How can I get started designing apps for MacOS?

Mac
1

I’m trying to design my first native app for MacOS after only building for mobile before, and I’m feeling stuck. I’m not sure which tools, design guidelines, and best practices I should follow so the app looks and feels truly native on Mac. Can anyone explain the basic workflow, recommended design tools, and key MacOS UI patterns I should study to get this right?

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I’ve bounced between a bunch of macOS design tools over the last few years, so I’ll just lay out what actually stuck for me and what kind of work each one was good for. None of this is theory; this is the “I stayed up until 2 a.m. trying to export assets without crying” version.

For UI & Product Design

Figma (web + desktop app on Mac)

I fought this one at first. Everyone kept saying “just use Figma,” and I was stubbornly attached to local apps. Then I had to collaborate on a big product redesign and… yeah, Figma kind of forced its way into my workflow.

What it’s been good for on my Mac:

  • Designing full app flows and prototypes
  • Swapping design files between team members instantly
  • Dropping in components and keeping stuff consistent

The desktop client feels decent enough. Not native-native like old-school Mac apps, but I got used to it. The live collaboration is ridiculous, though: watching someone else tweak a button in real time while I adjust the layout saved us a ton of back-and-forth.

It does feel heavy if all you want is a simple mockup, so I don’t open it for small stuff.

For Pixel-Perfect & Web Graphics

Affinity Designer

At some point I got sick of subscriptions and grabbed Affinity Designer during a sale. That turned into my “just make the thing” app on Mac.

I’ve used it for:

  • Creating app icons and marketing graphics
  • Exporting multiple sizes for web/mobile
  • Doing random layout tasks that don’t justify firing up Figma or Photoshop

It feels snappy on Mac, even with bigger files. It also handles vectors and raster stuff in a single workflow without making me think too hard about it, which I appreciated on those “client needs this in 20 minutes” days.

Not as trendy as the usual suspects, but honestly, it just gets work done.

For Photo Editing & Visual Tweaks

Pixelmator Pro

I tried going full Adobe for a while, but I kept drifting back to Pixelmator Pro because it felt like it understood macOS better. It looks and acts like a Mac app instead of a port.

What I actually used it for:

  • Cleaning up product shots and screenshots
  • Making quick social graphics
  • Adjusting colors on UI mockups imported as images

It launches fast, doesn’t beat up the system too badly, and I don’t have to re-learn the interface every few months. When I’m moving quickly, that matters more than having every obscure tool.

For Layout & “Pretty But Practical” Stuff

Keynote (yes, seriously)

I did not expect this. I started using Keynote just for presentations, and then I realized it’s stupidly good for:

  • Rough UI ideas
  • Simple pitch decks with product mockups
  • Quick layouts for client explanations

Dragging images around, aligning stuff, dropping in text, exporting to PDF, done. When I’m not in the mood to open a “real” design app, I end up in Keynote more than I’d like to admit.

Managing & Moving Design Files

This is the part I didn’t think about until my Mac’s SSD started choking on giant design folders.

I kept running into the same problem: Figma exports here, Affinity files there, raw photos somewhere else. My local storage was a mess, and syncing all that stuff with different cloud services felt like juggling flaming hard drives.

What helped:

CloudMounter

Here’s what I ended up doing with CloudMounter:

  • I mounted multiple cloud accounts (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.) as if they were regular drives on my Mac.
  • I pushed all the heavy design assets there: photo libraries, old project archives, multiple versions of app design files.
  • In Finder, they showed up like normal folders, so Affinity, Figma’s exports, Pixelmator Pro, whatever, could open and save straight to those locations.

What this actually felt like in practice:

  • My internal SSD suddenly stopped gasping for air.
  • I could move stuff between services pretty quickly, just dragging files around as if they were on local drives.
  • Big photo sets lived in the cloud but were still easy to reach when I needed to drop them into a new design.

