When my connection feels busy, I usually check three things in order: which app is moving data, whether the VPN or proxy exit IP changed, and whether HTTPS response time is unstable across more than one target. Raw bandwidth alone rarely tells the full story.
I built NetPulse around that workflow, but I m curious how others diagnose it. What is your first signal per-app traffic, latency, request failures, DNS, Wi-Fi signal, or something else? And which metric has misled you most often?
NetPulse is a native Mac utility for seeing how busy your connection is, which app is using it, and whether your VPN is active. It shows live speeds in the menu bar or a floating panel, HTTPS response time, request failure rate and latency stability across three targets—not ICMP packet loss—exit/local/real public IP, and per-app traffic. Daily, weekly and monthly totals stay on the Mac. No account, ads, analytics or subscription. $1.99 once on the Mac App Store.
