Fruit Fly
Drosophila melanogaster
Tracks the smell of fermentation in quick zigzags, lands on the rim to feed and grooms constantly.
A menu bar app for macOS
Your Trash is starting to smell.
BugBnB turns a neglected Trash into a guest house. Let it fill up and meticulously drawn fruit flies, ants, cockroaches, moth flies and mosquitoes check in. They feed at the bin, roam across your displays and scatter when your pointer comes near. Empty the Trash, and everyone checks out.
Free · Version 1.0.2 · macOS 11 Big Sur or later · Apple silicon & Intel
Built native
Native, quick, and barely there.
Swift, not a web view
Written in Swift with AppKit, SwiftUI and Core Animation, like a Mac app should be. No Electron, no bundled browser, no background daemon — and it really quits when you quit it.
Smooth on purpose
Every insect is a pre-rendered frame of the app’s own artwork, so your Mac only moves pictures around. Frame rates drop the moment guests settle, on battery, or when a screen is covered: ≈ 1.8% CPU with twenty guests, ≈ 0.02% with none, on an Intel Core i7‑10710U.
A small download
A 9.1 MB disk image, about 17.0 MB installed — one universal binary that runs natively on Apple silicon and Intel, back to macOS 11.
How it works
A guest house that runs on neglect.
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Step 1
The Trash starts to smell
BugBnB keeps an eye on how big your Trash is, how many items it holds, how long the oldest has waited and how much disk space is left. When a rule you’ve turned on is met, the Stink-o-Meter swings into the red.
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Step 2
Guests check in
They arrive the way real insects do. Fruit flies follow the scent in zigzags, a scout ant lays a trail for the colony, a cockroach hugs the edges of the screen. The Trash in your Dock is where everyone eats.
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Step 3
Empty it, and they check out
Clear the Trash and each guest leaves in character: flies take off, ants march home, the cockroach bolts for the nearest edge.
The guests
Five species, drawn like museum specimens.
Compound eyes, bristles, veined wings with a sheen of colour. Choose who may stay, how many and how big: up to 20 guests in all, in small, medium or large.
Ant
Lasius niger
A scout finds the food and lays a trail; the colony marches back and forth with crumbs, touching antennae when they meet.
Cockroach
Periplaneta americana
Hugs the edges, freezes, then bolts. Bolder at night; at the slightest draft it slips off the edge of the screen.
Moth Fly
Clogmia albipunctata
A fuzzy drain fly: weak little hops, then long rests with its wings folded into a heart.
Mosquito
Aedes albopictus
Bobs in a hovering dance, and sneaks up on a resting pointer for a sip until its abdomen glows red.
Check-in rules
Any one rule can call them in.
Turn on as many rules as you like. Guests arrive when any of them is met, and only while the Trash isn’t empty. Try it:
Vacant. Nothing smells yet.
Size presets: Tidy 10 MB · Everyday 1 GB · Hoarder 10 GB, or any size you like. Guests can arrive all at once, or gradually, a new wave every 15 minutes to 2 hours. The Trash on external drives and in iCloud Drive counts too.
Habits
They behave like they live here.
Across every display
Guests roam all your screens, taking the routes where displays actually meet — or stay on the display with the bin.
Skittish, on your terms
They flee an approaching pointer; you decide how bold they are. Clicks nearby startle them. Hover the bin to clear the room, or press Shoo!
Mosquitoes find you
Leave the pointer still for a moment and a mosquito may come for a bite. Move, and it’s gone.
Do Not Disturb
Pause for an hour, until tomorrow morning or until you say so. Presenting? Hide them from screenshots and screen sharing.
Two ways to host
The Trash in your Dock, located precisely with Accessibility — or a perforated steel bin you drag anywhere on the desktop.
The house at a glance
The menu bar icon tells you who’s in: a fly when guests are staying, z z during Do Not Disturb, ! when BugBnB needs a permission.
Screenshots
Stitched leather, brass and paper.
Every control is a thing you could touch: toggle switches, a mechanical counter, gel buttons and a spring-loaded meter.
House rules
Pests on screen. Not in your privacy.
Nothing leaves your Mac
No account, no analytics. The only thing it ever fetches is a daily update check, which you can turn off. BugBnB reads only your Trash’s size, item count and dates.
It never deletes on its own
The Trash is emptied only when you click Empty Trash, after a confirmation unless you turn it off. Clicks pass straight through the insects.
| Permission | Needed? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Full Disk Access | Required | macOS protects the Trash folder. Without access, BugBnB can’t measure it. |
| Accessibility | Optional | Finds the exact Trash icon in the Dock. Without it, BugBnB estimates where it is, or you can use the desktop bin. |
| Automation › Finder | Optional | Empties the Trash through Finder, which handles locked items. Without it, BugBnB removes the Trash’s contents itself. |
Reception is open
BugBnB 1.0.2
Download for Mac- Disk image
- 9.1 MB
- Requires
- macOS 11 Big Sur or later
- Runs natively on
- Apple silicon & Intel
- Released
- September 14, 2026
- SHA-256
78af23130c8250c1bfb646cbeba33ece08ae63afe39b4337a721f8c80f464d79
This build isn’t notarized by Apple yet. The first time, Control-click BugBnB in Applications and choose Open.
Settle in
- Open the disk image and drag BugBnB into Applications.
- Open BugBnB. It lives in the menu bar; look for the little bin.
- Allow Full Disk Access when asked, so BugBnB can see your Trash.
New in 1.0.2
- Number fields apply as soon as you click elsewhere, switch pages or close the window — no need to press Return.
- Turn on Launch at Login right from the welcome card. If macOS needs your approval, BugBnB now says so and opens Login Items for you.
- 数字输入框在点别处、切换页面或关闭窗口时就会生效，不必再按回车。
- 欢迎卡片里就能打开“登录时打开”；需要在系统设置里批准或设置失败时，会给出提示并一键打开“登录项”。
Questions
Before you check in.
Will the bugs touch my files?
No. They’re drawn on a transparent layer above your desktop, and clicks pass straight through. BugBnB never opens, moves or deletes a file unless you click Empty Trash.
Why does it need Full Disk Access?
Since macOS Mojave the Trash folder is privacy-protected. BugBnB needs access to measure it, and it reads nothing else.
Can I keep them off screen during a presentation?
Choose Do Not Disturb in the menu bar panel, and turn on Hide from Screenshots and Screen Sharing. They also stay out of full-screen apps unless you allow it.
Does it work with more than one display?
Yes. Guests travel between displays where their edges meet, or you can keep them on the display with the bin.
How is it different from BananaBin?
BananaBin, which inspired BugBnB, shows flies around the Dock’s Trash once it passes a size. BugBnB adds four more species with their own habits, roaming across displays, more check-in rules, gradual arrivals, Do Not Disturb, and support back to macOS 11.
Can I use it in Chinese?
Yes. BugBnB follows your Mac’s language, so a system set to Simplified Chinese gets a Chinese BugBnB. You can also pick a language yourself in Settings › General, or on the welcome card the first time you open it.
How do I uninstall it?
Quit BugBnB from its menu, then drag it from Applications to the Trash. Your guests will be delighted, right up until you empty it.
Which Macs are supported?
Any Mac running macOS 11 Big Sur or later, with Apple silicon or an Intel processor.