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MACOS APP DEVELOPMENT UX PROJECTS

Learning macOS App Development with Beautiful UX

To truly understand macOS app development with great UX, you need to build apps that exercise the core skills: SwiftUI layouts and components, Apple Human Interface Guidelines, state management, system integration, and polish details that make apps feel native and delightful.

Core Concept Analysis

macOS app development with excellent UX breaks down into:

  1. SwiftUI Fundamentals: Declarative UI, state management, data flow (@State, @Binding, @Observable)
  2. macOS-Specific Patterns: NavigationSplitView, toolbars, menu bar apps, window management, keyboard shortcuts
  3. Apple Human Interface Guidelines: Clarity, deference, depth, hierarchy, and the new “Liquid Glass” aesthetic (2025)
  4. System Integration: Notifications, file system access, Services menu, Spotlight, widgets
  5. UX Polish: Animations, accessibility, responsiveness, empty states, error handling

Project 1: Clipboard History Manager

  • File: MACOS_APP_DEVELOPMENT_UX_PROJECTS.md
  • Main Programming Language: Swift
  • Alternative Programming Languages: Objective-C, Rust, TypeScript
  • Coolness Level: Level 3: Genuinely Clever
  • Business Potential: 2. The “Micro-SaaS / Pro Tool” (Solo-Preneur Potential)
  • Difficulty: Level 2: Intermediate (The Developer)
  • Knowledge Area: Desktop Apps, System Integration
  • Software or Tool: SwiftUI, AppKit, NSPasteboard
  • Main Book: “Hacking with macOS” - Paul Hudson What you’ll build: An extension that captures everything you copy, stores it locally, and provides a searchable popup to paste previous clips. Why it teaches Chrome extensions: This teaches the chrome.storage API deeply, keyboard shortcut handling, context menus, and the tricky permissions around clipboard access. You’ll also learn background service worker patterns for persistent functionality. Core challenges you’ll face:
  • Capturing clipboard events requires content scripts on every page (permissions implications)
  • Storing and indexing clipboard history efficiently with size limits
  • Creating keyboard shortcuts that work globally across the browser What you’ll build: An extension that captures everything you copy, stores it locally, and provides a searchable popup to paste previous clips. Why it teaches Chrome extensions: This teaches the chrome.storage API deeply, keyboard shortcut handling, context menus, and the tricky permissions around clipboard access. You’ll also learn background service worker patterns for persistent functionality. Core challenges you’ll face:
  • Capturing clipboard events requires content scripts on every page (permissions implications)
  • Storing and indexing clipboard history efficiently with size limits
  • Creating keyboard shortcuts that work globally across the browser

What you’ll build: A menu bar app that stores your clipboard history and lets you quickly paste previous items with keyboard shortcuts.

Why it teaches macOS + UX: Menu bar apps are quintessentially Mac. You’ll learn system integration (pasteboard monitoring), background processes, keyboard shortcuts, and designing for quick, unobtrusive interactions—core UX principles of “deference” and “efficiency.”

Core challenges you’ll face:

  • Monitoring the system pasteboard continuously (maps to system APIs)
  • Creating a responsive menu bar interface that appears instantly (maps to performance + UX)
  • Implementing global keyboard shortcuts for quick access (maps to macOS integration)
  • Handling different content types (text, images, files) gracefully (maps to data handling)
  • Designing for discoverability without tutorials (maps to UX clarity)

Key Concepts:

Difficulty: Beginner-Intermediate Time estimate: 1-2 weeks Prerequisites: Basic Swift syntax, Xcode familiarity

Real world outcome:

  • A functional menu bar icon that, when clicked, shows your last 20 copied items
  • Press ⌘+Shift+V to open a searchable popup anywhere on your Mac
  • Click any item to paste it immediately
  • See image previews for copied images, formatted text for rich content

Learning milestones:

  1. Menu bar icon appears and responds to clicks—you understand macOS app lifecycle
  2. Clipboard history persists and updates in real-time—you understand system APIs and state
  3. Global shortcuts work system-wide—you understand macOS integration patterns
  4. Polish (animations, accessibility)—you understand what makes Mac apps feel native

Project 2: Markdown Note-Taking App

  • File: MACOS_APP_DEVELOPMENT_UX_PROJECTS.md
  • Programming Language: Swift
  • Coolness Level: Level 2: Practical but Forgettable
  • Business Potential: 2. The “Micro-SaaS / Pro Tool”
  • Difficulty: Level 2: Intermediate
  • Knowledge Area: macOS App Development / Text Processing
  • Software or Tool: SwiftUI / TextKit
  • Main Book: “SwiftUI Cookbook” by Kodeco

What you’ll build: A three-pane note-taking app with folders, note list, and live Markdown preview—like a simplified Bear or Notion.

