The AI-Driven Resurgence of Native Mac App Development

AI-assisted programming has sparked a resurgence in native Mac app development, with indie developers—including those with no prior coding experience—creating new applications using Apple’s native frameworks. This shift reverses a decade-long trend where development focused primarily on iOS, as tools like AI now enable users to build Mac utilities tailored to their own needs. The revival, driven by individual creators rather than large corporations, is seen as crucial for the future health of the Mac platform.

Jason Snell at Six Colors, looking ahead to WWDC next week: These days, I’m getting emails pitching me for an endless stream of new Mac apps. It’s quite remarkable because there was a period five or ten years ago when it seemed like all app development on Apple’s platforms was focused on iOS. Even more interesting, these are all indie Mac apps that seem to be built using native Mac frameworks, not the product of big corporations that are just rolling their cross-platform development system out everywhere. These apps seem to have a point of view and are focused on the Mac. Of course, it’s happening because of AI. ... Mac users — some of them developers, some of them people who have never written software in their lives — are building apps that fulfill their imaginations. We now live in an era where, if you can dream an app, you can probably build it. Especially Mac utilities. And who cares more about native Mac software than Mac users? Certainly not those companies that gave up on Mac development and focused all their energies on giant cross-platform code bases to attract venture investment and big payouts. There are pros and cons to everything, but on the whole, AI-assisted programming has rejuvenated Mac development. It wasn’t moribund, but it was stagnant. And stagnation is the first step toward decline. Now it’s resurgent, and that’s a fun thing to see. And, I think, genuinely important for the future of the platform. And Snell, it turns out, has joined the party https://www.theincomparable.com/doubleender/ .