4 ms·

Although I don’t have much use for vector graphics software, it is _great_ to see people building new native mac apps which take advantage of the unique feature

by jen20 7y ago

Although I don’t have much use for vector graphics software, it is _great_ to see people building new native mac apps which take advantage of the unique features of the platform instead of targeting a cross-platform lowest common denominator!

eddieh 7y ago
Yes, there's so many great Mac/Apple only applications that beat the pants off of any cross-platform apps, especially stuff built with Electron. I use some great apps on a daily basis that are Mac or Apple ecosystem only. Acorn - Image editor OmniGraffle - Diagramming OmniFocus - Todo list for GTD Sketch - UI prototyping Plus Apple's productivity software, Pages, Keynote, and Numbers. I honestly don't know how people manage with G Suite. There's also a ton of apps I don't use on a daily basis, and won't bother listing. It really is awesome to see new native Mac apps. Please keep building them, and I promise to keep buying them. I'm giving Amadine a try today.
- jen20 7y ago
  OmniOutliner is another great example that I have been using for decades. Safari is another overlooked example: the fluency of moving between Mac, iPad and phone with a shared history, tab handoff etc is fantastic.
  - favorited 7y ago
    You really can tell when you use their software that Omni has been in the Cocoa business since NeXT. OmniWeb used to ship with the OS, and IIRC OmniPDF did too.
    - eddieh 7y ago
      I still love how OmniWeb can do vertical tabs. I wish Safari had an option for it.
    - seanmcdirmid 7y ago
      I kind of feel like Omni has seen better days. OmniGraffle just doesn't feel like the must have tool like it used to be.
- ralusek 7y ago
  The irony of Figma being better than all of those applications, while having been built with Electron, will not be lost on those who have used it.
  - aidos 7y ago
    Figma definitely stands as an example of what you can do with web technologies. Their webassembly and canvas codebase seems to work out really well for user experience. In comparison I tried Sketch the other day (native) and it was reeeeeeally slow.
  - eddieh 7y ago
    I doubt that claim so much. Every Electron application I've ever used is seriously deficient in many ways. First every app has its own set of UI controls, so right there you loose one of the best things about native Mac apps, consistency. Next I've yet to find a single Electron app that doesn't break some core Mac feature such as copy/paste, system wide spellcheck, system wide dictionary, the emoji picker, system wide settings, scrollable area bounce, zoom, tabs, windows, menus, keyboard shortcuts, drag & drop, screenshots, and so on. Third every electron app consumes way to many system resources and almost all are painfully slow. But, hey I'll give Figma a try and report back.
    - eddieh 7y ago
      - Empty window stoplight controls (breaks HIG). - I been waiting over two minutes for it to open a blank document created in the web version...three minutes still blank. - Had to close and re-open. Still takes a few seconds to load a blank document. - System wide spellchecker doesn't work. - System wide dictionary doesn't work. - Uses CPU time when it should be idle. - One object on screen and it is already using more memory that any other process on my machines (and that includes Discord). - It spawned 8 processes! - Copying an object and pasting into another application doesn't work. - Doesn't respect copy/paste with style and "Paste and Match Style." - Doesn't support standard macOS accessibility. I can probably go on, but honestly I'm not impressed and I'm bored.
