MacClean-a free handy clean-up utilty

 

 

iMobie, the Chinese developers of MacClean, sent me an e-mail about this app. They asked me to try it out. So here is my review.

I found MacClean a useful utility program,although it is not full-featured as paid utility packages. I believe iMobie made it available to Mac users in order to entice them to try out their paid apps for iOS devices.

 

When you install the app, it wants you to choose the language with this screen:

 

 

I am curious why it offered Japanese but not Chinese. But no matter, it sets up the program. 

You start with this screen, offering two options, Smart Clean and Utilities:

 

 

For Smart Clean, you have six options for items to clean. For Utilities, you have a grid of nine utilities to clean up your Mac.

 

I won’t go into every utility. For Old and Large Files, your default is to search all the files for those over 10 megabytes in size and older than today’s date. 

 

 

 

You can choose between subcategories of files:

 

 

 And use the sliders to increase the file size and change the date.  I would have preferred the option of entering the number of the file size searched for and to use a calendar widget to set the date. 

The results column to the right of the search parameters shows the found files in descending order as the default. You can click on the downward carat next to “By Name” to select name, date or size and whether you want them in ascending or descending order. 

 

 

The App Uninstaller shows some rough edges. It displayed multiple instances of programs, which I couldn’t tell apart at first glance. By hovering the mouse over the app’s icon, though, a border appeared with an “i”  in the upper right-hand corner. Click on that to see details about the app, such as its location and file size. 

 

 

iMobie keeps the MacCleanmanual on-line in a blog, soliciting comments. I found the language crisp and easy to understand. You can find out the details of MacClean here. 

 

Now you reach this manual by clicking on a link on the opening page at the bottom left-hand corner. Annoyingly, if you try to reach Help from the Menu Bar, you get a message that help isn’t available! This needs fixing. 

 

 

Summary:

 

MacClean is a good, light cleaning utility for your Mac. It has its quirks, such as exiting if you click on the red button in a window (!); but it works well within its limits.

Here’s the link to download it. 

 

Tom Briant

Editor, MacValley Blog