Developer ships notarized Mac app outside App Store in 48 hours, documents the process

A developer built and launched a paid macOS menu bar app called Dynamic Ring in just two days, inspired by Apple's iPhone Duo status ring reveal. The app displays battery, Wi-Fi, and volume in a single menu bar icon using native Swift and AppKit, with no Electron and a single dependency. The developer documented several non-obvious hurdles, including a macOS blur effect breaking when corner radius masking was applied, and clipboard shortcuts failing in accessory apps due to the absence of a system menu bar. License keys were stored in UserDefaults rather than the Keychain after repeated signing identity changes caused launch hangs during development. Payments and licensing were handled through Polar, avoiding the need for user accounts or a custom server, with the finished app priced at $4.99 and distributed with Sparkle-based auto-updates.
This is an AI-generated summary. ShortSingh links to the original source for the complete article.
Discussion (0)
Log in to join the discussion and vote.
Log in