Here to help.

Most questions below have a one-minute answer. If yours doesn’t, email me — I’m the developer, and I read everything.

The menu bar number looks stale

Site Pulse refreshes live users every 60 seconds. After your Mac wakes from sleep or the network returns, tiles say “updated N min ago” until the next fetch lands — that’s expected, and the catch-up never fakes a spike.

An account says “Reconnect”

Google sometimes expires or revokes an app’s access — for example when you change your password, or remove the app under your Google connections. Click Reconnect and sign in again; the other accounts keep updating in the meantime.

A site is missing from the dashboard

On first connect, Site Pulse watches the properties with any active users in the last 7 days. A quieter site isn’t gone: open Settings → Sites and switch it on.

Widgets aren’t updating

Widgets get their numbers from the app, roughly every 15 minutes while it runs. If they look frozen, check that Site Pulse is open (it lives in the menu bar) — and after an update, remove and re-add the widget once if macOS keeps showing the old layout.

What counts as a spike?

At least 1.5× the usual traffic for that time of day, and at least 10 users above it. The tile glows while it lasts; notifications are optional and off by default.

Requirements

macOS 26 or later, and access to at least one Google Analytics 4 property. Without one, the built-in demo site works forever.