darrylmorley/whatcable v0.2.0

WhatCable v0.2.0

on GitHub

What's new in v0.2.0

Real numbers, not guesses.

• Live charger output. Every PDO the connected charger advertises is shown, with the currently negotiated voltage marked active in real time. Watch a USB-C brick step from 5V → 9V → 20V as your laptop draws more.
• Cable e-marker decoding. When you plug in an e-marker cable, the card now shows its real speed (USB 2.0, 5/10/20/40/80 Gbps) and current rating (3 A or 5 A → up to 60 W / 100 W / 240 W). Decoded straight from the cable's PD Cable VDO.
• Connected device identity. The card shows the partner device's vendor and product type — "USB Hub (vendor 0x0BDA)", "Alternate Mode Adapter", etc. — decoded from the PD Discover Identity response.
• Universal binary, fully notarised. Drag and drop into /Applications, no Gatekeeper hassle.

Install

1. Download WhatCable.zip below
2. Unzip → drag WhatCable.app to /Applications
3. Launch — cable icon appears in your menu bar
   • Left-click for the popover
   • Right-click for Refresh / About / Quit

Caveats

• Cable info only appears for cables that carry an e-marker chip — most USB-C cables under 60 W don't. Any Thunderbolt / USB4 cable, any 5 A / 100 W+ cable, and most quality data cables will be e-marked.
• USB-IF vendor IDs are shown numerically; no bundled vendor name lookup yet.