  - ukyrgf 7y ago
- commandersaki 7y ago
  Going to throw Monodraw on the list.
PlutoIsAPlanet 7y ago
I'm curious as to what features are unique to the platform?
- eddieh 7y ago
  Metal, Core Image, Autosave, QuickLook, and supports the Touch Bar
  - dreamcompiler 7y ago
    Mac user here. Of that list, the only one I don't consider superfluous or an outright bug is Quicklook.
    - chc 7y ago
      How is Core Image superfluous or an outright bug?
- aasasd 7y ago
  Toolbars that aren't just tables crammed in from left to right. (Might've been finally addressed in Win10—dunno, I left that world behind a while ago.)
oceanghost 7y ago
Given the poor state of Apples PC hardware, I would be weary of investing in the platform as a developer or user.
- daotoad 7y ago
  When pedants attack: Weary = Extremely tired, exhausted. Wary = Fearful or nervous about, having trepidation. Example: I am weary from investing so much time and effort in Apple's platform. Being so deeply invested, I am wary of further investments until I can diversify. This is confusing as hell because "wear" sounds the same as "ware" and weary is a real word and will not upset your spellchecker. Of course "weary" sounds different than "wear", with the first sylable rhyming with ear. Thanks English. Anyhow, misuse of words like this reduces the impact of your communication. I hope this explanation can help you be a bit more effective in expressing yourself.
  - danellis 7y ago
    > Wary = Fearful or nervous about, having trepidation. 'Leery' also means that, which is where I think the confusion comes from.
  - willio58 7y ago
    Oof found the grammar nazi.
- ricardobeat 7y ago
  What poor state? The hardware is ok, design still top notch despite going downhill, a few components above average (ex SSD), otherwise it’s just stupidly expensive on the high-end.
  - TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
    Don’t all of the recent MacBook Pros and Airs have low relatability scores? That may factor in to some people’s decisions.
blondin 7y ago
indeed! been a mac user for years but never used the tools provided by apple until i discovered a swift tutorial in the form of a playground recently. so now i am exploring and learning the frameworks and sdks i already have right here on the mac (well of course you have to download gigabytes of xcode). native mac development has such a potential but i don't see people using or promoting it. i can easily blame apple for that. my little experience is that it is very hard to find tutorials that are not geared towards iOS. just try and see for yourself... even books. it is tiring and time consuming to find the right article or tutorial for the macos right now. funny how people go through hoops to get their ipads connected and stream it on youtube, or to get their simulators working while developing on a mac. some of the frameworks they cover could be done natively on the mac!
ejstembler 7y ago
Is it truly native? I was digging around and found some references to https://www.wxwidgets.org https://www.wxwidgets.org. I thought the GUI looked a little off to be truly native...
- willio58 7y ago
  Hmm the screenshots on that site look nothing like their UI.