It’s not magic, and you still depend on your connection speed, but on my end, transferring chunky design files and photo libraries felt smoother than juggling different sync apps.

Quick Summary If You Just Want A Stack

If I had to redo my setup on a fresh Mac tomorrow, I’d probably install:

  • Figma for UI/product flows and prototypes
  • Affinity Designer for icons, vectors, and “one-time purchase” sanity
  • Pixelmator Pro for photo work and quick edits
  • Keynote for fast, scrappy layouts and pitches
    -[CloudMounter to shove all the photos and big design files into the cloud and still work with them like they’re local

That combo covered almost everything I needed without my Mac turning into a very expensive external drive full of half-finished mockups.

1 Like
3

You’re not actually stuck, you’re just trying to design a Mac app like it’s an iPhone app :slightly_smiling_face:

@mikeappsreviewer covered the tooling side pretty well, so I’ll mostly hit what’s different about macOS design and how to get your head out of “mobile thinking.”

1. Stop thinking “screens,” start thinking “windows”

On mobile: one full-screen view at a time.
On macOS: multiple resizable windows, side by side, sometimes minimized, sometimes fullscreen, often partially visible.

Key mindset shifts:

  • Design for resizing: your layout has to survive from a tiny window to a large one. Think “adaptive” instead of locked frames.
  • Think about multiple windows: do you need a preferences window, a document window, a floating inspector, a popover?
  • Consider split views: sidebar + content is the macOS bread and butter.

If you’re prototyping, don’t just do one “ideal” window. Mock up at least:

  • Compact width
  • “Normal” width
  • Very wide (how does it stretch?)

2. Live in the Human Interface Guidelines for a bit

Boring answer, but the macOS section of Apple’s HIG is your best shortcut to “this feels native.”

Key HIG topics to look up specifically:

  • Toolbars vs title bars vs sidebars
  • Menus: app menu, File / Edit / View, context menus
  • Controls: segmented controls, checkboxes, switches, stepper, sliders
  • Tables & outlines: if you have any kind of list, these patterns matter
  • Accent color & vibrancy: how macOS handles color, translucency, dark mode

Don’t read every word, but skim with your app in mind and steal patterns shamelessly.

3. Use actual native components while you design

I disagree slightly with leaning too hard on pure vector tools early. For macOS specifically, you’ll get better results if you prototype with real components as fast as possible.

Pick your stack:

  • SwiftUI: faster to iterate visuals, great for modern macOS design, handles dark mode and dynamic type nicely.
  • AppKit: more classic power-user stuff, if your app is complex, but slower to make pretty.

Even if you’re not fully coding, spinning up a throwaway Xcode project and:

  • Dropping a NavigationSplitView (sidebar + content)
  • Adding a toolbar with native buttons
  • Flipping between light/dark mode and different accent colors

will teach you more than a week of static mocks.

Use design tools for visual language, but validate with a rough Xcode build way earlier than you would on mobile.

4. Mac users expect menus, shortcuts, and preferences

This is where most “mobile-first” designers flop.

Non-negotiables for a native feel:

  • App menu bar:
    • App menu: About, Preferences, Quit
    • File / Edit / View / Window / Help as appropriate
  • Keyboard shortcuts:
    • Common ones: ⌘N, ⌘S, ⌘O, ⌘W, ⌘, ⌘F, ⌘Z / ⇧⌘Z
    • Anything users do frequently should have a shortcut
  • Preferences window:
    • Not a full-screen “Settings” page
    • Small, focused window, usually behind “⌘,”

When you’re designing flows, literally map: “What goes in menu bar? What must be reachable via keyboard?”

5. Respect the Mac layout patterns

Some quick visual “make it feel Mac-like” guidelines:

  • Sidebar on the left, content on the right. Use system-style sidebars.
  • Toolbar at the top with icons + optional text. Use standard toolbar height, don’t make a giant iOS-style header.
  • Tables & lists: use standard table appearance, alternating row colors optional, check HIG for correct row density.
  • Avoid giant touch targets. This is pointer-first, not finger-first.

