View source for Asteroid

[[File:Asteroid_Screenshot_0.9.6.png|right|float]]

'''Asteroid''' is a free, open-source graphical frontend to [[CGMiner]] for [http://www.apple.com/ Apple] Mac computers, whose focus on simplicity is intended to be approachable for new users.  Asteroid supports the same devices and features as cgminer, and adds additional features such as crowdsourced scrypt settings, coin address balance monitoring, a pre-populated list of common mining pools, and [[MobileMiner]] support for controlling Asteroid from a smartphone.

Precompiled universal binaries for cgminer and its dependencies (libusb, libjansson, and curl) are included.  Thus the installation process for end-users is straightforward, involving only downloading and decompressing Asteroid.

'''Asteroid''' is written in AppleScriptObjC, a very high-level language capable of producing native Cocoa apps.  Being an interpreted language, the source code is included in every copy of Asteroid and is executed directly when the user launches the app.

==Features==
* quick install, clean UI, with full retina graphics
* monitor from a smartphone via [[MobileMiner]]
* pre-configured with settings for the 30 most common BTC/LTC pools
* crowdsourced scrypt settings
* uses the Mac OS X keychain
* temperature monitoring with alerts and automated cool downs
* monitor a coin balance from within the app to watch pool payouts
* hash rate in dock icon, and device stats in dock menu
* in-app feedback
* automatic software updates
* open-source
* ultra-transparent - uses interpreted and not pre-compiled code
* cgminer on the backend

==Requirements==

Mac OS X 10.8+, an OpenCL-compatible GPU and/or USB-based mining hardware (such as an ASICMINER USB Block Erupter, and other [[ASIC]]s or [[FPGA]]s)

==See Also==

* [[cgminer for Mac OS X (project)]]
* [http://macminer.net MacMiner]
* [[MultiMiner]]

==External Links==

* [http://www.asteroidapp.com/ Asteroid website]
* [http://twitter.com/AsteroidApp/ Asteroid developer's twitter feed]
* [https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=214268.0 Forum thread with announcement and discussion]

[[Category:Miners]][[Category:Software]][[Category:Open Source]][[Category:Free Software]]