Construct and manage a graphical, event-driven user interface for your macOS app using AppKit.

Posts under AppKit tag

188 Posts

Post

Replies

Boosts

Views

Activity

Xcode 26 Compiler Critical Issues?
Hello everyone, Since I installed Xcode 26, I've been encountering issues I've never seen before. I have Mac OS applications written in Objective-C, some released as far back as 14 years ago. When compiling them with Xcode 26, I experience efficiency issues related to thread management and interface updates. There are rendering problems with a simple NSTextView created through Interface Builder. The issue is not easily reproducible as it occurs randomly on some machines, regardless of their architecture or macOS version. The main thread freezes, and generally after 15-30 seconds, it unfreezes, loading the interface and text. The length of the text is irrelevant to the issue, and no crashes occur. I spent ten days trying to optimize the code and change the loading order within the class, but the problem persists. However, if I compile the application with Xcode 16.4, everything works like a charm. I also tried using the macOS 15.5 SDK to compile with Xcode 26, but it doesn’t resolve any issues. Additionally, I tried changing the compiler optimization level, but it didn’t solve the problem. This leads me to believe it’s an issue with the Xcode 26 compiler. If it were a code issue, it would be easily reproducible and would also occur when compiling with 16.4. The Xcode 26.1 Beta doesn’t resolve the issue. Can anyone tell me if I need to change something related to the compiler? Are you aware of any issues like this? Thank you, Luca
0
1
314
Oct ’25
XPC: too many nested collections when explicitly decoding a single collection on macOS 12.7 (not on macOS Tahoe)
I have a custom object which gets passed back to the main app from XPC. I whitelist it like so: NSSet *expectedClass = [NSSet setWithObjects:[NSArray class], [MyCustomClass class], nil]; [interface setClasses:expectedClass forSelector:@selector(myMethodNameHere:withCompletion:) argumentIndex:0 ofReply:YES]; Now my custom class conforms to NSSecureCoding. It does have an array property of another custom class. @property (nonatomic,readonly) NSArray *arraypropertyOfOtherClass; Which is decoded in -initWithCoder: using: -decodeArrayOfObjectsOfClasses:forKey: Now on macOS Tahoe this is all walking fine. But I just tested on macOS Monterey and I get the following error: Exception: decodeObjectForKey: too many nested collections when explicitly decoding a single collection. How should I handle this for earlier versions of macOS?
2
0
315
Oct ’25
How to bind AppKit window to Observable viewmodel using SwiftUI app life cycle
Hey everyone. I have a macOS app written in SwiftUI. I have multiple SwiftUI Scenes and Views, but needed to write one specific window in AppKit (an NSPanel, to be specific). The problem I'm facing is- I'm not sure how to incorporate this NSPanel with the rest of my SwiftUI/Observable code. I'm relying on the SwiftUI app cycle. For example, I have a boolean in my view model (observation tracked). I'd like to use this boolean to hide/unhide my NSPanel. Any way to cleanly hook into the viewmodel, or onto some specific observable variables would be very very helpful. Thank you everyone.
1
0
201
Oct ’25
[NSEvent charactersByApplyingModifiers:] not matching NSEvent.characters/charactersIgnoringModifiers
To my surprise [NSEvent charactersByApplyingModifiers:] does not always produce the same NSString result as the originating NSEvent reflects through characters/charactersIgnoringModifiers, even if passing on the event's own modifierFlags. For example, when pressing the 'end' key, both characters and charactersIgnoringModifiers return 0x000000000000f72b, which matches the value of NSEndFunctionKey. But calling [NSEvent charactersByApplyingModifiers:] passing in NSEvent.modifierFlags produces 0x0000000000000004, which matches the value of kEndCharCode. (lldb) po [[((NSApplication*)NSApp).currentEvent characters] characterAtIndex:0] 0x000000000000f72b (lldb) po [[((NSApplication*)NSApp).currentEvent charactersIgnoringModifiers] characterAtIndex:0] 0x000000000000f72b (lldb) po [[((NSApplication*)NSApp).currentEvent charactersByApplyingModifiers:[(NSEvent*)((NSApplication*)NSApp).currentEvent modifierFlags]] characterAtIndex:0] 0x0000000000000004 (The same can be observed with UCKeyTranslate directly, which charactersByApplyingModifiers seems to use internally). I would expect [NSApp.currentEvent charactersByApplyingModifiers:NSApp.currentEvent.modifierFlags] to match either NSApp.currentEvent.characters or NSApp.currentEvent.charactersIgnoringModifiers. Is there a logic behind this perceived discrepancy that I'm missing? Should I always prefer the content of NSEvent.characters/charactersIgnoringModifiers in this case if the modifier flags I'm applying match those of the event itself? Thanks for any insights! (Also reported as FB20591338)
Topic: UI Frameworks SubTopic: AppKit Tags:
3
0
141
Oct ’25
SwiftUI animation is laggy in NSStatusItem since macOS 26 Tahoe
My app is a bit of a special case and relies on a custom view in a NSStatusItem. I use a NSHostingView and add it as a subview to my NSStatusItem's .button property. Since macOS 26 Tahoe, even simple animations like a .frame change of a Circle won't animate smoothly even though the same SwiftUI animates normally in a WindowGroup. class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate { private let statusItem: NSStatusItem = NSStatusBar.system.statusItem(withLength: NSStatusItem.variableLength) func applicationDidFinishLaunching(_ aNotification: Notification) { let subview = NSHostingView(rootView: AnimationView()) let view = self.statusItem.button view?.addSubview(subview) subview.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false guard let view = view else { return } NSLayoutConstraint.activate([ subview.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.centerXAnchor), subview.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.centerYAnchor), subview.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 22), subview.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 22) ]) } } struct AnimationView: View { @State private var isTapped = false @State private var size: CGSize = .init(width: 4, height: 4) var body: some View { Circle() .fill(.pink) .frame(width: size.width, height: size.height) .frame(width: 20, height: 20) // .frame(maxHeight: .infinity) // .padding(.horizontal, 9) // .frame(height: 22) .contentShape(Rectangle()) // .background(Color.blue.opacity(0.5)) .onTapGesture { withAnimation(.interactiveSpring(response: 0.85, dampingFraction: 0.26, blendDuration: 0.45)) { // withAnimation(.spring()) { if isTapped { size = .init(width: 4, height: 4) } else { size = .init(width: 16, height: 16) } } isTapped.toggle() }} } Example project: https://app.box.com/s/q28upunrgkxyyd97ovslgud9yitqaxfk
0
0
119
Oct ’25
Resize Window Form After Loading
I am trying to resize a Window Form after it loads and have done quite a bit of searching for code to do it. Here is one code snippet that works to size the form during the design phase. self.view.window?.contentMinSize = CGSize(width: 1100, height: 310) I have tried code like below to increase the window size after the Form loads if let myWindow = self.view.window ?? NSApplication.shared.mainWindow { // Increase window size and position after it loads let newRect = NSRect(x: 100, y: 100, width: 1400, height: 900) } It seems that this code not only changes the Form size after loading, but also changes the size of the Form in Main.swift, which is something I don't want. I read elsewhere that I had to disable constraints to resize the Form, so I tried code below. let tableView = NSTableView() tableView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false let newRect = NSRect(x: 100, y: 0, width: 1100, height: 600) myWindow?.setFrame(newRect, display: true) That code did not seem to do anything as well. Also, the Form displays in the lower left of the screen. Note that main reason I want to resize the Form after loading is to keep it smaller during design development. The same goes for the NSTableView, which I have not gotten to yet.