Why it teaches macOS + UX: This is the canonical Mac app structure. You’ll master NavigationSplitView, learn proper data architecture, implement rich text editing, and discover how Apple designs for content-focused productivity apps.

Core challenges you’ll face:

  • Building a responsive three-column layout that adapts to window size (maps to NavigationSplitView)
  • Implementing live Markdown parsing and rendering (maps to text processing)
  • Managing hierarchical data (folders → notes) with proper state flow (maps to SwiftUI data flow)
  • Adding toolbar actions that feel native (maps to HIG compliance)
  • Implementing search that feels instant (maps to performance + UX)

Key Concepts:

Difficulty: Intermediate Time estimate: 2-3 weeks Prerequisites: SwiftUI basics, understanding of MVC/MVVM patterns

Real world outcome:

  • A window with sidebar showing folders, middle pane showing notes list, right pane showing editor
  • Type Markdown on the left, see rendered preview on the right (or toggle between them)
  • ⌘+N creates a new note, ⌘+F searches across all notes
  • Notes persist between app launches using SwiftData or JSON files

Learning milestones:

  1. Three-pane layout responds to resize—you understand adaptive layouts
  2. Live preview updates as you type—you understand reactive data binding
  3. Keyboard shortcuts feel natural—you understand HIG keyboard conventions
  4. Empty states guide new users—you understand UX delight details

Project 3: System Monitor Dashboard

  • File: MACOS_APP_DEVELOPMENT_UX_PROJECTS.md
  • Main Programming Language: Swift
  • Alternative Programming Languages: Objective-C, Rust, C++
  • Coolness Level: Level 3: Genuinely Clever
  • Business Potential: 2. The “Micro-SaaS / Pro Tool” (Solo-Preneur Potential)
  • Difficulty: Level 3: Advanced (The Engineer)
  • Knowledge Area: Desktop Apps, System Monitoring
  • Software or Tool: SwiftUI, Swift Charts, IOKit
  • Main Book: “The Visual Display of Quantitative Information” - Edward Tufte What you’ll build: A multi-action plugin that displays real-time CPU usage, memory consumption, and disk space on dedicated Stream Deck keys with color-coded thresholds. Why it teaches Stream Deck development: This project introduces multi-action plugins, polling external data, and visual feedback design. You’ll learn how to create plugins that continuously update based on system state. Core challenges you’ll face:
  • Multiple action types in one plugin (maps to manifest action definitions)
  • Polling system metrics from Node.js (maps to systeminformation library integration)
  • Color-coded visual thresholds (maps to programmatic image generation) What you’ll build: A multi-action plugin that displays real-time CPU usage, memory consumption, and disk space on dedicated Stream Deck keys with color-coded thresholds. Why it teaches Stream Deck development: This project introduces multi-action plugins, polling external data, and visual feedback design. You’ll learn how to create plugins that continuously update based on system state. Core challenges you’ll face:
  • Multiple action types in one plugin (maps to manifest action definitions)
  • Polling system metrics from Node.js (maps to systeminformation library integration)
  • Color-coded visual thresholds (maps to programmatic image generation)

What you’ll build: A beautiful, real-time dashboard showing CPU, memory, disk, and network usage with animated charts—like a modern Activity Monitor.

Why it teaches macOS + UX: Data visualization is a UX challenge. You’ll learn to present complex information clearly, use Swift Charts for visualization, handle real-time updates efficiently, and design for “glanceability”—users should understand system state in 2 seconds.

