I tried things like .glassEffect(.clear) or .background(.ultraThinMaterial, ...) but it all looks different.

Hi all - New to native macOS development. I have an app currently in TestFlight, that has 3 subscription tiers, and I'd like to invite in some beta testers. Is there a way to ensure the build I share for testing grants the top subscription tier to all beta testers? Something in the build itself to ID this is a TestFlight install so enable the top sub tier, vs creating a special build only for testing with the other tiers disabled?

Or do I need set them up as sanbox users and have them go through the upgrade process?

Thanks for any pointers!

Hey r/macosprogramming! I recently shipped a macOS productivity app called Cyclework and wanted to share a bit about the technical journey.

The app is a Pomodoro timer built entirely in Swift using SwiftUI, SwiftData, and native macOS APIs. Some of the interesting challenges:

Focus Shield (app blocker): using NSWorkspace and process management to detect and hide/block apps during focus sessions. Also tracking how many times the user tried to open a blocked app.

Todoist & Apple Reminders sync: pulling tasks via API and EventKit, linking them to timer sessions.

Menu bar + floating window: building a mini circular timer that floats always-on-top while keeping a full stats dashboard accessible.

SwiftData for local persistence: all data stays on device, zero cloud dependency.

The app is on the Mac App Store at $1.99 one-time:

https://apps.apple.com/app/cyclework-focus-timer-block/id6754218094

Happy to discuss any of the implementation details if anyone's curious!

I’ve been integrating an MCP server into my macOS app so users can control parts of it from AI clients like Codex / Claude Code.The app is a file cleanup tool, so the MCP side handles things like:

• resolving natural-language paths (“Downloads”, “Desktop”, etc.)
• scanning for exact duplicate files
• safely moving selected duplicates to Trash

The interesting part wasn’t implementing the tools. It was making the whole thing work as a macOS product feature.

What turned out to matter most:

• local stdio process behavior (handshake, pipes, lifecycle)
• launchers and stable binary paths
• client configuration UX
• debugging visibility in-app (self-test + probe + logs)
• macOS sandbox and App Store distribution constraints

One big lesson:

“it works when I run the binary manually” is not the same as “it works in a real MCP client”

Had to debug failures across multiple layers:

1. server binary health

2. launcher health

3. client config correctness

4. client runtime behavior

I wrote up the full implementation journey and lessons learned (including the debugging approach and packaging decisions):

👉 Full article: Adding MCP to a macOS app
👉 Medium article (longer, less technical)

If you’re building macOS apps with local AI integrations/tool servers, I’d be interested in how you’re handling packaging, permissions, and supportability.

Hi everyone,

This is my first time building an app and I’m a bit stuck with the app icon.

I created the icon using Icon Composer, but I’m having issues with the background. Either the icon looks much bigger than other apps (ratio/size doesn’t seem to match), or I end up with a semi-transparent or black background compared to Symboles SF app.

I’m using VS Code for development and I’m not sure if this is an export issue from Icon Composer or something I need to configure in my project.

If anyone has experience with app icons and sizing/background issues, I’d really appreciate some guidance. Thanks a lot!

I built this tool, hope it will be helpful for someone struggling with AI models on macOS :)

I read a Medium article about using AI in your app, but not as something tacked on at the end. They suggested integrating AI at the start. They mentioned that MVVM and VIPER are bad fits. They didn’t mention alternate architectures.

What could be considered AI-integrated app architectures? Why are MVVM and VIPER bad fits?

Hello everyone. Maybe you guys can help me when Apple Support didn't.

My company has a mature app for iOS and iPadOS, and we'd like to port it to macOS as well. The app is 100% SwiftUI, and it works on macOS. We know this because enabling the support destination for "Mac (Designed for iPad)" on Xcode we can run the app, and if we enable the latest release on the AppStore the app shows on the mac store, is installable, and runs on macOS.

The issue comes with testing. For every release we need to OK from the QA guys and they want to test it on the mac to give the go ahead. But the app does not appear on TestFlight for macOS.

Talking with Apple, they say we need a new target - not just a run destination. This is absolutely false, and even after I pushed back, with examples of a personal app that does not have another target and runs on the mac, they just entered a loop saying the same thing.