0
0
224
Oct ’25
NSHostingSceneRepresentation doesn't show Window(_:id:) and UtilityWindow(_:id:) with .openWIndow(id:)
NSHostingSceneRepresentation, introduced in macOS 26, allows calling SwiftUI’s windows and other elements set in a Scene from AppKit. However, while Settings and WindowGroup set in the Scene can be invoked as expected using environment.openSettings() and environment.openWindow(id:) respectively, calling Window or WindowUtility doesn’t work. That is, the app just fails to open the desired window with the provided ID, and no error message or other feedback/crash/freeze appears. I expect that executing the openUtilityWindow(_:)action in the following code will display the UtilityWindow set in the scene. However, the window does not actually open. @main final class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate { private let scene = NSHostingSceneRepresentation { UtilityWindow("Utility Window", id: "UtilityWindow") { Text("Utility Window") .scenePadding() } } func applicationWillFinishLaunching(_ notification: Notification) { NSApp.addSceneRepresentation(self.scene) } @IBAction func openUtilityWindow(_ sender: Any?) { self.scene.environment.openWindow(id: "UtilityWindow") } } Is there something wrong with my implementation and expectation? Or is this a bug in NSHostingSceneRepresentation? Just in case, I’ve already filed this issue withFeedback Assistant: FB20310722 This feedback also includes a sample project reproducing this issue.
1
1
282
Oct ’25
Why does AppStore.requestReview(in:) require NSViewController Parameter?
Looking to update one of my apps that uses SKStoreReviewController +requestReview (deprecated) to AppStore.requestReview(in:) umm...I have a few of questions... Why is an NSViewController parameter required? It's really not so uncommon for an AppKit app to just use NSWindowController with a window that does not use NSViewController... It should be possible to present the review request in a standalone alert (attached to a window is preferred IMO but it still should be possible to ask in separate window). 3)...why Swift..(err nevermind) Ideally: AppStore requestReview should take a NSWindow parameter but that parameter should be optional. If nil the request should be presented in a standalone window (like an alert). If non nil..present as a sheet on the window. Why a view controller? Maybe I'm missing something.
2
0
188
Oct ’25
Grammar checking is never requested
I have prepared a NSSpellServer spelling and grammar checker for Slovenian proofing in macOS. My proofing service gets used when I explicitly set keyboard spelling language to "Slovenian (Besana)" (my proofing service). However, no matter how I set the Check Grammar With Spelling option or Check Grammar checkbox in the TextEdit.app or Mail.app, my proofing service does not get any request for grammar checking. I am supporting checkString call for Unified checking and checkingTypes never contains NSTextCheckingTypeGrammar flag. When using legacy API before Unified checking support, the checkGrammarInString is never called either. If I do the grammar regardless the checkingTypes parameter, the app shows grammar mistakes correctly. But that is bad UX. Need to follow user demand for with grammar or without grammar. I don't know what am I doing wrong? On my home iMac v11 it actually works. No idea what I did there to make it work. Just worked. On my working Mac Mini v13 it won't check grammar. On another MacBook Pro v15, it won't check grammar either. Apps do check spelling with my proofing service. But not grammar. Same apps do grammar checking with stock AppleSpelling.service just fine. I have checked my Info.plist, using Hardened Runtime, have empty Entitlements, to no avail. Was there some new grammar API introduced after macOS v11 Big Sur, I should implement? Is there some specific Entitlement, signature, notarization I should perform to get going? Some documentation I am missing?
