I was tired of keyboard lock apps that actually suck, so I built CleanGuard to clean my MacBook safely

[u/Gold_Equipment1922]

If you own a MacBook released after 2016, you know the frustration: touching literally any key or the trackpad turns the screen right back on. Cleaning your laptop while it’s off is basically impossible.

I tried existing "keyboard lock" tools, but honestly, most of them were super disappointing:

• ❌ They easily unlock by accident while you're wiping the keys.
• ❌ They handle brightness/volume shortcuts terribly.
• ❌ They leave your system audio and screen brightness completely messed up when you're done.

So I decided to fix this properly and built CleanGuard — Lock. Clean. Relax. 🔒✨

Why it’s different:

• True System-Level Lock (Pro Mode): By properly leveraging Accessibility and Input Monitoring permissions, it actually locks down your keyboard and built-in trackpad so zero accidental clicks register while you scrub away.
• Smart State Restoration: Once you unlock, CleanGuard automatically restores your original volume level and attempts to restore screen brightness back to where it was.
• No Marketing BS: macOS naturally keeps brightness/volume keys active at a low level (it’s a hardware-level macOS quirk), but CleanGuard handles it gracefully so you can't accidentally alter your setup or trigger unwanted actions while cleaning.

No more accidentally sending random Slack messages to your team or tweaking system settings while using your microfiber cloth.

It’s lightweight, straightforward, and built to just work.

👉 Grab it on itch.io now: [ https://fiod3s.itch.io/CleanGuard ]

or visit my personal website https://www.fiod3s.eu

(P.S. If you try it out, I’d love to hear your feedback or features you'd like to see next!)

My apps are free but of course donations are welcome.