https://github.com/dweep-desai/FaceGate-Mac
World's first Face Authentication enabled MacOS App-locker. Unlock your Mac apps using Face , TouchID or password. Completely local and encrypted - your data never leaves your Mac
https://github.com/dweep-desai/FaceGate-Mac
app-lock app-locker apple-neural-engine apple-silicon biometric-authentication computer-vision face-id face-recognition macos macos-app macos-keychain macos-security open-source security swift swiftui touch-id
Last synced: about 17 hours ago
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World's first Face Authentication enabled MacOS App-locker. Unlock your Mac apps using Face , TouchID or password. Completely local and encrypted - your data never leaves your Mac
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/dweep-desai/FaceGate-Mac
- Owner: dweep-desai
- License: mit
- Created: 2026-06-11T11:00:56.000Z (about 2 months ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2026-07-06T13:36:43.000Z (21 days ago)
- Last Synced: 2026-07-06T15:14:40.636Z (21 days ago)
- Topics: app-lock, app-locker, apple-neural-engine, apple-silicon, biometric-authentication, computer-vision, face-id, face-recognition, macos, macos-app, macos-keychain, macos-security, open-source, security, swift, swiftui, touch-id
- Language: Swift
- Homepage: https://dweep-desai.github.io/FaceGate-web/
- Size: 44.9 MB
- Stars: 301
- Watchers: 0
- Forks: 19
- Open Issues: 14
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md
- Funding: .github/FUNDING.yml
- License: LICENSE
- Security: SECURITY.md
Awesome Lists containing this project
- awesome-swift-macos-apps - FaceGate - desai/FaceGate-Mac?style=flat&label=" /> <img align="bottom" height="13" src="https://img.shields.io/github/last-commit/dweep-desai/FaceGate-Mac?style=flat&label=" /> - Lock sensitive apps behind Face ID, Touch ID, or a password — all processed on-device. (Security / Text)
README
FaceGate
Application-level locking with on-device face recognition for macOS. Stronger than any other Mac app-locker.
FaceGate is a native macOS open-source applocker that brings FaceUnlock to your Mac. Lock sensitive applications behind FaceUnlock, Touch ID, or a secure password — all processed entirely on-device with zero telemetry.
macOS natively lacks the ability to restrict individual applications. Although other App-lockers exist, none of them use face recognition and are not as feature rich as FaceGate.
All controls in your hands - 100% free & open source , 100% malware free , 100% local .
## Features
- **App Locking** — Lock any installed app. FaceGate intercepts launches in real-time and prevents access until authenticated.
- **On-Device Face Recognition** — Software-based face embedding pipeline running entirely on your Mac via the Apple Neural Engine. No cloud, no data leaving your device.
- **Multi-Face Enrollment** — Enroll up to 3 different faces or alternate looks.
- **External Camera Support** — Use an external USB webcam instead of the built-in camera.
- **Liveness Detection** — Head-pose challenges (turn left, turn right, tilt) to prevent photo and video spoofing.
- **Touch ID** — Seamless integration with macOS Touch ID.
- **Password** — Encrypted PIN stored in the macOS Keychain.
- **Per-App Session Timers** — Customizable unlock duration per app, with timer modes: count from last unlock or from when the app loses focus. Includes "Keep Unlocked Indefinitely" and "Lock immediately"
- **Lock-on-Sleep** — Automatically lock all apps when your Mac sleeps or the screen locks.
- **Uninstall Protection** — Prevents casual deletion by making the app bundle immutable and requires Admin Privileges to uninstall.
- **Scheduled App-Lock/Unlock** — Time-based auto-lock and auto-unlock windows.
- **FaceUnlock Schedule** — Disable face recognition during specific hours (e.g., when dark or in public spaces) to automatically fallback to Touch ID/Password.
- **Auto-Optimization** — Automatically boost display brightness and trigger Center Stage to improve camera visibility and face detection accuracy.
- **Customizable Sensitivity** — Fine-tune face recognition similarity thresholds to balance convenience and security.
- **Menu Bar Control** — Monitor locked/unlocked apps and lock them directly from the menu bar popup.
- **Secure Operations** — Require authentication to quit the application or configure settings to prevent unauthorized tampering.
- **Emergency Kill Hotkey** — Global keyboard shortcut to instantly terminate.
- **Menu Bar Agent** — Runs silently in the menu bar — no Dock icon, no distractions.
## Demo
## Installation - Give the repo a ⭐️ so you don't miss future updates.
▶ Watch the installation video
### -Recommended: Automatic Install
```bash
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dweep-desai/FaceGate-Mac/main/install.sh | bash
```
The script automatically fetches the latest release from GitHub, installs FaceGate to your `/Applications` folder, and removes the Gatekeeper quarantine flag so it can run immediately.
### -Or Manual Install
> [!IMPORTANT]
> FaceGate is not Apple-notarized, so simply double-clicking the manually downloaded app will not work. Follow the steps below:
1. Download the latest `.dmg` from the [Releases](https://github.com/dweep-desai/FaceGate-Mac/releases) page.
2. Mount the DMG volume and drag `FaceGate.app` to your `/Applications` folder.
3. Open Terminal and remove the quarantine attribute by running:
```bash
xattr -cr /Applications/FaceGate.app
```
4. You can now launch FaceGate normally!
### -Or Homebrew
```bash
brew install --cask dweep-desai/tap/facegate
```
> ```bash
> xattr -cr /Applications/FaceGate.app
> ```
## Star History
[](https://www.star-history.com/?repos=dweep-desai%2FFaceGate-Mac&type=date&legend=top-left)
## Security & Privacy
FaceGate is designed as a **convenience layer against casual physical access**, not a defense against targeted attacks using high-fidelity spoofing. The built-in 2D FaceTime camera lacks depth sensing.
- Face embeddings are AES-256-GCM encrypted and stored locally.
- Encryption keys are held in the macOS Keychain.
- The password uses SHA-256 with a random 32-byte salt, stored in the Keychain.
- **Zero telemetry.** The app is fully offline and makes no network requests.
- Face unlock sensitivity is configurable (default similarity threshold: 0.65).
## Requirements
- macOS 14.0 (Sonoma) or later
- A Mac with a built-in or external camera (for face unlock)
- Touch ID-compatible Mac (optional, for Touch ID fallback)
## Building from Source
```bash
git clone https://github.com/dweep-desai/FaceGate-Mac.git
cd FaceGate-Mac
brew install xcodegen
xcodegen generate
open FaceGate.xcodeproj
```
Build with `Cmd+B` or `Cmd+R`. You may need to update the signing configuration for your development team.
See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for the complete technical architecture and contribution guide.
---
## License
MIT License. See [LICENSE](LICENSE).
---
Authored by Dweep Desai