Watch a few of Apple’s Mac apps:

  • Notes
  • Mail
  • Reminders
  • Finder
    and map your app against those patterns, not mobile apps.

6. Asset workflows & storage

You’ll probably end up with:

  • Different icon sizes for macOS (app icon, toolbar icons, sidebar icons, etc.)
  • Lots of screenshots, states, and export variants

This is where something like CloudMounter is actually useful. Not because it’s pretty, but because:

  • You can mount cloud drives as local volumes in Finder
  • Save design exports straight from your tools to cloud storage
  • Keep your Mac’s SSD from filling up with unused iterations

So your workflow becomes:

  1. Prototype structure in SwiftUI/AppKit.
  2. Design icons and visuals in your preferred tool.
  3. Export assets right into a CloudMounter-mounted folder, use them in Xcode from there.
  4. Archive old versions in the cloud without breaking your project references.

It’s boring infra stuff, but it keeps your machine from turning into a dumpster of “final_v3_really_final.sketch” files.

7. Do a “native audit” against real apps

Last step I’d absolutely do before calling a design “Mac-like”:

  1. Put your mock or prototype side-by-side with:
    • Notes
    • Safari
    • Calendar
    • One third-party Mac app you respect (e.g., Things, Fantastical, iA Writer, etc.)
  2. Check:
    • Are toolbar heights, paddings, font sizes wildly off?
    • Do your icons feel like they belong in a toolbar, not a mobile tab bar?
    • Are you using the system font correctly (SF Pro, not random custom for core UI)?
    • Does dark mode still look clean?

If it screams “Electron” or “iPad app from 2014,” trim until it doesn’t.

Tl;dr checklist to get unstuck:

  • Stop thinking in screens, think windows & resizing.
  • Read targeted parts of the macOS HIG, not the whole thing.
  • Prototype with real SwiftUI/AppKit components early.
  • Add menus, shortcuts, and a real Preferences window.
  • Copy layout patterns from Apple’s own Mac apps.
  • Keep assets sane with something like CloudMounter so your storage doesn’t melt.
  • Compare your UI side by side with native apps until it visually blends in.
4

You’re stuck because you’re still thinking “UI kit + pixels” instead of “Mac app in a real person’s workflow.” Tools and HIG matter, but your mental model needs a tweak.

@mikeappsreviewer and @nachtdromer already hit tooling and native patterns pretty hard, so I’ll come at it from a different angle: how to practice designing for macOS so it actually sticks.

1. Reverse‑engineer 2 or 3 apps you admire

Pick a few legit native Mac apps, not web wrappers:

  • Things
  • Fantastical
  • iA Writer
  • Apple Notes / Reminders / Mail

Then literally:

  1. Screenshot a few key states at different window sizes.
  2. Drop them into Figma / Affinity / whatever you use.
  3. Trace over key pieces:
    • Toolbar height, icon sizes, spacing
    • Sidebar width and typography
    • Padding around lists and content
  4. Write tiny notes on top:
    “Toolbar: 44-ish px high, icons ~18px, labels optional”
    “Sidebar: SF Pro, slightly desaturated colors, selection highlight is subtle”

You’re not copying their UI; you’re stealing the rules. This trains your eye way faster than just reading the HIG.

2. Design one workflow, not the whole app

On mobile, it’s easy to fall into “design all the screens.” On Mac, that’s a trap.

Pick a single core workflow, for example:

  • “Create a new project, add 3 items, filter, then export.”

Design only the parts involved:

  • Main window at 3 sizes (narrow / normal / wide)
  • Any sheets or dialogs that appear
  • Menu items and shortcuts that support it
  • One simple Preferences pane if relevant

Ask yourself:

  • What’s visible while the user does this?
  • What can stay persistent in the sidebar or toolbar instead of popping full-screen like mobile?
  • What must be reachable by keyboard?

