What is apsd on a Mac, and why is it the busiest process on the network?
apsd carries push notifications for every app and for iMessage and iCloud. On our Mac it received more data than any other process. What that traffic is.
What is apsd?
apsd is the Apple Push Notification service daemon. It keeps one connection open to Apple's servers, and every push, a message, an app notification, an iCloud change, arrives through it and is handed to the right app. It lives in /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/ApplePushService.framework and runs as root.
| Reading on our Mac | Value |
|---|---|
| Received since it started | 14.2 MB, the most of any process |
| Sent | 1.2 MB |
| Energy impact in one sample | 2.5 |
| Memory | 8 MB |
Why does apsd use so much network?
Because everything that pushes goes through it: iMessage, FaceTime, Mail, Calendar, iCloud sync signals and every app with notifications. Over 30 hours of uptime, 14 MB is modest. Spikes mean a burst of pushes, often a busy group chat or a sync.
Can I stop it?
Not without losing notifications, iMessage and iCloud sync. Turning off notifications for chatty apps in System Settings, Notifications reduces what arrives.
See it live
Free Mac's System tab ranks every process by processor use and energy impact, once a second, and marks the ones macOS will not let you quit as protected. See also which app is using the internet and identityservicesd.
Related: mDNSResponder and netbiosd.
Common questions
What is apsd on a Mac?
The Apple Push Notification service daemon. It receives push notifications for every app, iMessage and iCloud.
Why is apsd using so much network?
All push traffic goes through it. On our Mac it received 14 MB in 30 hours, the most of any process.
Can I disable apsd?
Not without losing notifications, iMessage and iCloud sync. Turn off notifications for chatty apps instead.