2
0
162
Oct ’25
ProgressView Tint doesn't work on macOS
I seem to be unable to affect the color of a linear ProgressView() on macOS and need to know if this is a feature or a bug. I have the following: ProgressView(value: someProgress).tint(.green) This works fine in iOS, the linear ProgressView changes to the desired color. On macOS the ProgressView stays the color of the system accent. .progressViewStyle(LinearProgressViewStyle(tint: .blue)) Is available, but depreciated, or being depreciated. I have also tried: .tint(.red) .accentColor(.green) While I can understand the platform specific differences, the context that I'm using really would benefit from keeping the UI elements colored consistent with the app, rather than the OS. Also I can do it in iOS, why not macOS? Both dev and test machines are running latest updates (Xcode 26.0.1/macOS 26.0.1 and iOS 26.0.1/macOS26.0.1)
3
0
158
Oct ’25
NSDocument doesn't autosave last changes
I had noticed an unsettling behaviour about NSDocument some years ago and created FB7392851, but the feedback didn't go forward, so I just updated it and hopefully here or there someone can explain what's going on. When running a simple document-based app with a text view, what I type before closing the app may be discarded without notice. To reproduce it, you can use the code below, then: Type "asdf" in the text view. Wait until the Xcode console logs "saving". You can trigger it by switching to another app and back again. Type something else in the text view, such as "asdf" on a new line. Quit the app. Relaunch the app. The second line has been discarded. Am I doing something wrong or is this a bug? Is there a workaround? class ViewController: NSViewController { @IBOutlet var textView: NSTextView! } class Document: NSDocument { private(set) var text = "" override class var autosavesInPlace: Bool { return true } override func makeWindowControllers() { let storyboard = NSStoryboard(name: NSStoryboard.Name("Main"), bundle: nil) let windowController = storyboard.instantiateController(withIdentifier: NSStoryboard.SceneIdentifier("Document Window Controller")) as! NSWindowController (windowController.contentViewController as? ViewController)?.textView.string = text self.addWindowController(windowController) } override func data(ofType typeName: String) throws -> Data { Swift.print("saving") text = (windowControllers.first?.contentViewController as? ViewController)?.textView.string ?? "" return Data(text.utf8) } override func read(from data: Data, ofType typeName: String) throws { text = String(decoding: data, as: UTF8.self) (windowControllers.first?.contentViewController as? ViewController)?.textView.string = text } }
Topic: UI Frameworks SubTopic: AppKit Tags:
17
0
588
Oct ’25
Window title bar in macOS 26 is drawn even if titlebarAppearsTransparent = true
macOS 26 sometimes draws the title bar background even when setting NSWindow.titlebarAppearsTransparent = true and I don't understand the logic behind it, or how I can turn this off. I'm trying to do something similar to Xcode's "Welcome to Xcode" window which has a left view and a right table view. In my simplified example, the window contains a label and a text view. This used to work in macOS 15, but in macOS 26 the text view is partially covered by the title bar: As soon as I remove the line scrollView.hasVerticalScroller = true, the title bar isn't drawn anymore: The title bar also isn't drawn when removing the view on the left of the text view: I created FB20341654. This may be related to this other issue: NSWindow.titlebarAppearsTransparent only works after collapsing and expanding sidebar @main class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate { func applicationDidFinishLaunching(_ aNotification: Notification) { let window = NSWindow(contentViewController: ViewController()) window.titlebarAppearsTransparent = true window.titleVisibility = .hidden window.styleMask = [.titled, .closable, .fullSizeContentView] window.makeKeyAndOrderFront(nil) } } class ViewController: NSViewController { override func loadView() { view = NSView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 400, height: 200)) let scrollView = NSScrollView() scrollView.hasVerticalScroller = true // commenting this line out solves the issue scrollView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false scrollView.automaticallyAdjustsContentInsets = false let documentView = NSTextView() documentView.string = (0..<10).map({ "\($0)" }).joined(separator: "\n") scrollView.documentView = documentView let stack = NSStackView(views: [ NSTextField(labelWithString: "asdfasdfasdfasdf"), // commenting this line out also solves the issue scrollView ]) stack.orientation = .horizontal view.addSubview(stack) NSLayoutConstraint.activate([stack.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.topAnchor), stack.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.leadingAnchor), stack.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.trailingAnchor), stack.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.bottomAnchor)]) } }
Topic: UI Frameworks SubTopic: AppKit Tags:
2
0
295
Sep ’25
Did GCD change in macOS 26
Some users of my Mac app are complaining of redrawing delays. Based on what I see in logs, my GCD timer event handlers are not being run in a timely manner although the runloop is still pumping events: sometimes 500ms pass before a 15ms timer runs. During this time, many keypresses are routed through -[NSApplication sendEvent:], which is how I know it's not locked up in synchronous code. This issue has not been reported in older versions of macOS. I start the timer like this: _gcdUpdateTimer = dispatch_source_create(DISPATCH_SOURCE_TYPE_TIMER, 0, 0, dispatch_get_main_queue()); dispatch_source_set_timer(_gcdUpdateTimer, dispatch_time(DISPATCH_TIME_NOW, period * NSEC_PER_SEC), period * NSEC_PER_SEC, 0.0005 * NSEC_PER_SEC); dispatch_source_set_event_handler(_gcdUpdateTimer, ^{ …redraw… });
1
0
216
Sep ’25
Why isn't Liquid Glass effect applied when using pyobjc?
