ctrlhqTelegram
Reach your Mac from your phone.
Connect your own Telegram bot to add a task or flash a message on the notch — or, if your Mac goes missing, snap a photo and its location.
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Sometimes you're away from your Mac and want to do one small thing to it: jot down a task, leave a note on the screen, or — if it's gone missing — see where it is and who has it.
Connect a Telegram bot you make yourself (a token from @BotFather, kept in your Mac's Keychain) and send it commands. It's your bot and your chat, and nothing leaves your Mac unless you ask it to.
What you get
Your bot, your allow-list
Paste a token from @BotFather. Anyone who messages the bot shows up in ctrlhq, and only the chats you allow can command it.
/task from anywhere
Send /task Buy milk #home !! @tomorrow and it lands in Today, tags, priority and all — captured before you forget it.
/message on the notch
Send /message and your words scroll on the dot-matrix sign under the notch. Handy for a shared machine or a Mac you left at home.
Anti-theft /snap
If your Mac is lost, /snap sends back a photo from the camera plus its location — precise GPS/Wi-Fi if you've allowed Location, with an IP fallback — as a Google Maps link.
Off until you allow it
Anti-theft is opt-in. ctrlhq asks for your consent on the Mac, then stays disarmed until you arm it — in Settings or with /arm from Telegram.
Never silent, by design
Every capture shows a notice on screen, flashes the notch and lights the camera. It's for recovering your own Mac, not watching anyone.
Token in the Keychain
Your bot token is stored in the macOS Keychain, never in ctrlhq's data file.
How it works
- 1In Telegram, message @BotFather and create a bot to get its token.
- 2Paste the token into ctrlhq → Settings → Telegram and connect.
- 3Message your bot, then allow your chat in ctrlhq. Now /task and /message work; turn on anti-theft to allow /snap.
Questions
Does ctrlhq send my data to Telegram?
Only what you ask for, when you ask. /task and /message act on text you send; /snap sends a photo and approximate location, and only after you've turned on and armed anti-theft. Nothing is sent on its own.
Could someone else take over my Mac?
No. The bot is yours, and only the chats you explicitly allow in ctrlhq can command it. Anyone else who messages the bot is turned away, and a backlog of messages queued while your Mac was off is skipped rather than replayed.
Is the anti-theft photo taken secretly?
No. Every capture puts a visible notice on the screen, flashes the notch and turns on the camera light. It's meant for a Mac you own and are trying to get back.
How accurate is the location?
If you allow Location for ctrlhq, /snap uses Core Location (GPS/Wi-Fi) to pinpoint the Mac itself and sends a Google Maps link. Without it, ctrlhq falls back to the public IP, which only locates your ISP and can be off by miles.
Also in the notch
All features
Telegram, and everything else.
Every feature is in one app, for one price: $19 once, no subscription, and a full refund within 14 days if it isn't for you.
14-day money-back guaranteeAlready bought? Download
macOS 26 Tahoe or later · Apple silicon & Intel