The silent page awaits the waking dawn.
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c 'Print :CFBundleIdentifier' \
'/Applications/Mac Mouse Fix.app/Contents/Info.plist'
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c 'Print :CFBundleIdentifier' \
'/Applications/Mac Mouse Fix.app/Contents/Library/LoginItems/Mac Mouse Fix Helper.app/Contents/Info.plist'
To use Claude, I changed both my Mac’s region and time zone to the United States.
Then Mac Mouse Fix, which I’d been using for free, started asking me to pay. It had worked just fine when the system region was set to mainland China.
In trying to fool Claude, I’d fooled every app on my Mac.
What I actually wanted was simple: keep the system set to the United States, but have Mac Mouse Fix use mainland China as its region.
I took a look at the source code for 3.1.0. It reads the region code from the current locale, then checks the list of regions where the app is free. When I checked, that list included CN but not US, which lined up with what I was seeing.
Give the App Its Own Region
macOS lets apps store their own preferences that override global settings. The preference we need here is AppleLocale.
First, check whether these preferences already have values, and note the results so you can restore them later. It’s normal to get a message saying a key doesn’t exist.
Next, disable background functionality in Mac Mouse Fix, make sure the Helper has quit, and then quit the main app. Now run:
These two lines set the preferences for the main app and the background Helper, respectively. I verified both bundle IDs in the app bundle on my Mac. The Helper also takes part in license checks, so I’m setting both.
Reopen the app and enable background functionality again so both processes reload their settings. Simply closing the window doesn’t count as quitting.
Run the two read commands from the beginning again. If both return zh_CN, the overrides have been saved. You’ll still need to check the region information shown in the app and test the mouse features to see whether the app has actually picked up the settings.
Keep Region and Language Settings Separate
AppleLocale controls the locale; AppleLanguages controls preferred languages. en_CN can specify English with mainland China’s regional formats, but it doesn’t guarantee an English interface. The interface language needs to be selected separately.
The time zone has its own separate settings, too. Overriding the locale for Mac Mouse Fix doesn’t require changing your entire Mac’s time zone back.
How to Undo It
If neither key existed before, delete the overrides to go back to using the system settings:
If the keys already had values, restore the values you noted earlier. Then restart both the main app and the Helper, just as before.
I’ve checked the settings and source code, but haven’t yet completed a before-and-after test to confirm that the override makes the app free again. This only affects the locale; it doesn’t change your IP address, location, or account region. Whether the same approach works for other apps depends on which source of information they read.
Bundle IDs, temporary launch arguments, and references
This post covers Mac Mouse Fix 3.1.0 as installed on my Mac. For a different version or app, first read the bundle ID from Info.plist rather than guessing the Helper’s suffix:
If you only want to try it for a single session, you can also launch it like this after fully quitting the main app:
Overrides passed as launch arguments disappear when the process exits; any persistent settings you wrote earlier remain in place. Don’t assume the main app’s arguments are automatically passed to the Helper.
If you also want an English interface, you can set it under Applications in the system’s Language & Region settings. The terminal equivalent is the language array in AppleLanguages. The list of free regions can change, so don’t treat the current list as permanent policy. I haven’t verified how Claude detects your region.
Checked on November 14, 2026. Sources: Apple’s documentation on locales and languages, launch arguments for testing, Mac Mouse Fix’s source code for reading the region, and the official list of free regions.