looks like a fake copy of one you know, and can switch to Coffee shop mode by itself on an open or weakly protected network.
- Clipboard Armor: flags an app’s first-ever connection when it happens seconds after your clipboard changed — the timing clipboard stealers rely on — without ever reading what you copied.
- AirDrop Shield: shows whether your Mac is visible over AirDrop to everyone, your contacts or no one, and nudges you when it’s “everyone” on a network you don’t trust.
- A window and globe that take your security mode’s colour: plum at Home, blue in Coffee shop, amber in Paranoid, crimson in Under attack. You always know which mode you’re in at a glance.
Already using FireAI? The update is offered in the app (how updates work). New here? The download link is right above and at the end of this article.
The 48-hour challenge
Eight small missions, four a day. Each one gives you an “oh, so that’s what’s going on” moment. Take a screenshot when it does — we’ll come back to that at the end.
Saturday
- Watch your Mac talk to the world. Install FireAI, finish the setup, then open the World map and leave it for a few minutes while you use your Mac normally. Every line is a connection an app made, with the company and country behind it. Most people are surprised by how many countries show up before lunch.
- Meet your neighbours. Open Who’s online from the World map header. Go down the list and name what you recognise: “Living-room TV”, “Sarah’s iPhone”, “Printer”. If a type icon is wrong, click it and pick the right one. Then switch on Watch for one device — a family member’s phone, say — and you’ll get a notification the next time it joins or leaves the network.
- Check the Wi-Fi you’re on. Click Trusted Wi-Fi on the World map. At home it shows your network and how it’s protected, with nothing to flag. If you step out to a café today, check it there too: on an open network FireAI can switch to Coffee shop mode for you, which blocks incoming connections and file or screen sharing with other devices on that network (Coffee Shop Armor).
- See who used your camera and microphone. Click Camera & mic on the World map. It lists which apps turned them on and where those apps’ traffic went while they were on (camera & mic watch). A video call should be the only thing there. Anything else deserves a closer look.
Sunday
- Plug in a USB stick. Take any stick with an app on it and open the app from the stick. When it tries to connect, FireAI asks first, like it would for any new app — it’s never allowed silently. Switch to Paranoid and try again: this time it’s refused outright, and the USB button on the World map lists the attempt (USB Network Protection).
- Check who can AirDrop you. Click AirDrop on the World map. “Contacts Only” or “Off” is the calm setting. If it says “Everyone”, that’s fine at home, but worth turning down before your next train, café or conference (AirDrop Shield). FireAI takes you to the right page in System Settings; it never changes the setting for you.
- Pick your mode for the week. Open Protection and choose where you’ll be: Home, Coffee shop, Paranoid or Under attack (security modes). Watch the whole window and the globe change colour. If you ever think something is really wrong, the kill switch cuts new connections outside your home or office network in one click.
- Ask FireAI to explain a connection. Pick a line on the World map you don’t recognise and choose Investigate (investigate a connection). FireAI gives it a risk score, the reasons behind it, what it saw, and your options — explained in plain language by an AI model that runs on your Mac. If you don’t like the answer, block that app or that company for good (per-app rules).
What each new feature does — and doesn’t
We’d rather you trust these features for exactly what they are:
| Feature | What it does | What it doesn’t do |
|---|---|---|
| Who’s online | Lists devices your Mac has seen on the local network, with maker, type icon and optional name; notifies you when a watched device joins or leaves | No port scans or probing of other devices. Phones and laptops using a private Wi-Fi address show as “Private address”, not a guessed brand. Looking up device names is optional and off by default, because it asks your DNS server (usually your router) |
| USB Network Protection | Treats an app launched from a USB stick, SD card or external disk as a stranger: it always asks; Paranoid and Under attack refuse it | It doesn’t stop a malicious cable or stick that pretends to be a keyboard and types commands; that’s a job for macOS’s accessory approval and for not plugging in unknown hardware |
| Coffee Shop Armor | Warns about a network that looks like a fake copy of one you know; can switch to Coffee shop mode on open or weak Wi-Fi | It needs Location access to read the Wi-Fi name — Apple’s rule. It never downgrades a stricter mode you chose |
| Clipboard Armor | Flags an app’s first connection that lands seconds after your clipboard changed | It never reads what you copied; macOS doesn’t say which app read the clipboard. A password manager or a sync tool can trigger it too, so it’s a clue, not a verdict |
| AirDrop Shield | Shows your AirDrop visibility and nudges you on untrusted networks | It never changes the setting itself; it opens the right page in System Settings |
On Monday
If the weekend showed you something you didn’t know — a device you couldn’t name, an app talking to a country you didn’t expect, AirDrop open to everyone — you already know whether FireAI belongs on your Mac.
There’s no rush and no countdown from us. Every feature is free to try for 17 days, no card needed. After that, FireAI is one payment — 49 € (or $49 / £49), VAT included — for a lifetime licence. No subscription, and updates like this one are free.
And if you decide not to buy, FireAI doesn’t leave you exposed: the rules you made, your security mode and the kill switch keep protecting your Mac. What stops is the extra help — the World map, new rules, database updates and the on-device AI. A firewall that switches off protection when a payment lapses would put people at risk, so we built it the other way round.
See the price and what’s included.
Tell a friend what you found
The best part of the challenge is the screenshot at the end: your Who’s online list with every device named, or your world map after a normal Saturday. Share it — the share buttons on this page link straight here, with no tracking scripts. Blur anything personal first (device names often include people’s names).
Found something that surprised you, or something FireAI got wrong? Tell us. We read every message, and several of the features in this release started as a user’s question.
How FireAI and HisnLabs fit in
Every feature in this article runs on your Mac and answers one question: what is actually happening on my network, and who decides? Give it a weekend — you’ll know by Monday whether FireAI belongs on your Mac.
FireAI is HisnLabs’ own product: an on-device AI firewall for Mac. It shows every connection your apps make, in plain language, and lets you decide what leaves your Mac — its AI runs locally, so your traffic is never sent to us or anyone else. HisnLabs’ security research team is the group that keeps that decision-making accurate: cataloguing which domains are ordinary telemetry versus a real product, tracking the country and network behind a connection, and training the on-device model (its Autopilot feature) on real traffic patterns, all without any of it leaving your Mac.
You can read the technical decisions behind it, or try FireAI for 17 days, at FireAI, by HisnLabs.