I can compile this #import <Cocoa/Cocoa.h> @interface AppDelegate : NSObject <NSApplicationDelegate> @property (strong) NSWindow *window; @property (strong) NSSlider *slider; @end @implementation AppDelegate - (void)applicationDidFinishLaunching:(NSNotification *)notification { // Window size NSRect frame = NSMakeRect(0, 0, 400, 300); NSUInteger style = NSWindowStyleMaskTitled | NSWindowStyleMaskClosable | NSWindowStyleMaskResizable; self.window = [[NSWindow alloc] initWithContentRect:frame styleMask:style backing:NSBackingStoreBuffered defer:NO]; [self.window setTitle:@"Centered Slider Example"]; [self.window makeKeyAndOrderFront:nil]; // Slider size CGFloat sliderWidth = 200; CGFloat sliderHeight = 32; CGFloat windowWidth = self.window.frame.size.width; CGFloat windowHeight = self.window.frame.size.height; CGFloat sliderX = (windowWidth - sliderWidth) / 2; CGFloat sliderY = (windowHeight - sliderHeight) / 2; self.slider = [[NSSlider alloc] initWithFrame:NSMakeRect(sliderX, sliderY, sliderWidth, sliderHeight)]; [self.slider setMinValue:0]; [self.slider setMaxValue:100]; [self.slider setDoubleValue:50]; [self.window.contentView addSubview:self.slider]; } @end int main(int argc, const char * argv[]) { @autoreleasepool { NSApplication *app = [NSApplication sharedApplication]; AppDelegate *delegate = [[AppDelegate alloc] init]; [app setDelegate:delegate]; [app run]; } return 0; } with (base) johnzhou@Johns-MacBook-Pro liquidglasstest % clang -framework Foundation -framework AppKit testobjc.m and get this neat liquid glass effect: https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/4199493b-6011-4ad0-9c9f-25db8585e547 However if I use pyobjc to make an equivalent import sys from Cocoa import ( NSApplication, NSApp, NSWindow, NSSlider, NSMakeRect, NSWindowStyleMaskTitled, NSWindowStyleMaskClosable, NSWindowStyleMaskResizable, NSBackingStoreBuffered, NSObject ) class AppDelegate(NSObject): def applicationDidFinishLaunching_(self, notification): # Create the main window window_size = NSMakeRect(0, 0, 400, 300) style = NSWindowStyleMaskTitled | NSWindowStyleMaskClosable | NSWindowStyleMaskResizable self.window = NSWindow.alloc().initWithContentRect_styleMask_backing_defer_( window_size, style, NSBackingStoreBuffered, False ) self.window.setTitle_("Centered Slider Example") self.window.makeKeyAndOrderFront_(None) # Slider size and positioning slider_width = 200 slider_height = 32 window_width = self.window.frame().size.width window_height = self.window.frame().size.height slider_x = (window_width - slider_width) / 2 slider_y = (window_height - slider_height) / 2 self.slider = NSSlider.alloc().initWithFrame_(NSMakeRect(slider_x, slider_y, slider_width, slider_height)) self.slider.setMinValue_(0) self.slider.setMaxValue_(100) self.slider.setDoubleValue_(50) self.window.contentView().addSubview_(self.slider) if __name__ == "__main__": app = NSApplication.sharedApplication() delegate = AppDelegate.alloc().init() app.setDelegate_(delegate) app.run() I get a result shown at https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/7da022bc-122b-491d-9e08-030dcb9337c3 which does not have the new liquid glass effect. Why is this? Is this perhaps related to the requirement that you must compile on latest Xcode as indicated in the docs? Why, is the compiler doing some magic?
3
0
419
Sep ’25
What is SwiftUI API equivalent to NSSplitViewItemAccessoryViewController in macOS?
On macOS Tahoe 26, NSSplitViewController introduced the NSSplitViewItemAccessoryViewController and related-APIs in NSSplitViewController, such as addBottomAlignedAccessoryViewController(_:). Those APIs allow you to place accessory views at the top and bottom of a split view with a nice edge effect. I understand how to use them with AppKit. However, I’m not sure how to achieve the same functionality with SwiftUI.
1
0
217
Sep ’25
SwiftUI TextField selects all text when it gains focus — how to move caret to the end like in AppKit?
I’m running into an issue with TextField focus behavior in SwiftUI. By default, when I set focus to a TextField programmatically (using @FocusState), SwiftUI behaves like AppKit — the entire contents of the text field are selected. This is causing problems for my use case, because I want the caret placed at the end of the text without selecting everything. How I solved this in AppKit In AppKit, I worked around this by subclassing NSTextField and overriding becomeFirstResponder to adjust the editor’s selection: override func becomeFirstResponder() -> Bool { let responderStatus = super.becomeFirstResponder() // Ensure caret is placed at the end, no text selected if let editor = self.currentEditor() { let selectedRange = editor.selectedRange editor.selectedRange = NSRange(location: selectedRange.length, length: 0) } return responderStatus } This successfully prevented AppKit from auto-selecting the entire string when focus changed. The problem in SwiftUI Now I see the same auto-select behavior in SwiftUI when I toggle focus with @FocusState. But unlike AppKit, SwiftUI doesn’t expose the underlying NSTextView or UITextField APIs, so I can’t directly adjust the selection or caret position. Questions: Is there a way in SwiftUI to control the caret/selection behavior when a TextField becomes focused? Is there a built-in modifier or @FocusState trick I’m missing? Has anyone found a reliable SwiftUI-idiomatic approach to ensure the caret is placed at the end of the text instead of selecting all text? update: adding my swiftUI code below: struct TextFieldUI: View { @ObservedObject var pModel:TextFieldModel @FocusState private var pIsFocusedState: Bool var body: some View { VStack(spacing: 20) { TextField(pModel.placeholder, text: $pModel.text) .textFieldStyle(RoundedBorderTextFieldStyle()) .padding() .focused($pIsFocusedState) .onChange(of: pModel.isFocused) { old, newValue in pIsFocusedState = newValue } .onChange(of: pIsFocusedState) { old, newValue in pModel.isFocused = newValue } .onAppear { pIsFocusedState = pModel.isFocused } Toggle("Secure Mode", isOn: $pModel.isSecure) .padding() } .padding() } }
0
0
138
Sep ’25
Icon for some menu items cannot be removed on macOS 26
create a sample XCode project using Objective-C and stroybook (xib) using latest XCode beta open MainMenu.xib, and select Main Menu → File → Print... remove the image like below 4. build it 5. run it on macOS 26 beta 7 6. The menu item "print.." still have "Image" Is there any way to remove image for one menu item. I have also tried NSMenuItem.image = nil, but still not work. The issue I met on my own app is that I cannot remove icons for "Zoom In", "Zoom Out" and many other menu items, which makes the menu items not aligned properly.
1
0
501
Sep ’25
Xcode 26 Compiler Critical Issues?