If you can nail one workflow so it feels natural, you can scale the rest from that template.

3. Treat the menu bar as part of your UX

Both replies above mention menus & shortcuts, but I’d go further: design the menu bar like it’s another screen in your flow.

Literally mock up:

  • App menu
  • File
  • Edit
  • View
  • Window
  • Help

Write the commands out in your design file. Then:

  • Group commands by user intent not by technical feature
  • Avoid dumping every action into the toolbar just because it looks cool
  • Mark which ones get shortcuts (anything frequent)

Mobile habits lean on buttons and floating things. Mac users reach for menus first, especially power users.

4. Be stricter about typography than on mobile

SF Pro is your default, but the way you use it matters:

  • Very limited font sizes
  • Clear hierarchy via size + weight, not random colors
  • Respect macOS spacing: don’t go full “card-heavy” iOS style

Quick exercise that helps:

  1. Take a screenshot of Notes or Mail.
  2. Match fonts, sizes, and spacing for your own list or detail layout.
  3. Only once you match the “native feel,” tweak colors and accents.

That’s how you avoid the “Electron-but-not-in-a-good-way” vibe.

5. Start with SwiftUI previews earlier than you think

Here’s where I slightly disagree with the heavier-design-first approach: for macOS, you can waste a lot of time polishing static mocks that completely fall apart when the window resizes.

Try this flow:

  1. Rough layout in Figma (no pixel-perfection).
  2. Implement that layout in SwiftUI with NavigationSplitView, Toolbar, etc.
  3. Use SwiftUI previews to drag-resize live and see where it breaks.
  4. Go back to design and adjust.

You’re not coding the full app, just the shell. The goal is to feel how real Mac windows behave way earlier. Half of your “stuck” feeling will disappear the moment you see your layout react in a real window.

6. Watch how people actually use Mac apps

If you can, observe someone working on a Mac for 10–15 minutes:

  • How many windows do they have open?
  • Are they using full-screen at all, or normal windows?
  • Do they keep your app visible alongside something else?
  • How often do they use keyboard vs mouse?

Designing in a vacuum is what gives you “mobile app blown up to desktop size.” Mac apps often share screen space with other apps; design your layout so key areas still make sense in a narrow width next to a browser or editor.

7. Asset pipeline & storage that won’t melt your SSD

Since you’re coming from mobile, you probably already know the pain of icon sizes and marketing assets. macOS adds:

  • App icon + variants
  • Toolbar icons (template images)
  • Sidebar icons
  • App Store screenshots in multiple languages / sizes

You’ll generate a ton of large files, and your SSD will quietly cry.

Using something like CloudMounter is actually pretty practical here:

  • Mount Google Drive / Dropbox as a normal drive in Finder.
  • Point your design tools to export directly into those mounted folders.
  • Hook Xcode’s asset catalogs to reference from an organized “Assets” dir that lives in cloud storage.

The benefit isn’t just “space saving.” It keeps your versions sane across machines and avoids the “where is v5_final_really_final.icns.psd” scavenger hunt. For a multi-device workflow (desktop + laptop), CloudMounter makes the whole thing feel local while keeping big exports off your internal disk.

8. Do a brutal “Mac-ness” checklist

Before you call the design “done”, run through this:

  • Uses system font correctly, no random fonts in core UI
  • Toolbar height, sidebar style, and paddings roughly match Apple apps
  • Menus exist and are logically structured
  • Keyboard shortcuts for every frequent action
  • Preferences is a window, not a huge “Settings” screen
  • Window behaves well resized very small and very wide
  • Dark mode doesn’t look like a bad inverted theme

If you fail 2–3 of those, you’re still designing like a mobile dev, just with extra pixels.

Last thing: don’t try to invent a new “Mac design language” on your first app. Shipping something that blends in with Notes and Finder is a win. Your unique visual style can sit on top of native behavior, not instead of it.