SayBoot on Mac

What a Mac can do, and what it cannot

A Mac that is fully shut down never powers on over the network: no Mac, Apple Silicon or Intel, answers a magic packet when off. On mains power, "Alexa, turn off" (set to sleep by default) turns the display off and drops the Mac to minimal power while keeping it reachable: "Alexa, turn on" lights the display again within seconds, Wi‑Fi included. On battery macOS enters full sleep and switches the Wi‑Fi off: nothing can wake it from there, by Apple's design.

If you really shut it down, Alexa cannot turn it back on. Scheduled power-on can (Schedules in the SayBoot app): the agent registers it in the Mac firmware through pmset, after an administrator permission asked once, and the Mac boots by itself at the set time. For it to show as on in SayBoot afterwards you need automatic login (System Settings → Users & Groups), available only with FileVault off; with FileVault on the Mac boots and waits at the unlock screen.

What to download

One file for every Mac: the app is universal (Apple Silicon and Intel). The public release is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so it opens without warnings.

SHA256SUMS checksums are on the releases page.

Installation

1. Install the app. Open the .dmg and drag SayBoot into the Applications folder. Then open it from Launchpad.

   On unsigned beta builds macOS says "Apple could not verify…": close the alert, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to "SayBoot was blocked" and press Open Anyway. First time only.

2. Link your account. On first launch the browser opens on the SayBoot pairing page: sign in with Amazon and confirm. Within seconds the SayBoot icon appears in the menu bar and the Mac shows as online in the app, with a MAC badge.

   When asked "start SayBoot at login?" answer Yes: the agent is registered as a login item (macOS notifies "background items added", that is normal).

3. Enable wake over the network. System Settings → Battery (or Energy Saver) → Options → Wake for network access: Always. On laptops this applies on power only unless you explicitly pick "Always".

4. Grant the permission to shut down. The first time you ask for shutdown or restart, macOS asks "Allow SayBoot to control System Events?". Answer Allow: it is the standard macOS mechanism and it is asked once.

   If you denied it by mistake: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Automation → SayBoot → System Events.

5. Try it with Alexa. Say "Alexa, discover devices". Then "Alexa, turn off Mac name": the display goes dark. Finally "Alexa, turn on Mac name": the display comes back within seconds.

   The name Alexa recognises is the device name in the SayBoot app; you can change it there.

What to expect

• Sleep, shutdown and restart work; hibernate does not exist as a separate state on macOS and is treated as sleep. The app shows only the three available actions.
• "Alexa, turn on" wakes the Mac from sleep while on mains power. From off it cannot, an Apple limit: use scheduled power-on, which works from off.
• "Keep awake": from the SayBoot menu and from the app you stop the Mac from sleeping on its own, until you switch it off, for 30 minutes, 1, 2, 4 or 8 hours, or only while plugged in, optionally keeping the display on. Like the "coffee" apps, but controllable remotely.
• Laptops: on battery macOS turns the Wi‑Fi off in sleep and ignores network wakes; on mains power everything works. A wireless mouse or keyboard can wake the Mac on its own: if the display lights up for no reason, switch them off.
• Agent files: configuration in ~/Library/Application Support/SayBoot, log in ~/Library/Logs/SayBoot/agent.log.

If something goes wrong

• The Mac does not show up online. Check the icon is in the menu bar; if not, open SayBoot again from Applications. In the menu, "About" shows the version and link status.
• "Alexa, turn on" does not wake it. Was the Mac shut down rather than asleep? From off only scheduled power-on can. Was it on battery? Plug it in: on battery macOS does not wake over the network. The diagnostics in the SayBoot menu collect these facts and send them to support.
• "Alexa, turn off" does nothing. The Automation permission was denied: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Automation → SayBoot → enable System Events.
• Upgrading. Download the new .dmg and drag the app into Applications again, replacing the previous one: the pairing stays.
• Removal. Quit SayBoot from the menu and drag the app to the Bin. To also remove autostart, data and the pmset permission: in Terminal /Applications/SayBoot.app/Contents/MacOS/sayboot-agent --uninstall before binning it.

Mac, macOS, Apple TV and HomePod are trademarks of Apple Inc. Alexa, Amazon and Echo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. SayBoot is an independent application and is not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by Apple or Amazon.