Available.
No more mouse wiggling.

Microsoft Teams watches whether you use mouse and keyboard. If nothing moves for a few minutes, the status switches automatically from “Available” to “Away” – whether or not you actually left. Anyone reading, thinking, or watching dashboards counts as inactive.

Evergreen prevents exactly that: it sends Teams a sign of life at the interval you choose, so your status stays on “Available”.

Apple only checks software automatically when developers pay 99 € every year. Evergreen is a small tool I give away for free – I don’t pay that fee for it.

So the message doesn’t say something is wrong with the app. It says Apple hasn’t looked at it. The app is signed with my personal developer certificate: macOS can verify that it comes from me and that nobody has altered it since signing.

For the first start, right-click the app and choose “Open” – after that it starts like any other app.

If that doesn’t work – because there is no “Open” in the menu, or the warning keeps coming back – use System Settings instead:

1. Double-click the app once and dismiss the warning.
2. Open System Settings, then Privacy & Security.
3. Scroll down to the “Security” section. There’s a line saying Evergreen was blocked from opening, with an Open Anyway button next to it.
4. Click it and confirm with your password or Touch ID.

That line only shows up right after you tried to start the app. If you don’t see it, launch the app again and take another look.

Teams doesn’t care whether it’s in front – it checks how long nobody has used the mouse or keyboard on your Mac. So Evergreen gives your Mac a sign of life: a mouse movement on the spot that you won’t notice. macOS doesn’t let programs do that freely, and for good reason, so it asks once.

Evergreen reads nothing and changes nothing in your messages. It only makes sure Teams sees you as present. You grant access under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.

Without it macOS discards the sign of life and nothing reaches Teams. Evergreen tells you when that happens: the box in the menu stays grey and reads “Not permitted”, with a button that takes you to the settings.

Then the sign of life isn’t reaching Teams. The box in the menu tells you why – if it reads “Active” in purple, Evergreen really is working. The two common causes:

Accessibility access is missing. The menu then reads “Not permitted”. The button next to it takes you straight to the right place in System Settings.

The app is running from your Downloads folder. Opened straight out of the unzipped archive, macOS runs it from a hidden copy it recreates on every launch. Access doesn’t stick there – it applies to the path, and that path is a different one next time. So Evergreen needs to be moved to your Applications folder once and started from there. Evergreen points this out at launch when it applies.

Neither of those? Check whether Teams is running at all. If it’s quit, the menu reads “Teams not running”, and Evergreen continues as soon as it is back.

For anyone who steps away from the desk now and then. For anyone who finds constantly checking their own status to be mental overhead. For focused work without wiggling the mouse every few minutes. And for anyone who watches rather than clicks – keeping an eye on logs, dashboards, or web services without having to move the mouse.

Similar result, different approach. A mouse jiggler moves the cursor, sometimes as a USB stick, sometimes as software. That gets in the way as soon as you work alongside it.

With Evergreen the cursor stays where you left it: the app reports a movement on the spot, and only while you’re idle. As long as you’re working, it sends nothing. That said, the signal counts as input for macOS, so your Mac stays awake while Evergreen is running. Just switch it off when you are done for the day.

A tiny app that runs in the background and gently keeps your Teams status on available – simple, lightweight, no frills. In the menu you choose after how much idle time the sign of life comes: between 1 and 4 minutes, always before Teams switches to “Away” after 5 minutes.

No. Evergreen has no network connection, no account and no telemetry. Everything it does happens on your Mac alone.

Please comply with your company’s internal policies regarding status display. Evergreen is a tool – how you use it is up to you.

Nothing. If it helps, I’d appreciate a coffee. And should anyone want to chip in the 99 € for the Apple fee: then I’d happily have Evergreen officially signed – the warning on first launch would disappear for everyone.