DeadStick Utilities
Keep your Mac, iPhone, and iPad clean, fast, and private — with a utility designed the way the U.S. government expects security software to be designed. DeadStick Utilities is designed to meet the security requirements NIAP sets for application software and the FIPS 140-3 approach to cryptography, and it never removes a file without showing you what, why, and how to undo it.
Overview
DeadStick Utilities is one app that keeps your Apple devices healthy — and it only runs when you run it. Open it to free up space on your Mac, run a health checkup, tidy photo libraries and contacts on iPhone and iPad, then close it. No background agents, no always-on processes, nothing running behind your back.
What makes it different is simple: it treats your files like they matter. Before anything is removed, you see what was found, why it was flagged, and how much space you'll get back. Removed files go to a local quarantine first, so one click brings them back. You stay in charge at every step.
What it does
- Frees up space on your Mac — with a preview, a plain-English reason, and an undo for every file.
- Maps your storage clearly, so you can see where the space went and where it comes back.
- Runs a Mac health checkup on demand — and reports its own footprint on the same screen, so you can see the tool is never the problem.
- Cleans up screenshots, oversized videos, and exact duplicate photos on iPhone and iPad, with the Photos Recently Deleted safety net behind every step.
- Backs up your contacts before any merge — protection first, changes second.
- Lets you verify the privacy promise yourself: a built-in network screen shows every connection the app makes. Today, that list is empty.
- Starts free. DeadStick Utilities Pro adds automation for $9.99/year (planned).
How your data is protected
Everything runs on your device. There is no account to create, no analytics watching how you use the app, and no company cloud your files pass through. Diagnostics are off unless you turn them on, and the support export is redacted and saved only where you choose.
And because respect goes both ways: you will never see fake virus warnings, red-alert countdowns, or upgrade scare tactics here. Just clear information and your decision.
Designed to meet government NIAP and FIPS standards
When U.S. government agencies choose software, they don't take the vendor's word for it — they check it against published standards. DeadStick Utilities is designed to meet or exceed applicable government-grade software assurance practices, and the two that matter most are worth knowing by name. No agency approval, certification, or formal validation is claimed yet — what exists today is the engineering and the evidence, maintained with every release.
- NIAP — designed to meet the government's app-security checklist. NIAP (the National Information Assurance Partnership, operated under the NSA) publishes the Protection Profile for Application Software: the checklist U.S. federal agencies use to judge whether an app is built securely — least privilege, safe data handling, documented network use, secure updates. DeadStick Utilities is engineered against that checklist requirement by requirement, and the mapping is maintained as living evidence with each release.
- FIPS 140-3 — designed to meet the government's encryption standard. FIPS 140-3 is the U.S. government's standard for cryptography. DeadStick Utilities is designed to meet it the reliable way: No custom cryptography, ever. Anything the app protects uses Apple's built-in cryptographic modules — the same corecrypto modules Apple submits to the U.S. government's validation program for each major macOS and iOS release.
- Secure development, by the book. The app is built under a NIST SP 800-218 Secure Software Development Framework checklist — the federal recipe for writing software safely — reviewed with every release cycle.
- A complete parts list, every release. Each release ships with a software bill of materials (SBOM) listing exactly what's inside. A build that can't produce its SBOM doesn't ship. Period.
- Accessibility with receipts. A Section 508 / WCAG evidence track (VPAT/ACR) is maintained, and automated accessibility and color-contrast checks run against the real interface, not a design file.
- Ready for locked-down environments. A local-only deployment guide covers managed (MDM) settings, so the app works in offices where data isn't allowed to leave the building.
- Every connection on the record. The app's network endpoint list is a tracked, published artifact. Today it's empty — and any future connection must be declared and reviewed before it can exist.
- Signed, notarized, and gated. Public Mac releases are signed and notarized, and every release must clear a written checklist before it goes out the door.
- Undo is a requirement, not a feature. Any action that removes data must offer a preview, an explanation, and a restore path. That rule is part of the product's definition of done.
Honesty is part of the standard
Apple's rules do not let third-party apps clean system caches or "boost RAM" on iPhone and iPad — so DeadStick Utilities doesn't pretend to. Mobile cleanup focuses on the places Apple genuinely allows: Photos, Contacts, files you choose, and storage guidance. On the Mac, powerful Pro workflows like app uninstall stay locked until their safety evidence passes — even for paying customers. Software that can touch your files should earn each capability, and this one does.
Privacy and store disclosures
DeadStick Utilities is pre-release, and its App Store listings are in preparation. The public pages Apple requires are already live: the privacy policy, support page, and terms, plus the status page showing exactly where the launch stands.
Platforms
Coming soon: macOS 14 or later; iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 or later.
Pricing: free core features, with DeadStick Utilities Pro planned
at $9.99/year once App Store purchase evidence and release gates are complete.