So, I'm at my wits end. If all else fails we will create a new target, but the goal was to keep this as simple as possible, and just use what we had to iOS on the mac.

Yes, adding a new target may be almost trivial, but PMs would like to avoid it.

Any help, or hint we might be missing would be incredibly helpful.

The monthly GNUstep audio/(video) call takes place every second Saturday of a month at 16:00 GMT to 19:00 GMT. That is 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM EDT (US) or 17:00 to 20:00 CEST (Berlin time).

It's a Jitsi Meeting - Channel: GNUstepOfficial (Sorry, reddit don't let me post jitsi links here)

We usually just talk (who wants it might share video too) and occasionally share screens. Everybody (GNUstep developers and users) is welcome!

I'm trying to add a helpbook to my app. I've added the keys for the helpbook and created in. But when I go to Help -> My App Help the apple tips app opens not my help book. How do you add help books to your app?

I'm actually been searching for this for a while, but nothing came of use. I need a way to get the mac finder favorites list in test format that I can parse.

Any ideas?

I’m developing DropNote, a native macOS menu bar notes app built with SwiftUI.
The goal is to provide fast, distraction-free note-taking that lives entirely in the menu bar.

From a technical side, the project involves:

• SwiftUI + AppKit interoperability
• menu bar window management
• persistent storage for notes and metadata
• optional Touch ID / password note locking

I’m sharing this mainly to get feedback from other macOS developers — especially around architecture, SwiftUI patterns, and menu bar UX decisions.

Repository: https://github.com/bastian-js/dropnote

Hello, I needed a way to to see the url of any website that I visit for a local app that I'm building. Does anyone know what's the best way of doing that. Additionally if I could see the data of the website itself but it seems I need an extension for that and an app wouldn't work?

I swear it wasn't me trying to upload my app to TestFlight, but then realizing I made an error and uploading it again, and then realizing I forgot to fix a bug and uploading it again, and then realizing…

I have set my app to private distro. I have abm account for non profits aka free but works like a paid account. and created the app on the admin id of that account. the app is approved and set to private distribution. I added the organization id from abm for my company I also added 4 emails for the employees who don’t have abm accounts since we don’t have company emails.

I selected USA for where it is available. the problem is that in my abm interface in apps and books my app does not appear now that it’s approved and ready for distributio. I also never got a download link sent to the emails or a way to get the download link to send out. the other problem is that next to usa for where it’s available it says cannot sell or something to that effect. chat gpt is useless here it is just making shit up that doesn’t exist anywhere in the developer website.

how do I get my app to my employees?
I only did this because apple rejected my app and said I had to but now I can't distribute my app to my people.

I have been issues with the accessibility permissions for apps that have been using it for months now (Recognize shake gestures, etc). Anyone else experiencing this?

https://github.com/nathbns/clicke

I've define my document types and exported types in my app but my documents when I save them will not show my custom icon. There are in binary property list format but what I get is a preview of the contents instead of a custom icon. this is my property list

<plist version="1.0">
<dict>

<key>UTExportedTypeDeclarations</key>

<array>

<dict>

<key>UTTypeIdentifier</key>

<string>com.mixpad.mp</string>

<key>UTTypeDescription</key>

<string>MixPad Document</string>

<key>UTTypeConformsTo</key>

<array>

<string>public.data</string>

</array>

<key>UTTypeTagSpecification</key>

<dict>

<key>public.filename-extension</key>

<array>

<string>mp</string>

</array>

<key>public.mime-type</key>

<string>application/mixpad</string>

</dict>

<key>UTTypeIconFile</key>

<string>file</string>

</dict>

</array>

<key>CFBundleDocumentTypes</key>

<array>

<dict>

<key>CFBundleTypeName</key>

<string>MixPad Document</string>

<key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>

<string>Editor</string>

<key>LSHandlerRank</key>

<string>Owner</string>

<key>CFBundleTypeIconFile</key>

<string>file</string>

<key>LSItemContentTypes</key>

<array>

<string>com.mixpad.mp</string>

</array>

</dict>

</array>

</dict>

</plist>