Onyx by Titanium Software

I've been using it for years. It's safe to use as long as you understand what it's doing and why.

Every single thing Onyx does is done by running Unix commands in the background. These are all either known, or undocumented commands built into the OS.

I like to use it with every Mac we set up to turn annoying (to us) OS "features" off. Like animated windows. I neither need, or want to see folder windows flying open or closed. I just want them to snap on and off. Basically, I turn off as much eye candy as possible.

As far as cache goes, that is also safe when used properly. As mentioned by others, you don't want to do this at any ol' time. For starters, removing cache data is not a maintenance thing you do periodically in a "just because" manner. You only do so as a way to try and figure out why the OS or apps are misbehaving. Removing corrupt cache data can help with that. You are guessing though, since there isn't a direct way for the user to know whether most cache data is corrupt or not.

Doing it right is to close all running apps so the only items running are Onyx and the OS itself. When you click the button to remove cache files, it will ask you to restart the computer. Do it. Since you can never know when the OS may have been writing to the cache, immediately restarting removes the possibility of botching the cache by pulling out from under the OS. Once the Mac restarts, the OS will build a new cache file. But again, this isn't something you do regularly.

is it worthwhile to install?

If you have a specific problem for which it has a repair routine, it might be useful.

In and of itself, just like other "maintenance" software, it has no value. There is no maintenance that you need to perform.

I think it also has some "hidden" preference settings that allow you to set features not available through the GUI. If you don't like using the command line, then that might make it useful.

FWIW OT, I don't think the user's problem in the link you posted had a thing to do with Onyx. Basically Onyx is only a collection of normal routines and preferences that are built into macOS anyway. I've used it for umpteen years and I can't remember anything it could damage.

It is fairly safe. But that is to say as long as you don't do anything funny with system caches. System caches are a crutch for the system. If they get corrupted, they are very hard to put back together.

A better utility is a backup utility.

Once your data is backed up, checking for malware with Malwarebytes, removing Malwarebytes with its uninstaller or with Piriform CC Cleaner, checking for viruses with Avast is a good idea.

Then use http://www.etrecheck.com to isolate any other software that might be running in the background.

Users on this board can tell you if any utilities don't belong that might slow you down, or if you are running low on space if there are speed considerations.

Onyx offers optimizations that are nice for a backed up system, but they are more placebo than actual help when something else is actually the matter. The first step is asking why you want an optimizer in the first place and locate any potential slowdowns.

You might read this topic before using it. It might have removed too many files: OnyXs i can access my external drive any more OnyXs i can access my external drive any more.

a brody wrote:

BUT, if the system is actively using the cache files in question when they are deleted, it introduces new corrupted cache files, which result in applications not launching.

Does Onyx check to see if the system is actively using the caches?

FWIW, As I mentioned previously I have used Onyx for many years, since its inception on many Macs, and no such scenario ever occurred.

Removing system caches including the Launchservices cache works sometimes to optimize speed if the cache files are corrupt. BUT, if the system is actively using the cache files in question when they are deleted, it introduces new corrupted cache files, which result in applications not launching. Worse yet, I have run into an endless loop of these cache files recreating themselves as corrupted cache files once initially created. And corrupting every other reboot it is corrupted.

It's safe. You will have to judge its usefulness to you.

a brody wrote:

But that is to say as long as you don't do anything funny with system caches.

What "funny" things will Onyx do with system caches?

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