Plug it in, stay awake
Some workflows are tied to a piece of hardware. Backup drive plugged in? You're backing up. Audio interface connected? You're recording or producing. MIDI controller? You're making music.
Shake It On's USB device match condition turns "is this device plugged in" into a keep-awake trigger. No more remembering to flip a toggle when you start.
Set it up
- Open Settings (menu bar → Settings…).
- Scroll to Only Shake If.
- Turn on USB device connected (matches name).
- Type a comma-separated list of device names:
Time Machine, Scarlett, MPK Mini
Shake It On reads each connected USB device's product name (the same name you see in System Information → USB) and substring-matches it against your list, case-insensitively.
Example: backups
Time Machine, Carbon Copy Cloner, ChronoSync, Arq — all of them pause when the Mac sleeps. Set up:
- USB device match: name of your backup drive
- Allow display to sleep (so it can run overnight without lighting up the room)
- Paused When: On battery (backups should run plugged in)
Plug in the drive and walk away. Backup runs to completion, then the Mac sleeps when the drive is unplugged.
Example: audio production
- USB device match:
Scarlett, Babyface, Apollo - Optional: also match a MIDI controller name
Plug in the interface, Shake It On wakes up. Yank it at the end of the session, Mac is free to sleep.
Finding the device name
Not sure exactly what your device's USB product name is? Apple → About This Mac → More Info → System Report → USB shows the full tree. The "Product ID" field is the human-readable name; pick a substring of it.
You don't need the full name. Scarlett matchesFocusrite Scarlett 2i2 4th Gen. Match short, distinctive substrings.
vs. External disk connected
Shake It On has a more general "External disk connected" condition that fires for any removable, writable disk. It's simpler — no name list — but it can't distinguish between "my Time Machine drive" and "the random USB stick someone plugged in to share a file".
Use External disk connected when "any disk" is the right signal. Use USB device match when you specifically want one (or several) by name.