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How to magically run stuff when you’re near your Mac… or not

What you need

• A Mac
• Some type of bluetooth device you always have with you (let’s get real, if you’ve got a mac you’re using an iPhone)

Step 1.

Download and install Proximity:

Step 2.

Open AppleScript editor and create a script to run when you’re near your computer. Mine is super simple. It just turns off the screen saver and sets my chat status in “Adium” (if it’s running) to available. But obviously you could do anything you can do in AppleScript. Mine looks something like this:

tell application "ScreenSaverEngine" to quit

if appIsRunning("Adium") then
    tell application "Adium" to go available
end if

on appIsRunning(appName)
    tell application "System Events" to (name of processes) contains appName
end appIsRunning

And create another one for when you’re away. Once again mine’s super simple:

tell application "ScreenSaverEngine" to activate

if appIsRunning("Adium") then
    tell application "Adium" to go away with message "Appears to have stepped away for a bit."
end if

on appIsRunning(appName)
    tell application "System Events" to (name of processes) contains appName
end appIsRunning

I saved these two scripts in a “Scripts” folder I created in my home directory (fancy that!).

Step 3.

Now all you have to do is give tell Proximity which script to run when and which bluetooth device you want it to look for. If Proximity is running you’ll see a small (somewhat ugly) bluetooth lookin’ icon in your toolbar. Click it to open preferences. My preferences look like this:

Step 4.

Tell @HenrikJoreteg on twitter that it worked for you and that you’d give him a high-five if you were within reasonable high-five range.