Core challenges you’ll face:

  • Reading system statistics using sysctl and IOKit (maps to low-level macOS APIs)
  • Creating smooth, animated charts that update in real-time (maps to Swift Charts + animation)
  • Designing information hierarchy so critical info stands out (maps to visual hierarchy UX)
  • Handling high-frequency updates without UI jank (maps to performance)
  • Supporting multiple window configurations (maps to window management)

Key Concepts:

  • Swift Charts: Swift Charts Documentation - Apple - Native charting framework
  • System Statistics: “macOS Internals” blog posts by Howard Oakley - Understanding system calls
  • Real-time Updates: Combine Framework - Apple - Reactive data streams
  • Data Visualization UX: “The Visual Display of Quantitative Information” by Edward Tufte - Information design principles

Difficulty: Intermediate-Advanced Time estimate: 2-3 weeks Prerequisites: SwiftUI proficiency, basic understanding of system processes

Real world outcome:

  • A dashboard window showing live CPU graph, memory pressure indicator, disk I/O, network throughput
  • Hover over any chart to see detailed tooltips with exact values
  • Click a metric to expand into a detailed view
  • Menu bar widget shows quick CPU/memory status

Learning milestones:

  1. Successfully reading system stats—you understand macOS system APIs
  2. Charts animate smoothly at 60fps—you understand performance optimization
  3. Information hierarchy is clear at a glance—you understand data visualization UX
  4. Multiple views feel cohesive—you understand design system consistency

Project 4: File Organizer with Rules Engine

  • File: MACOS_APP_DEVELOPMENT_UX_PROJECTS.md
  • Programming Language: Swift
  • Coolness Level: Level 3: Genuinely Clever
  • Business Potential: 2. The “Micro-SaaS / Pro Tool”
  • Difficulty: Level 4: Expert
  • Knowledge Area: Filesystems / Automation
  • Software or Tool: FSEvents / App Sandbox
  • Main Book: “macOS Internals” by Jonathan Levin

What you’ll build: An app that watches folders and automatically organizes files based on user-defined rules (move screenshots to Screenshots folder, rename downloaded PDFs by date, etc.).

Why it teaches macOS + UX: This teaches file system integration, background processing, and crucially—how to design complex configuration UX. Rules engines are notoriously hard to make intuitive; solving this teaches you to design for power users without overwhelming beginners.

Core challenges you’ll face:

  • Monitoring file system changes efficiently using FSEvents (maps to file system APIs)
  • Designing a rule builder that’s powerful yet intuitive (maps to complex UX design)
  • Running reliably in the background without draining battery (maps to background processing)
  • Handling edge cases gracefully (permissions, locked files, conflicts) (maps to error UX)
  • Providing clear feedback on what rules are doing (maps to transparency UX)

Key Concepts:

Difficulty: Advanced Time estimate: 3-4 weeks Prerequisites: Solid SwiftUI, understanding of file systems, some UX design experience

Real world outcome:

  • Set a rule: “When a .png file appears in Downloads containing ‘Screenshot’, move it to ~/Screenshots and rename to date”
  • See a live activity log showing every action taken
  • Get optional notifications when rules fire
  • Pause/resume rules with a single click in the menu bar

Learning milestones:

  1. File monitoring works reliably—you understand FSEvents and sandboxing
  2. Rule builder is usable without documentation—you’ve solved complex UX
  3. Error states are helpful, not frustrating—you understand error UX
  4. Background operation is invisible until needed—you understand ambient computing UX

Project 5: Personal CRM / Contact Notes App

  • File: MACOS_APP_DEVELOPMENT_UX_PROJECTS.md
  • Programming Language: Swift
  • Coolness Level: Level 2: Practical but Forgettable
  • Business Potential: 2. The “Micro-SaaS / Pro Tool”
  • Difficulty: Level 3: Advanced
  • Knowledge Area: Personal Information Management / UX
  • Software or Tool: Contacts Framework / CloudKit
  • Main Book: “Pro iOS and iPadOS 17 Apps with SwiftUI” by Matt Neuburg (Concepts apply to macOS)

What you’ll build: An app that extends Apple Contacts with rich notes, interaction history, reminders, and relationship tracking—”remember everything about everyone.”

Why it teaches macOS + UX: This integrates with system frameworks (Contacts, Calendar, Reminders), teaches you to extend native experiences respectfully, and forces you to design for sensitive personal data with appropriate privacy UX.

Core challenges you’ll face:

  • Integrating with Contacts framework while adding your own data layer (maps to system framework integration)
  • Designing for privacy—users must trust you with personal data (maps to privacy UX)
  • Creating a timeline view of interactions that’s scannable (maps to information architecture)
  • Syncing across devices if desired (maps to CloudKit/iCloud)
  • Respecting system appearance (light/dark mode, accent colors) (maps to design system compliance)

Key Concepts:

Difficulty: Advanced Time estimate: 4-6 weeks Prerequisites: Strong SwiftUI, understanding of data persistence, privacy considerations

Real world outcome:

  • Select any contact to see your personal notes, last interaction date, upcoming reminders
  • Add notes after meetings: “Discussed their new startup, they’re looking for a designer”
  • Set reminders: “Follow up with Sarah about the proposal in 2 weeks”
  • Search across all notes to find “who was working on machine learning?”

