Little Snitch — An Interview with Objective Development
Objective Development explains how Little Snitch changed over two decades and what keeps the team building it through major macOS transitions.
I have used Little Snitch for about a decade. It became one of the apps I trust to show me what software on my Mac is doing when it connects to the internet.
For My Mac Apps Story, I asked Christian from Objective Development how Little Snitch survived so many macOS changes and what keeps the team working on it.
Interview by Ighor July for Reverse Everything.
Interview
Ighor July
Privacy and network monitoring have changed significantly since Little Snitch began. What has helped the app remain relevant for so long?
Christian
That’s simple: Privacy is as relevant today as it was 20 years ago. 20 years ago, it was more like a niche product. But with Edward Snowden, at the latest, people became suddenly aware how far surveillance had already progressed.
Ighor July
Which change in macOS created the greatest technical challenge for the team?
Christian
That was clearly the transition from a kernel extension to a network extension. This was a 60% rewrite of the code base and we had roughly half of a year time for that. We worked seven days a week for as long as we could stand it. I hope we will never have to do that again!
Ighor July
How has network activity changed since Little Snitch was created?
Christian
During the early days, when we tested Little Snitch, we installed and then we had to run a command to see some network traffic. There was literally no network activity from the system by itself!
When I test today, there are 10 new connections on a new system even before the installation even completed.
The focus has therefore shifted: 20 years ago, the alert was the way to go: once in a while you would see something connect, and it was usually obvious for what purpose.
Today it’s really annoying to run Little Snitch in alert mode without an established rule set. The network monitor has therefore become more and more important. It’s easier to make rules when you see all the connections a process makes at one glance.
So, to answer your question directly: the product shifts from a focus on a single connection to a broad overview of long term and short term statistics.
Ighor July
Have Little Snitch users changed over the years?
Christian
Regarding our users: I don’t see much change there. Still the same questions in support, still the same distribution of sales across the globe.
Ighor July
What motivates you and the rest of the team to continue developing and supporting Little Snitch after so many years?
Christian
Put in exaggerated terms, it’s a kind of compulsive behavior. It’s not only me, I can speak for the entire team here: We need that tool ourselves. If I get to use a computer that has no snitch installed, I feel like walking down the street blind. When I played around with Linux recently, the first thing I had to do was write a version of Little Snitch.
I must admit that we often discuss how useful a feature is for users and try to cater the “average user”. However, where Little Snitch really shines, is where we built the feature for ourselves.
Another thing not to be neglected: Many teams fail because they end up in conflict with each other. We always made decisions unanimously, accepting that others may have other interests and other priorities.
Ighor July
What advice would you give to developers who hope to maintain and support an app for ten years or longer?
Christian
Don’t do it for the money in the first place. You’ll need patience, and if money drives you, you’ll give up before the revenue comes. Not all our projects were as successful as Little Snitch, but all of them paid off at least their development.
For a project like Little Snitch you need more than being determined, high qualification and what else: you also need luck. Plain luck. And the only way not to have luck is not to play the game…
This interview is part of the developer interview series connected to My Mac Apps Story, Part 2.