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Discussion on: The Challenges of Building Own MacOS App

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moopet profile image
Ben Sinclair

It always amazes me how many simple, one-action apps there are for Macs because doing seemingly simple things is made prohibitively difficult by the OS.

Even for a simple, one-action app, you need time to build features like the following:

Are some of these things not simply artifacts of switching to a paid model? The GitHub README would do just as good a job for the Onboarding screens and website for most people. The integrated payment functions are their own problem - kind of like how adding fuel to a rocket means you have to add more fuel to compensate for the fuel you've just added. The update functionality problem goes away if you distribute using a package management system; homebrew is used by a lot of people these days. Do you mean you had to put in your own "check for updates" button?

The problem it looks like your app solves is one of confidence - I have no confidence that my Mac has the microphone muted at any time. I don't trust Apple and I don't trust any proprietary messaging system not to be listening in at any time. Having a big red icon telling me I'm safe would be a big confidence boost, though obviously I'd be more confident if it was free software.

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Alex Barashkov

Are some of these things not simply artifacts of switching to a paid model?
I think only integration with the payment provider.
The GitHub README would do just as good a job for the Onboarding screens and website for most people.
For tech people only, when the audience is not a tech people, it could be product managers, sales people who don't know anything about Github. We wanted to have very nice website and very smooth/clear experience of using the app.
I have no confidence that my Mac has the microphone muted at any time.
It does not :) Mic is always turned on.
Having a big red icon telling me I'm safe would be a big confidence boost,
That what we do, and actually having the same for webcam also could be a good idea.

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detunized profile image
Dmitry Yakimenko • Edited

Webcam is easier. I have a sticker of a dinosaur on it my son gave me ;)

Do you have confidence in your workarounds though? I have a feeling it could not be trusted to be bulletproof from what you're describing. Maybe some other app turns it on without your app registering it.

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moopet profile image
Ben Sinclair

I saw this the other day: project alias which is a physical solution for always-on devices but obviously that would be more difficult to make for a variety of different laptops.

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Dmitry Yakimenko

Yeah, it would be difficult to work with a parasite on my laptop. Good idea though.