Learning milestones:

  1. Contacts integration works smoothly—you understand system framework integration
  2. Permission flow feels trustworthy—you understand privacy UX
  3. Timeline is scannable and useful—you understand information architecture
  4. Data persists and syncs reliably—you understand data architecture

Project Comparison Table

Project Difficulty Time Depth of Understanding Fun Factor
Clipboard History Manager Beginner-Intermediate 1-2 weeks ⭐⭐⭐ Menu bar apps, system APIs ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Immediately useful
Markdown Note-Taking App Intermediate 2-3 weeks ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Core macOS patterns ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Satisfying to build
System Monitor Dashboard Intermediate-Advanced 2-3 weeks ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Data viz, performance ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Visually impressive
File Organizer Advanced 3-4 weeks ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Complex UX, background ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Solves real pain
Personal CRM Advanced 4-6 weeks ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Full system integration ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Deeply personal

Start with the Clipboard History Manager.

Here’s why:

  1. Immediately useful: You’ll use it every day, which keeps you motivated
  2. Teaches fundamentals: Menu bar apps, system integration, keyboard shortcuts
  3. Completable: You can ship a working v1 in a week, then iterate
  4. UX-focused from day one: The entire value is in the interaction design
  5. Low risk: If it breaks, no data loss—perfect for learning

After completing it, move to the Markdown Note-Taking App to master the canonical three-pane Mac app structure. These two projects will give you 80% of the patterns you need for most Mac apps.

Final Capstone Project: Personal Knowledge Management Suite

What you’ll build: A comprehensive “second brain” app combining notes, bookmarks, file attachments, tasks, and connections between ideas—like Notion meets Obsidian meets Things, but native to macOS.

Why it teaches everything: This project requires you to synthesize every skill: complex multi-window layouts, rich text editing, file management, background sync, search indexing, graph visualization for linked notes, keyboard-driven workflows, and above all—designing an information architecture that scales from 10 notes to 10,000.

Core challenges you’ll face:

  • Designing a flexible data model that connects notes, files, links, and tasks (maps to data architecture)
  • Building a graph view showing connections between ideas (maps to custom rendering)
  • Implementing full-text search with instant results (maps to search indexing)
  • Creating a command palette (⌘+K) for power users (maps to keyboard UX)
  • Supporting multiple windows with shared state (maps to advanced SwiftUI)
  • Handling large datasets without performance degradation (maps to optimization)
  • Designing onboarding that doesn’t overwhelm (maps to progressive disclosure UX)

Key Concepts:

  • SwiftData: SwiftData Documentation - Apple - Modern persistence
  • Core Spotlight: Core Spotlight - Apple - System-wide search integration
  • Custom Rendering: Canvas - SwiftUI - Graph visualization
  • Information Architecture: “How to Make Sense of Any Mess” by Abby Covert - Organizing complex information
  • Command Palette UX: Study Raycast, Alfred, VS Code—keyboard-first interaction patterns
  • Progressive Disclosure: Human Interface Guidelines - Revealing complexity gradually

Difficulty: Expert Time estimate: 2-3 months Prerequisites: All previous projects completed, strong data modeling skills

Real world outcome:

  • A main window with sidebar (collections), list (items), and detail view
  • Create notes with Markdown, attach files, add tags, link to other notes
  • Graph view shows how your ideas connect visually
  • ⌘+K opens command palette: “Create note”, “Search for…”, “Open recent…”
  • Quick capture from menu bar: highlight text anywhere, press shortcut, it’s saved
  • Full-text search returns results as you type
  • Spotlight integration: search your notes from anywhere on your Mac

Learning milestones:

  1. Core CRUD operations work smoothly—you’ve mastered SwiftData
  2. Multiple views stay in sync—you understand advanced state management
  3. Graph view renders thousands of nodes smoothly—you understand custom rendering
  4. New users can start immediately, power users have depth—you’ve mastered progressive disclosure
  5. App feels like it belongs on macOS—you’ve internalized Apple’s design language

Essential Resources Across All Projects

Primary Learning Path

For Design Inspiration

For 2025 Design Language

Sources