Hello everyone, Since I installed Xcode 26, I've been encountering issues I've never seen before. I have Mac OS applications written in Objective-C, some released as far back as 14 years ago. When compiling them with Xcode 26, I experience efficiency issues related to thread management and interface updates. There are rendering problems with a simple NSTextView created through Interface Builder. The issue is not easily reproducible as it occurs randomly on some machines, regardless of their architecture or macOS version. The main thread freezes, and generally after 15-30 seconds, it unfreezes, loading the interface and text. The length of the text is irrelevant to the issue, and no crashes occur. I spent ten days trying to optimize the code and change the loading order within the class, but the problem persists. However, if I compile the application with Xcode 16.4, everything works like a charm. I also tried using the macOS 15.5 SDK to compile with Xcode 26, but it doesn’t resolve any issues. Additionally, I tried changing the compiler optimization level, but it didn’t solve the problem. This leads me to believe it’s an issue with the Xcode 26 compiler. If it were a code issue, it would be easily reproducible and would also occur when compiling with 16.4. The Xcode 26.1 Beta doesn’t resolve the issue. Can anyone tell me if I need to change something related to the compiler? Are you aware of any issues like this? Thank you, Luca
Replies
0
Boosts
1
Views
314
Activity
Oct ’25
XPC: too many nested collections when explicitly decoding a single collection on macOS 12.7 (not on macOS Tahoe)
I have a custom object which gets passed back to the main app from XPC. I whitelist it like so: NSSet *expectedClass = [NSSet setWithObjects:[NSArray class], [MyCustomClass class], nil]; [interface setClasses:expectedClass forSelector:@selector(myMethodNameHere:withCompletion:) argumentIndex:0 ofReply:YES]; Now my custom class conforms to NSSecureCoding. It does have an array property of another custom class. @property (nonatomic,readonly) NSArray *arraypropertyOfOtherClass; Which is decoded in -initWithCoder: using: -decodeArrayOfObjectsOfClasses:forKey: Now on macOS Tahoe this is all walking fine. But I just tested on macOS Monterey and I get the following error: Exception: decodeObjectForKey: too many nested collections when explicitly decoding a single collection. How should I handle this for earlier versions of macOS?
Replies
2
Boosts
0
Views
315
Activity
Oct ’25
Is it possible to use UITextView in #TextKit2 with a subclass of NSTextContentManager without using NSTextStorage as backing store?
When I tried this, the app crashed immediately with a requirement to use NSTextContentStorage subclass
Replies
4
Boosts
0
Views
1.7k
Activity
Oct ’25
How to bind AppKit window to Observable viewmodel using SwiftUI app life cycle
Hey everyone. I have a macOS app written in SwiftUI. I have multiple SwiftUI Scenes and Views, but needed to write one specific window in AppKit (an NSPanel, to be specific). The problem I'm facing is- I'm not sure how to incorporate this NSPanel with the rest of my SwiftUI/Observable code. I'm relying on the SwiftUI app cycle. For example, I have a boolean in my view model (observation tracked). I'd like to use this boolean to hide/unhide my NSPanel. Any way to cleanly hook into the viewmodel, or onto some specific observable variables would be very very helpful. Thank you everyone.
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
201
Activity
Oct ’25
[NSEvent charactersByApplyingModifiers:] not matching NSEvent.characters/charactersIgnoringModifiers
To my surprise [NSEvent charactersByApplyingModifiers:] does not always produce the same NSString result as the originating NSEvent reflects through characters/charactersIgnoringModifiers, even if passing on the event's own modifierFlags. For example, when pressing the 'end' key, both characters and charactersIgnoringModifiers return 0x000000000000f72b, which matches the value of NSEndFunctionKey. But calling [NSEvent charactersByApplyingModifiers:] passing in NSEvent.modifierFlags produces 0x0000000000000004, which matches the value of kEndCharCode. (lldb) po [[((NSApplication*)NSApp).currentEvent characters] characterAtIndex:0] 0x000000000000f72b (lldb) po [[((NSApplication*)NSApp).currentEvent charactersIgnoringModifiers] characterAtIndex:0] 0x000000000000f72b (lldb) po [[((NSApplication*)NSApp).currentEvent charactersByApplyingModifiers:[(NSEvent*)((NSApplication*)NSApp).currentEvent modifierFlags]] characterAtIndex:0] 0x0000000000000004 (The same can be observed with UCKeyTranslate directly, which charactersByApplyingModifiers seems to use internally). I would expect [NSApp.currentEvent charactersByApplyingModifiers:NSApp.currentEvent.modifierFlags] to match either NSApp.currentEvent.characters or NSApp.currentEvent.charactersIgnoringModifiers. Is there a logic behind this perceived discrepancy that I'm missing? Should I always prefer the content of NSEvent.characters/charactersIgnoringModifiers in this case if the modifier flags I'm applying match those of the event itself? Thanks for any insights! (Also reported as FB20591338)
Topic: UI Frameworks SubTopic: AppKit Tags:
Replies
3
Boosts
0
Views
141
Activity
Oct ’25
SwiftUI animation is laggy in NSStatusItem since macOS 26 Tahoe
My app is a bit of a special case and relies on a custom view in a NSStatusItem. I use a NSHostingView and add it as a subview to my NSStatusItem's .button property. Since macOS 26 Tahoe, even simple animations like a .frame change of a Circle won't animate smoothly even though the same SwiftUI animates normally in a WindowGroup. class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate { private let statusItem: NSStatusItem = NSStatusBar.system.statusItem(withLength: NSStatusItem.variableLength) func applicationDidFinishLaunching(_ aNotification: Notification) { let subview = NSHostingView(rootView: AnimationView()) let view = self.statusItem.button view?.addSubview(subview) subview.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false guard let view = view else { return } NSLayoutConstraint.activate([ subview.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.centerXAnchor), subview.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.centerYAnchor), subview.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 22), subview.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 22) ]) } } struct AnimationView: View { @State private var isTapped = false @State private var size: CGSize = .init(width: 4, height: 4) var body: some View { Circle() .fill(.pink) .frame(width: size.width, height: size.height) .frame(width: 20, height: 20) // .frame(maxHeight: .infinity) // .padding(.horizontal, 9) // .frame(height: 22) .contentShape(Rectangle()) // .background(Color.blue.opacity(0.5)) .onTapGesture { withAnimation(.interactiveSpring(response: 0.85, dampingFraction: 0.26, blendDuration: 0.45)) { // withAnimation(.spring()) { if isTapped { size = .init(width: 4, height: 4) } else { size = .init(width: 16, height: 16) } } isTapped.toggle() }} } Example project: https://app.box.com/s/q28upunrgkxyyd97ovslgud9yitqaxfk
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
119
Activity
Oct ’25
NSOutlineView (Multiple Selection): How to prevent Child Row Deselection on Collapse
I’ve enabled multiple selection in NSOutlineView. When I collapse a parent item, all of its selected child rows get deselected automatically. Is there a way to prevent this deselection so that selections remain intact when the parent is collapsed and restored when it’s expanded again?
