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If you've had a Mac for a while, there's a good chance you've come across an ad for a software called Mackeeper. It's a Cleaning utility originally developed by Zeobit LLC which was acquired by Kromtech Alliance Corp, a German-based IT investment and development company, in 2015. You can check out their website by clicking the button below:
Mackeeper has been under some heavy criticism in the Apple community for advertising heavily. In this post, I'll review the tool itself and uncover some of the truths about Mackeeper that will help you decide if it's worth your money or not.
Is Mackeeper a “virus”?
Mackeeper parent company, Kromtech Alliance Corp, advertise their products heavily. That advertising includes annoying popups that sometimes start downloading mackeeper automatically to the user's computer. For this reason, many people label it as a virus that is sneakily trying to install itself on their Macs.
The truth is, even if the download automatically starts from a popup, you can still cancel it. If you don't manage to cancel it, the software won't install itself on your Mac unless you open the .dmg file and install it yourself.
Yes, those are seriously aggressive marketing tactics and I think Kromtech should rethink their marketing strategy but I won't call mackeeper a virus just because of that. It is not a virus/scam. It's just that the parent company is notorious for its aggressive advertising campaigns.
Why is Mackeeper disliked in the Apple community?
We live in an age where we'll believe just about anything we read on the internet. Most of the people who bash mackeeper haven't tried it. They just read a negative forum/blog post about it and believe Mackeeper to be whatever the post says. This kind of a chain effect continues and coupled with Kromtech's aggressive advertising, gives Mackeeper a bad name in the Apple community.
This is why I decided to get a license myself and test it out myself on my Mac. Below is my impartial review of some of the tools Mackeeper has.
I also worked out a deal with the Kromtech guys. They've hooked me up with a 66% percent discount on the 2-year plan. That means you can save $240 if you buy it using the link below. It's not just for the 2-year plan though, the discount applies to all plans, even the smallest one.
Now, on with the actual review…
Installation is pretty simple. You download the .dmg file, open it, and follow the on-screen instructions.
Here is how the main screen looks:
Memory Cleaner:
My Mac has 4 gigs of memory and sometimes it struggles to give the best performance due to lack of memory. Running Mackeeper every now and then helps me free up some RAM and that comes in real handy. I just ran the memory cleaner and managed to free almost 400MB of RAM.
Duplicate Finder:
The duplicates finder detects file copies that take up hard disk space on your Mac. It groups such identical files even if they were renamed so that you can decide to delete them or transfer them to an external storage device to free up hard disk space on your Mac.
You can also group the duplicate files by file types. For example, clicking on “video” tab in the duplicates finder module will only show duplicate video files. Here's a screenshot of the duplicates finder screen:
Smart Uninstaller:
This is a nice handy tool to uninstall apps from your mac properly. Just deleting apps from the “Applications” folder is not enough. This is where Mackeeper comes in. It shows you a list of apps you can choose to uninstall from. Then after uninstalling it, it scans your entire hard disk for leftover files associated to that app and removes them. This not only saves storage space but also helps with the performance of your mac.
Login Items:
This module simply shows you the list of apps that start with your mac. You can add or remove apps in your login items by clicking the + or – sign.
Disk Usage:
The disk usage module scans your hard disk and lists all files and folders present on it along with the size of the folder right next to its name. The folder size is displayed in 4 colors (red, orange, yellow, green) depending on the size of the folder.
Anti Theft:
The anti-theft module serves two purposes. One, it prevents unauthorized access to your mac. Two, it helps you track your mac in case it gets stolen. You set it up once, and in case your mac gets stolen, you can use the web interface on mackeeper's website to track your Mac's location and even take a photo of the intruder/thief using your Mac's iSight camera.
Many users will see references to an application called MacKeeper on various web sites and via pop-ups on their browser. Not only is it expensive for what it purports to do (freeware applications that do the same or more are readily available), it can sometimes install itself without the user realising it, and it can be very tricky to get rid of. The only utility you must run on a system is a backup utility, and only backed up systems should be troubleshooted with system management utilities, as you may have a hardware problem causing the other system issues, and the only way to isolate hardware or software issues is on a backed up system, otherwise you may completely make your data inaccessible by accident.
Kromtech Mackeeper Reviews
MacKeeper has been described by various sources as highly invasive malware*that can de-stablize your operating system, adding that it is unethically marketed, with a history of making false advertising claims, by a company called Zeobit, and a rip-off.
(Please note that references to the original developers, Zeobit, also now refer to Kromtech Alliance Corp, who acquired MacKeeper and PCKeeper from ZeoBit LLC in early 2013.)
Most positive reviews of it have been found to have been paid for by Zeobit (developers of MacKeeper) in the form of ‘free upgrades’ etc. One such opinion is:
For more about ‘astruturfing’ (writing phoney product reviews for money) see here:
and http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24299742
Further opinion on it and how to uninstall MacKeeper malware can be read here:
Reviews Of Mackeeper Software
MacKeeper have recently said that the uninstaller from here:
now works.
There are many forms of ‘Malware’ that can affect a computer system, of which ‘a virus’ is but one type, ‘trojans’ another. Using the strict definition of a computer virus, no viruses that can attack OS X have so far been detected 'in the wild', i.e. in anything other than laboratory conditions. The same is not true of other forms of malware, such as Trojans. Whilst it is a fairly safe bet that your Mac will NOT be infected by a virus, it may have other security-related problem, but more likely a technical problem unrelated to any malware threat.
You may find this User Tip on Viruses, Trojan Detection and Removal, as well as general Internet Security and Privacy, useful: The User Tip seeks to offer guidance on the main security threats and how to avoid them.
More useful information can also be found here:
Some extensions may make it look like MacKeeper is loaded even if you did not install MacKeeper. This is discussed on this thread:
Some files may not be able to be found with Spotlight, which would need one of these tools to find:
http://www.devontechnologies.com/products/freeware/ - EasyFind
http://www.osxbytes.com/ - iFileX (Unfortunately MacKeeper is advertised on this page, so just don't click on it where it is advertised).
* The expression ‘malware’ is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software.