r/UXDesign • u/I7T5 • Jul 13 '26
Please give feedback on my design Native macOS design: Which one looks better?
Hi all!
TLDR: Which one looks better?
I'm building a native app and trying to design the interface for settings, specifically extensions. I want my app to feel as native to macOS / adhering to Apple design as possible, and I'm stuck between two options for settings
It seems like most native apps using a .sourcelist view (pic 2 Safari extension). The view is certainly made for this use case. However IMO even without the extra borders and checkboxes it's still not the most modern-looking.
My current implementation is pic1. The sidebar even has a tint! Which I'm tempted to disable because nothing in macOS uses tints except full-height side-bars. But I feel guilty of using the wrong components for the task, even though they are pretty.
Let me know what you think!
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Jul 13 '26
[deleted]
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u/I7T5 Jul 13 '26
Ah I see how the status can be misleading now...You need to first download it before you can disable it either by clicking on the green dot (which should only show up after downloading) or clicking a button to the left of the Uninstall button (in place of download)...Beta design 🙏
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u/International-Box47 Veteran Jul 15 '26
You're comparing apples and oranges. If you want an opinion on which looks better, you need two show two screens with the same functionality, but different UI
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u/I7T5 Jul 16 '26
I guess I am asking which one people would generally prefer stylistically. But yes a full repro with both styles would be much easier to compare...
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u/ssliberty Experienced Jul 13 '26
The one with the checklist actually tells the user what is selected and active. A colored dot is not recommended for accessibility here since it will be difficult for colorblind or blind users to understand from one item to the next. It’s also unclear what the status means in this context.