If you’re familiar with X (Twitter) or Bluesky, Mastodon will feel immediately recognisable. It’s a federated social network built on the ActivityPub protocol, where independent servers (“instances”) interoperate while remaining decentralised.
The motivation behind this project was fairly simple: I wanted a Mastodon client that behaves like a well-behaved macOS application.
Many desktop apps today are effectively scaled-up mobile interfaces or cross-platform ports. They can work well, but they often ignore macOS conventions. My goal was to build something that feels like a native citizen of the platform.
Oliphaunt focuses heavily on macOS design principles:
- built with system-native UI components (AppKit with some SwiftUI)
- follows macOS design language and interface idioms
- supports proper multi-window workflows
- keyboard shortcuts
- respects macOS interaction patterns rather than reinventing them
A lot of the work went into the details that make Mac software feel “right”: window behaviour, menus, keyboard navigation, sidebar structure and integration with system features.
The goal isn’t to introduce a new interface paradigm but to adopt the conventions Mac users already understand.
If you’re a Mastodon user or someone who appreciates carefully built native Mac software, I’d love to hear your feedback.
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6745527185