Topic: UI Frameworks SubTopic: AppKit Tags:
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
108
Activity
Oct ’25
Resize Window Form After Loading
I am trying to resize a Window Form after it loads and have done quite a bit of searching for code to do it. Here is one code snippet that works to size the form during the design phase. self.view.window?.contentMinSize = CGSize(width: 1100, height: 310) I have tried code like below to increase the window size after the Form loads if let myWindow = self.view.window ?? NSApplication.shared.mainWindow { // Increase window size and position after it loads let newRect = NSRect(x: 100, y: 100, width: 1400, height: 900) } It seems that this code not only changes the Form size after loading, but also changes the size of the Form in Main.swift, which is something I don't want. I read elsewhere that I had to disable constraints to resize the Form, so I tried code below. let tableView = NSTableView() tableView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false let newRect = NSRect(x: 100, y: 0, width: 1100, height: 600) myWindow?.setFrame(newRect, display: true) That code did not seem to do anything as well. Also, the Form displays in the lower left of the screen. Note that main reason I want to resize the Form after loading is to keep it smaller during design development. The same goes for the NSTableView, which I have not gotten to yet.
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
224
Activity
Oct ’25
NSHostingSceneRepresentation doesn't show Window(_:id:) and UtilityWindow(_:id:) with .openWIndow(id:)
NSHostingSceneRepresentation, introduced in macOS 26, allows calling SwiftUI’s windows and other elements set in a Scene from AppKit. However, while Settings and WindowGroup set in the Scene can be invoked as expected using environment.openSettings() and environment.openWindow(id:) respectively, calling Window or WindowUtility doesn’t work. That is, the app just fails to open the desired window with the provided ID, and no error message or other feedback/crash/freeze appears. I expect that executing the openUtilityWindow(_:)action in the following code will display the UtilityWindow set in the scene. However, the window does not actually open. @main final class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate { private let scene = NSHostingSceneRepresentation { UtilityWindow("Utility Window", id: "UtilityWindow") { Text("Utility Window") .scenePadding() } } func applicationWillFinishLaunching(_ notification: Notification) { NSApp.addSceneRepresentation(self.scene) } @IBAction func openUtilityWindow(_ sender: Any?) { self.scene.environment.openWindow(id: "UtilityWindow") } } Is there something wrong with my implementation and expectation? Or is this a bug in NSHostingSceneRepresentation? Just in case, I’ve already filed this issue withFeedback Assistant: FB20310722 This feedback also includes a sample project reproducing this issue.
Replies
1
Boosts
1
Views
282
Activity
Oct ’25
Why does AppStore.requestReview(in:) require NSViewController Parameter?
Looking to update one of my apps that uses SKStoreReviewController +requestReview (deprecated) to AppStore.requestReview(in:) umm...I have a few of questions... Why is an NSViewController parameter required? It's really not so uncommon for an AppKit app to just use NSWindowController with a window that does not use NSViewController... It should be possible to present the review request in a standalone alert (attached to a window is preferred IMO but it still should be possible to ask in separate window). 3)...why Swift..(err nevermind) Ideally: AppStore requestReview should take a NSWindow parameter but that parameter should be optional. If nil the request should be presented in a standalone window (like an alert). If non nil..present as a sheet on the window. Why a view controller? Maybe I'm missing something.
Replies
2
Boosts
0
Views
188
Activity
Oct ’25
Grammar checking is never requested
I have prepared a NSSpellServer spelling and grammar checker for Slovenian proofing in macOS. My proofing service gets used when I explicitly set keyboard spelling language to "Slovenian (Besana)" (my proofing service). However, no matter how I set the Check Grammar With Spelling option or Check Grammar checkbox in the TextEdit.app or Mail.app, my proofing service does not get any request for grammar checking. I am supporting checkString call for Unified checking and checkingTypes never contains NSTextCheckingTypeGrammar flag. When using legacy API before Unified checking support, the checkGrammarInString is never called either. If I do the grammar regardless the checkingTypes parameter, the app shows grammar mistakes correctly. But that is bad UX. Need to follow user demand for with grammar or without grammar. I don't know what am I doing wrong? On my home iMac v11 it actually works. No idea what I did there to make it work. Just worked. On my working Mac Mini v13 it won't check grammar. On another MacBook Pro v15, it won't check grammar either. Apps do check spelling with my proofing service. But not grammar. Same apps do grammar checking with stock AppleSpelling.service just fine. I have checked my Info.plist, using Hardened Runtime, have empty Entitlements, to no avail. Was there some new grammar API introduced after macOS v11 Big Sur, I should implement? Is there some specific Entitlement, signature, notarization I should perform to get going? Some documentation I am missing?
