MacNative isn't an app store. Nobody pays to be listed, there's no algorithm ranking submissions, and we don't try to catalogue everything. It's a hand-picked directory, which only means something if the hand doing the picking is consistent.
So here's the checklist. It's short on purpose.
1. It has to be genuinely native
Not "cross-platform but tolerable on Mac." Native. That means:
- AppKit or SwiftUI, not a browser window with a title bar. An Electron app can still make the cut, but the bar is much higher and it has to disappear into the OS anyway.
- The system conventions are respected — real menus, keyboard shortcuts that match everything else, proper full-screen and Stage Manager behavior, sensible window restoration.
- It handles the basics for free: dark mode, Dynamic Type where it's relevant, VoiceOver labels on the controls that matter, Retina assets everywhere.
If an app fights the platform, no amount of features saves it.
2. It has to do one thing clearly
The apps that age well tend to have a sentence-long description that's actually true. "Clipboard history with fast search." "Window tiling with keyboard shortcuts." "A menu-bar timer that syncs to your calendar."
When we can't write that sentence — when the pitch is a list of nine unrelated features — that's usually a sign the app hasn't decided what it is yet. We'll check back later.
3. We have to want to keep it installed
This is the part that takes weeks, not minutes. Someone on the team runs the app as part of their real setup — not a test account, their actual machine — for long enough to hit the rough edges. The questions we're answering:
- Does it stay out of the way when I'm not using it?
- Did it break after a macOS point release?
- Is the developer still around? A last commit or release within the past year or so, an inbox that gets answered.
- Would I be annoyed if it disappeared tomorrow?
If the answer to that last one is no, it doesn't get written up.
4. Screenshots that tell the truth
Every listing needs real screenshots of the app doing its job — not marketing renders, not a mockup floating over a gradient. If we can't show you what the app looks like in use, we don't feel right recommending it.
What this deliberately leaves out
We don't weigh price. Free, paid, subscription, open source — none of it affects whether an app gets in, only how we label it. A great $40 app beats a mediocre free one every time.
We also don't chase newness. An app that's been quietly excellent for six years is exactly the kind of thing this directory exists to surface.
Submitting something
If you've built or found an app that clears this bar, send it our way. Tell us what the one sentence is, and point us at the screenshots. We read every submission — it just might take us a little while to get back to you, because we're probably still using the last one.
