More and more computers are mobile devices nowadays. The most important prerequisite for a portable computer is a chargeable battery which keeps the device powered. Batteries are not really cheap replacement parts and they are subject to wear and tear. Their lifetimes should be optimized, handling them with the necessary care. Battery Monitor is a small auxiliary application useful in this regard. It offers the following features:
DISPLAY OF THE CHARGE STATE IN THE DOCK. This is useful if you cannot or do not like to use the display in the menubar of macOS, e.g. when you have a screen which is not very wide.
DISPLAY OF INTERNAL BATTERY INFORMATION. In addition to the charge state, many other technical specifications, e.g. temperature, discharge current, number of charge cycles, or capacity can be retrieved. The states of each of the battery cells can also be determined.
CAPTURING CHARGE AND DISCHARGE CURVES. The history of the readings measured by the battery unit can be displayed graphically. This way you can plot the charge and discharge curves, for example, one of the most important characteristics for the health of a battery. You can also review the graphical profile of the amperage drawn by the computer, helping to find “power guzzling applications”.
BOOKKEEPING OF THE AGING PROCESS OF THE BATTERY. Battery Monitor automatically keeps a log about the charge capacity of the battery which will decrease as the battery ages. This helps you to exactly monitor how the behavior of the battery is changing over time. You can assess if your battery is working normally or if it might be defective. You can also estimate more exactly when the right time has come to purchase a new battery. For computers with replaceable battery units, Battery Monitor can of course monitor multiple battery packs at the same time.
NOTIFICATIONS DURING CHARGE OR DISCHARGE. In addition to the display of the charge state in the Dock, Battery Monitor can optionally inform you about the progress of the charge or discharge process by other means. Unobtrusive notifications using speech or the macOS notification center can be set up.
ADDITIONAL OVERVIEW OF CONNECTED BLUETOOTH BATTERIES. If supported Bluetooth devices powered by batteries are connected to your Mac, display of their battery levels can be integrated into Battery Monitor as well.
To use Battery Monitor, you will need the following components:
Note: Battery Monitor does not support batteries of Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS). Such devices do not adhere to the Smart Battery Specification. In fact, the communication of UPS units does not follow any common industry standard, because such a standard unfortunately has not been defined yet.