Stop applications from hogging your CPU
Screenshots
App Tamer is a useful application for stopping applications from hogging your CPU resources. It's good for maintaining stability on your Mac, preventing crashes, and conserving battery power. App Tamer "tames" applications with a unique "AutoStop" feature that blocks an application from consuming CPU when you switch away from it and then automatically restarts it when you click back to it. However, this transition isn't always as smooth as it should be - you may experience a lag when switching back and forth.
App Tamer does, however, have a very clear interface for managing applications. The display shows the average percentage of your processor being used by each app and graphically displays a history of CPU usage. You can manually activate AutoStop or change its processing priority in OS X. There is a certain amount of code that you need to enter into Terminal to tweak it, however, and this won't appeal to those who aren't familiar with Terminal and coding.
Overall, App Tamer is definitely worth a try if you find applications hogging your CPU.
