In this guide, we will show you the steps to uninstall NightOwl from your Mac. This third-party app allows you to automatically switch between light/dark modes on your Mac. According to Robins.One’s post, this application was brought by “TPE.FYI LLC” in late 2022 and this is where things began to go south.
According to him, the app forcibly joins your devices into a botnet for use of market research, without your knowledge. From the app’s point of view, they have mentioned this statement on their TOS in the Download page:
WHEREAS, NightOwl app enables Users to share internet traffic by modifying their device’s network settings to be used as a gateway for internet traffic. Additionally, the User’s device acts as a gateway for NightOwl app’s Clients, including companies that specialize in web and market research, SEO, brand protection, content delivery, cybersecurity, etc.
Moreover, NightOwl has recently reached out to news publisher PuinikaWeb and has stated that;
NightOwl does not contain any form of malware. The concerns raised in the article are based on a mistaken identification, and we are actively working with all major antivirus companies to resolve this false positive.
From Apple’s side, at the time of writing, they seem to have revoked the app’s signing certificate. As a result of which, you will no longer be able to launch the app on your Mac.
Moreover, even users are now getting prompts on their Macs from malware and anti-virus software to uninstall NightOwl from their Macs. So without any further ado, let’s show you how this could be carried out.
How to Uninstall NightOwl from Your Mac
Go to Launchpad > Others > Terminal and execute the below command:
sudo killall NightOwl launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/NightOwlUpdater.plist sudo killall AutoUpdate sudo rm -rf /Applications/NightOwl.app/ ~/Library/LaunchAgents/NightOwlUpdater.plist sudo zsh -c "rm /Users/*/Library/LaunchAgents/NightOwlUpdater.plist"
That’s it. These were the steps to uninstall NightOwl from your Mac. As and when there are any further developments surrounding this story, we will update this post accordingly. In the meantime, your best bet is to stay from this app, atleast for the time being.
