Shoo! vs AppLockr: which one actually locks your Mac apps?
AppLockr is a newer, cheaper native app locker for macOS — €4.99 one-time, with folder locking and intruder photos thrown in. Here is where it genuinely wins, and where the extra features come at a cost Shoo! deliberately avoids.
| Shoo! | AppLockr | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $17.99 once | €4.99 once |
| Trial | 7 days, full features | 48 hours |
| Locking mechanism | Force-terminates the app's process on launch or refocus | Not publicly documented |
| Extra features | None — app locking only | Folder locking, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth access rules, intruder photo |
| Permissions required | None beyond Apple's biometric APIs | Camera (intruder photo), network state (Wi-Fi/Bluetooth rules) |
What each one actually is
AppLockr is a native Swift/SwiftUI utility that locks both individual apps and local folders behind Touch ID or a password, with extras like Wi-Fi/Bluetooth-based access rules and an intruder-photo option. Shoo! only does one thing — lock apps — but does it by actually terminating the app's process on launch or refocus, not by checking once and hoping nothing changes underneath.
Pricing: AppLockr is cheaper, and the trial is much shorter
AppLockr is a one-time €4.99, meaningfully less than Shoo!'s $17.99. Where it's worth pausing is the trial: AppLockr gives you 48 hours to decide, no credit card required. Shoo!'s trial runs 7 days with the full feature set unlocked, specifically because some of what matters most — surviving a reboot, surviving a sleep/wake cycle, surviving someone trying to force-quit or delete the app — only shows up if you actually use the Mac normally for a few days, not two.
The permissions trade-off: intruder photos and Wi-Fi rules need access Shoo! never asks for
AppLockr's extra features aren't free in the permissions sense. Capturing a photo of a failed unlock attempt needs camera access. Wi-Fi/Bluetooth-based access control needs the OS to let the app watch your network state. Both are reasonable features on their own, but they add attack surface and permission prompts to a product whose whole pitch is protecting your privacy. Shoo! deliberately ships with none of that: no Accessibility, no Automation, no camera — the lock works through Apple's biometric APIs alone. If you want the extra convenience features, that's a real reason to pick AppLockr. If you want the smallest possible permission footprint, it's a reason not to.
How the lock actually works: this one isn't publicly documented
AppLockr's own site describes what it locks and how you unlock it, but not the underlying mechanism — whether a locked app's process keeps running behind an overlay, or gets shut down the way Shoo! does. We're not going to guess at that here. What we can say with certainty is how Shoo! works, because it's our own product: the protected app is force-terminated the instant it launches or comes back into focus, and only restarts after Touch ID succeeds. There's no window where content is visible behind a lock screen, because there's no window at all — the app simply isn't running.
Who AppLockr is better for
Someone who wants one app to also handle folder encryption and doesn't mind granting camera/network permissions for the extra convenience features, and who's fine deciding within 48 hours. The lower price is a real advantage if app-locking alone is all you need occasionally.
Who Shoo! is better for
Someone who wants app-locking done one way, thoroughly: zero extra permissions, a process that's actually gone rather than hidden, protection that survives a forced restart or an uninstall attempt, and a full week to verify all of that on their own schedule before paying.
Try Shoo! free for 7 days
No credit card, full functionality — free for 7 days, full functionality, no credit card.
Frequently asked questions
How much cheaper is AppLockr than Shoo!?
AppLockr is a one-time €4.99, compared to Shoo!’s $17.99. AppLockr’s trial is also much shorter — 48 hours versus Shoo!’s 7 days with the full feature set unlocked.
Why does AppLockr need camera and network permissions that Shoo! doesn’t?
AppLockr’s intruder-photo feature needs camera access, and its Wi-Fi/Bluetooth-based access rules need the OS to let it watch your network state. Shoo! ships with none of that — no Accessibility, no Automation, no camera — the lock works through Apple’s biometric APIs alone.
Does AppLockr kill the app’s process the way Shoo! does?
AppLockr doesn’t publicly document its underlying mechanism, so we won’t guess at it here. What we can say for certain is how Shoo! works: the protected app is force-terminated the instant it launches or comes back into focus, and only restarts after Touch ID succeeds.
Does AppLockr also lock folders, not just apps?
Yes, AppLockr locks both individual apps and local folders. Shoo! only locks apps — it’s narrower on purpose, going deeper on that one job instead of also handling folder encryption.