Replies
2
Boosts
0
Views
162
Activity
Oct ’25
ProgressView Tint doesn't work on macOS
I seem to be unable to affect the color of a linear ProgressView() on macOS and need to know if this is a feature or a bug. I have the following: ProgressView(value: someProgress).tint(.green) This works fine in iOS, the linear ProgressView changes to the desired color. On macOS the ProgressView stays the color of the system accent. .progressViewStyle(LinearProgressViewStyle(tint: .blue)) Is available, but depreciated, or being depreciated. I have also tried: .tint(.red) .accentColor(.green) While I can understand the platform specific differences, the context that I'm using really would benefit from keeping the UI elements colored consistent with the app, rather than the OS. Also I can do it in iOS, why not macOS? Both dev and test machines are running latest updates (Xcode 26.0.1/macOS 26.0.1 and iOS 26.0.1/macOS26.0.1)
Replies
3
Boosts
0
Views
158
Activity
Oct ’25
NSDocument doesn't autosave last changes
I had noticed an unsettling behaviour about NSDocument some years ago and created FB7392851, but the feedback didn't go forward, so I just updated it and hopefully here or there someone can explain what's going on. When running a simple document-based app with a text view, what I type before closing the app may be discarded without notice. To reproduce it, you can use the code below, then: Type "asdf" in the text view. Wait until the Xcode console logs "saving". You can trigger it by switching to another app and back again. Type something else in the text view, such as "asdf" on a new line. Quit the app. Relaunch the app. The second line has been discarded. Am I doing something wrong or is this a bug? Is there a workaround? class ViewController: NSViewController { @IBOutlet var textView: NSTextView! } class Document: NSDocument { private(set) var text = "" override class var autosavesInPlace: Bool { return true } override func makeWindowControllers() { let storyboard = NSStoryboard(name: NSStoryboard.Name("Main"), bundle: nil) let windowController = storyboard.instantiateController(withIdentifier: NSStoryboard.SceneIdentifier("Document Window Controller")) as! NSWindowController (windowController.contentViewController as? ViewController)?.textView.string = text self.addWindowController(windowController) } override func data(ofType typeName: String) throws -> Data { Swift.print("saving") text = (windowControllers.first?.contentViewController as? ViewController)?.textView.string ?? "" return Data(text.utf8) } override func read(from data: Data, ofType typeName: String) throws { text = String(decoding: data, as: UTF8.self) (windowControllers.first?.contentViewController as? ViewController)?.textView.string = text } }
Topic: UI Frameworks SubTopic: AppKit Tags:
Replies
17
Boosts
0
Views
588
Activity
Oct ’25
Window title bar in macOS 26 is drawn even if titlebarAppearsTransparent = true
macOS 26 sometimes draws the title bar background even when setting NSWindow.titlebarAppearsTransparent = true and I don't understand the logic behind it, or how I can turn this off. I'm trying to do something similar to Xcode's "Welcome to Xcode" window which has a left view and a right table view. In my simplified example, the window contains a label and a text view. This used to work in macOS 15, but in macOS 26 the text view is partially covered by the title bar: As soon as I remove the line scrollView.hasVerticalScroller = true, the title bar isn't drawn anymore: The title bar also isn't drawn when removing the view on the left of the text view: I created FB20341654. This may be related to this other issue: NSWindow.titlebarAppearsTransparent only works after collapsing and expanding sidebar @main class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate { func applicationDidFinishLaunching(_ aNotification: Notification) { let window = NSWindow(contentViewController: ViewController()) window.titlebarAppearsTransparent = true window.titleVisibility = .hidden window.styleMask = [.titled, .closable, .fullSizeContentView] window.makeKeyAndOrderFront(nil) } } class ViewController: NSViewController { override func loadView() { view = NSView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 400, height: 200)) let scrollView = NSScrollView() scrollView.hasVerticalScroller = true // commenting this line out solves the issue scrollView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false scrollView.automaticallyAdjustsContentInsets = false let documentView = NSTextView() documentView.string = (0..<10).map({ "\($0)" }).joined(separator: "\n") scrollView.documentView = documentView let stack = NSStackView(views: [ NSTextField(labelWithString: "asdfasdfasdfasdf"), // commenting this line out also solves the issue scrollView ]) stack.orientation = .horizontal view.addSubview(stack) NSLayoutConstraint.activate([stack.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.topAnchor), stack.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.leadingAnchor), stack.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.trailingAnchor), stack.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.bottomAnchor)]) } }
Topic: UI Frameworks SubTopic: AppKit Tags:
Replies
2
Boosts
0
Views
295
Activity
Sep ’25
AppKit: NSFormatter maxLength with Korean IME composition not applied consistently
Environment macOS: Sequoia 15.x AppKit: NSTextField + custom NSFormatter Input: Korean IME Description I set a formatter to allow only 1 character. When typing with Korean IME, the field sometimes shows 2 characters while typing. Question How should I handle this case? Should it be done in NSFormatter or in the field editor (NSTextView)?
Topic: UI Frameworks SubTopic: AppKit Tags:
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
74
Activity
Sep ’25
Did GCD change in macOS 26
Some users of my Mac app are complaining of redrawing delays. Based on what I see in logs, my GCD timer event handlers are not being run in a timely manner although the runloop is still pumping events: sometimes 500ms pass before a 15ms timer runs. During this time, many keypresses are routed through -[NSApplication sendEvent:], which is how I know it's not locked up in synchronous code. This issue has not been reported in older versions of macOS. I start the timer like this: _gcdUpdateTimer = dispatch_source_create(DISPATCH_SOURCE_TYPE_TIMER, 0, 0, dispatch_get_main_queue()); dispatch_source_set_timer(_gcdUpdateTimer, dispatch_time(DISPATCH_TIME_NOW, period * NSEC_PER_SEC), period * NSEC_PER_SEC, 0.0005 * NSEC_PER_SEC); dispatch_source_set_event_handler(_gcdUpdateTimer, ^{ …redraw… });
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
216
Activity
Sep ’25
Why isn't Liquid Glass effect applied when using pyobjc?