by jen20 7y ago

eddieh 7y ago

Yes, there's so many great Mac/Apple only applications that beat the pants off of any cross-platform apps, especially stuff built with Electron. I use some great apps on a daily basis that are Mac or Apple ecosystem only. Acorn - Image editor OmniGraffle - Diagramming OmniFocus - Todo list for GTD Sketch - UI prototyping Plus Apple's productivity software, Pages, Keynote, and Numbers. I honestly don't know how people manage with G Suite. There's also a ton of apps I don't use on a daily basis, and won't bother listing. It really is awesome to see new native Mac apps. Please keep building them, and I promise to keep buying them. I'm giving Amadine a try today.

jen20 7y ago
OmniOutliner is another great example that I have been using for decades. Safari is another overlooked example: the fluency of moving between Mac, iPad and phone with a shared history, tab handoff etc is fantastic.
- favorited 7y ago
  You really can tell when you use their software that Omni has been in the Cocoa business since NeXT. OmniWeb used to ship with the OS, and IIRC OmniPDF did too.
  - eddieh 7y ago
    I still love how OmniWeb can do vertical tabs. I wish Safari had an option for it.
  - seanmcdirmid 7y ago
    I kind of feel like Omni has seen better days. OmniGraffle just doesn't feel like the must have tool like it used to be.
ralusek 7y ago
The irony of Figma being better than all of those applications, while having been built with Electron, will not be lost on those who have used it.
- aidos 7y ago
  Figma definitely stands as an example of what you can do with web technologies. Their webassembly and canvas codebase seems to work out really well for user experience. In comparison I tried Sketch the other day (native) and it was reeeeeeally slow.
- eddieh 7y ago
  I doubt that claim so much. Every Electron application I've ever used is seriously deficient in many ways. First every app has its own set of UI controls, so right there you loose one of the best things about native Mac apps, consistency. Next I've yet to find a single Electron app that doesn't break some core Mac feature such as copy/paste, system wide spellcheck, system wide dictionary, the emoji picker, system wide settings, scrollable area bounce, zoom, tabs, windows, menus, keyboard shortcuts, drag & drop, screenshots, and so on. Third every electron app consumes way to many system resources and almost all are painfully slow. But, hey I'll give Figma a try and report back.
  - eddieh 7y ago
    - Empty window stoplight controls (breaks HIG). - I been waiting over two minutes for it to open a blank document created in the web version...three minutes still blank. - Had to close and re-open. Still takes a few seconds to load a blank document. - System wide spellchecker doesn't work. - System wide dictionary doesn't work. - Uses CPU time when it should be idle. - One object on screen and it is already using more memory that any other process on my machines (and that includes Discord). - It spawned 8 processes! - Copying an object and pasting into another application doesn't work. - Doesn't respect copy/paste with style and "Paste and Match Style." - Doesn't support standard macOS accessibility. I can probably go on, but honestly I'm not impressed and I'm bored.
- ukyrgf 7y ago
commandersaki 7y ago
Going to throw Monodraw on the list.

PlutoIsAPlanet 7y ago

I'm curious as to what features are unique to the platform?

eddieh 7y ago
Metal, Core Image, Autosave, QuickLook, and supports the Touch Bar
- dreamcompiler 7y ago
  Mac user here. Of that list, the only one I don't consider superfluous or an outright bug is Quicklook.
  - chc 7y ago
    How is Core Image superfluous or an outright bug?
aasasd 7y ago
Toolbars that aren't just tables crammed in from left to right. (Might've been finally addressed in Win10—dunno, I left that world behind a while ago.)

oceanghost 7y ago

Given the poor state of Apples PC hardware, I would be weary of investing in the platform as a developer or user.

daotoad 7y ago
When pedants attack: Weary = Extremely tired, exhausted. Wary = Fearful or nervous about, having trepidation. Example: I am weary from investing so much time and effort in Apple's platform. Being so deeply invested, I am wary of further investments until I can diversify. This is confusing as hell because "wear" sounds the same as "ware" and weary is a real word and will not upset your spellchecker. Of course "weary" sounds different than "wear", with the first sylable rhyming with ear. Thanks English. Anyhow, misuse of words like this reduces the impact of your communication. I hope this explanation can help you be a bit more effective in expressing yourself.
- danellis 7y ago
  > Wary = Fearful or nervous about, having trepidation. 'Leery' also means that, which is where I think the confusion comes from.
- willio58 7y ago
  Oof found the grammar nazi.
ricardobeat 7y ago
What poor state? The hardware is ok, design still top notch despite going downhill, a few components above average (ex SSD), otherwise it’s just stupidly expensive on the high-end.
- TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
  Don’t all of the recent MacBook Pros and Airs have low relatability scores? That may factor in to some people’s decisions.

blondin 7y ago

indeed! been a mac user for years but never used the tools provided by apple until i discovered a swift tutorial in the form of a playground recently. so now i am exploring and learning the frameworks and sdks i already have right here on the mac (well of course you have to download gigabytes of xcode). native mac development has such a potential but i don't see people using or promoting it. i can easily blame apple for that. my little experience is that it is very hard to find tutorials that are not geared towards iOS. just try and see for yourself... even books. it is tiring and time consuming to find the right article or tutorial for the macos right now. funny how people go through hoops to get their ipads connected and stream it on youtube, or to get their simulators working while developing on a mac. some of the frameworks they cover could be done natively on the mac!

ejstembler 7y ago

Is it truly native? I was digging around and found some references to https://www.wxwidgets.org https://www.wxwidgets.org. I thought the GUI looked a little off to be truly native...

willio58 7y ago
Hmm the screenshots on that site look nothing like their UI.