Why we still build native Mac apps
In a world of web apps, some tools are better as real Mac software. When native is worth it, and when it isn't.
Two of our own products, a per-app volume mixer and an SSH client, are native Mac apps. Neither could have been a web app. The decision wasn't about taste. It was about what the tool needs to touch.
When native is worth it
- It needs the system: audio routing, the menu bar, global shortcuts, file system access, background processes.
- It needs to feel instant: tools people use dozens of times a day should open and respond immediately.
- It belongs in the workflow: people expect a Mac tool to behave like a Mac tool, with the right menus, windows and keyboard habits.
When the web is better
Anything shared between people, used on many devices, or changing every week is better on the web. One codebase, instant updates, nothing to install. Our sticky-notes board and clinic platform are web apps for exactly those reasons.
“Choose the platform by what the tool has to touch, not by what the team prefers to write.”
The commitment
Native software has to keep up with every major OS release, new hardware and changing security rules. That is ongoing work, and it should be in the plan from the start, not discovered in the autumn when a new macOS ships.
Written by the team at Bytelights, a product and AI studio in India.