AppFlow

So, their you all were thinking that you are bullet-proof, sat their on your Mac, with the most robust operating system on the market, but think again.  Your fine on your desktop Mac, but what about those of you who own a MacBook, MacBook Pro, or MacBook Air?

Over time your battery will loose it’s charge, and if you don’t calibrate it properly it may not even last for half of the 1,000 cycles Apple claim a modern Mac battery could handle. Maybe not even a third of that.

But, it’s such a chore – isn’t it?  Having to think about when to un-plug you MacBook, when to plug it in, when you can un-plug it again.  Why is it just… easier?  Introducing Watts – “The calibration tool for your Mac battery”.

Before coming across this App, I wasn’t even aware that these tools were in existence.  In fact, I had never even considered looking for an app that is capable of doing this.  What Watts does is it take the effort – the chore – out of re-calibrating your Mac’s battery, on a schedule that fits you.  If you out during the day, then it can be done then or if you prefer, why not do it over night while you are asleep?

From the top

Before you get the wrong end of the stick, Watts does not actually calibrate your battery for you, instead it helps you to do the right thing at the right time without having to think too much.  At the end of the day, all this app does is help you to follow the official battery calibration instructions provided by Apple, but in doing this it does make life one hell of a lot easier.

Using Growl support Watts will guide you through re-calibrating your Mac battery step-by-step.  It will tell you when to plug it in and unplug.  It covers all of the little details.  The only time Watts doesn’t tell you what to do is during the phase where the Macs battery is flat.  Can’t really blame them for that though, can you?

It is important to re-calibrate your Macs battery frequently, and for that reason Watts allows you to schedule re-calibrateion to an interval that suits you, anywhere between three and eight weeks.  The more frequently you calibrate your MacBooks battery the batter it will last, so naturally the less often you calibrate the less time it will last.

Watts comes with a new Battery widget that is designed to replace the standard OS X widgets on the menubar.  Although I think this is a good idea in general, I personally don’t like the way they have done this.  Unlike the Apple OS X widgets you cannot move the widget along the menubar, and for me this is something that bugs me enough hat I am reluctant to use it.  A good compromise though is the icon only view that means that is can sit in the menubar like any other service.

Watts can also notify you about various events that may take place while you are using your MacBook.  Watts can notify you when your power cord is connected or disconnected from your MacBook.  It can also notify you after you have been using your MacBook for 12-48 hours as, according to Watts, a lithium based battery needs to be used from time to time in order to maintain it properly.  Finally, Watts will also notify you/shutdown your computer automatically at 50% charge as this is the best percentage to keep your battery in long-term storage.

Watts is capable of providing incredibly detailed battery information, that has been carefully tuned down to the the knowledge of the rest of us, so anyone can understand what Watts means.  The information provides is the number of cycles your battery is designed for, how many it has done, and original capacity, and current capacity and the batteries capacity history.

The final screen that Watts provides is the most important, the screen that makes Watts Watts.  This screen tells you the date that you battery is next due for calibration on, show a calibration history log and full instruction on how to calibrate your MacBooks battery.

Watts final feature is it’s built in help panels.  Simply click the little help button in the bottom right and watts will display some bubbles down the side of the Watts window that explain clearly what each feature is and why you would want to use it.

Conclusion

I think that Watts is a tool that is not necessary but helpful.  You could easily go without it, but you would have yet another thing on your mind to remember to do. For it’s low price of $6.95 (£4.55 at the time of writing) I think that Watts is an App that anyone who is serious about keeping their battery is top-notch condition should buy.  Watts has a 60-day trial available for those who want to try it first, but I would have no hesitation in buying this App.