I can compile this #import <Cocoa/Cocoa.h> @interface AppDelegate : NSObject <NSApplicationDelegate> @property (strong) NSWindow *window; @property (strong) NSSlider *slider; @end @implementation AppDelegate - (void)applicationDidFinishLaunching:(NSNotification *)notification { // Window size NSRect frame = NSMakeRect(0, 0, 400, 300); NSUInteger style = NSWindowStyleMaskTitled | NSWindowStyleMaskClosable | NSWindowStyleMaskResizable; self.window = [[NSWindow alloc] initWithContentRect:frame styleMask:style backing:NSBackingStoreBuffered defer:NO]; [self.window setTitle:@"Centered Slider Example"]; [self.window makeKeyAndOrderFront:nil]; // Slider size CGFloat sliderWidth = 200; CGFloat sliderHeight = 32; CGFloat windowWidth = self.window.frame.size.width; CGFloat windowHeight = self.window.frame.size.height; CGFloat sliderX = (windowWidth - sliderWidth) / 2; CGFloat sliderY = (windowHeight - sliderHeight) / 2; self.slider = [[NSSlider alloc] initWithFrame:NSMakeRect(sliderX, sliderY, sliderWidth, sliderHeight)]; [self.slider setMinValue:0]; [self.slider setMaxValue:100]; [self.slider setDoubleValue:50]; [self.window.contentView addSubview:self.slider]; } @end int main(int argc, const char * argv[]) { @autoreleasepool { NSApplication *app = [NSApplication sharedApplication]; AppDelegate *delegate = [[AppDelegate alloc] init]; [app setDelegate:delegate]; [app run]; } return 0; } with (base) johnzhou@Johns-MacBook-Pro liquidglasstest % clang -framework Foundation -framework AppKit testobjc.m and get this neat liquid glass effect: https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/4199493b-6011-4ad0-9c9f-25db8585e547 However if I use pyobjc to make an equivalent import sys from Cocoa import ( NSApplication, NSApp, NSWindow, NSSlider, NSMakeRect, NSWindowStyleMaskTitled, NSWindowStyleMaskClosable, NSWindowStyleMaskResizable, NSBackingStoreBuffered, NSObject ) class AppDelegate(NSObject): def applicationDidFinishLaunching_(self, notification): # Create the main window window_size = NSMakeRect(0, 0, 400, 300) style = NSWindowStyleMaskTitled | NSWindowStyleMaskClosable | NSWindowStyleMaskResizable self.window = NSWindow.alloc().initWithContentRect_styleMask_backing_defer_( window_size, style, NSBackingStoreBuffered, False ) self.window.setTitle_("Centered Slider Example") self.window.makeKeyAndOrderFront_(None) # Slider size and positioning slider_width = 200 slider_height = 32 window_width = self.window.frame().size.width window_height = self.window.frame().size.height slider_x = (window_width - slider_width) / 2 slider_y = (window_height - slider_height) / 2 self.slider = NSSlider.alloc().initWithFrame_(NSMakeRect(slider_x, slider_y, slider_width, slider_height)) self.slider.setMinValue_(0) self.slider.setMaxValue_(100) self.slider.setDoubleValue_(50) self.window.contentView().addSubview_(self.slider) if __name__ == "__main__": app = NSApplication.sharedApplication() delegate = AppDelegate.alloc().init() app.setDelegate_(delegate) app.run() I get a result shown at https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/7da022bc-122b-491d-9e08-030dcb9337c3 which does not have the new liquid glass effect. Why is this? Is this perhaps related to the requirement that you must compile on latest Xcode as indicated in the docs? Why, is the compiler doing some magic?
Replies
3
Boosts
0
Views
419
Activity
Sep ’25
What is SwiftUI API equivalent to NSSplitViewItemAccessoryViewController in macOS?
On macOS Tahoe 26, NSSplitViewController introduced the NSSplitViewItemAccessoryViewController and related-APIs in NSSplitViewController, such as addBottomAlignedAccessoryViewController(_:). Those APIs allow you to place accessory views at the top and bottom of a split view with a nice edge effect. I understand how to use them with AppKit. However, I’m not sure how to achieve the same functionality with SwiftUI.
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
217
Activity
Sep ’25
SwiftUI TextField selects all text when it gains focus — how to move caret to the end like in AppKit?
I’m running into an issue with TextField focus behavior in SwiftUI. By default, when I set focus to a TextField programmatically (using @FocusState), SwiftUI behaves like AppKit — the entire contents of the text field are selected. This is causing problems for my use case, because I want the caret placed at the end of the text without selecting everything. How I solved this in AppKit In AppKit, I worked around this by subclassing NSTextField and overriding becomeFirstResponder to adjust the editor’s selection: override func becomeFirstResponder() -> Bool { let responderStatus = super.becomeFirstResponder() // Ensure caret is placed at the end, no text selected if let editor = self.currentEditor() { let selectedRange = editor.selectedRange editor.selectedRange = NSRange(location: selectedRange.length, length: 0) } return responderStatus } This successfully prevented AppKit from auto-selecting the entire string when focus changed. The problem in SwiftUI Now I see the same auto-select behavior in SwiftUI when I toggle focus with @FocusState. But unlike AppKit, SwiftUI doesn’t expose the underlying NSTextView or UITextField APIs, so I can’t directly adjust the selection or caret position. Questions: Is there a way in SwiftUI to control the caret/selection behavior when a TextField becomes focused? Is there a built-in modifier or @FocusState trick I’m missing? Has anyone found a reliable SwiftUI-idiomatic approach to ensure the caret is placed at the end of the text instead of selecting all text? update: adding my swiftUI code below: struct TextFieldUI: View { @ObservedObject var pModel:TextFieldModel @FocusState private var pIsFocusedState: Bool var body: some View { VStack(spacing: 20) { TextField(pModel.placeholder, text: $pModel.text) .textFieldStyle(RoundedBorderTextFieldStyle()) .padding() .focused($pIsFocusedState) .onChange(of: pModel.isFocused) { old, newValue in pIsFocusedState = newValue } .onChange(of: pIsFocusedState) { old, newValue in pModel.isFocused = newValue } .onAppear { pIsFocusedState = pModel.isFocused } Toggle("Secure Mode", isOn: $pModel.isSecure) .padding() } .padding() } }
Replies
0
Boosts
0
Views
138
Activity
Sep ’25
Icon for some menu items cannot be removed on macOS 26
create a sample XCode project using Objective-C and stroybook (xib) using latest XCode beta open MainMenu.xib, and select Main Menu → File → Print... remove the image like below 4. build it 5. run it on macOS 26 beta 7 6. The menu item "print.." still have "Image" Is there any way to remove image for one menu item. I have also tried NSMenuItem.image = nil, but still not work. The issue I met on my own app is that I cannot remove icons for "Zoom In", "Zoom Out" and many other menu items, which makes the menu items not aligned properly.
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
501
Activity
Sep ’25