Since 2016

We build software that belongs on the Mac

We're a small studio of Mac developers. We make native macOS utilities in Swift — small, focused apps that feel like Apple could've shipped them. No bloat. No trackers. No monthly bill.

9 Years Building for Mac 28+ Native Apps Notarized & On-Device Built by Mac Users

2016

Founded

28+

Native Apps

1.4M

Downloads

100%

Swift & SwiftUI

Our Story

How MacXTools started

MacXTools started in 2016 with one menu-bar app. macOS was missing a few small utilities we kept wishing were built in, so we wrote them ourselves — in Swift, the way Apple would. Light, native, quiet in the background.

One app became a handful, then a catalog. Along the way we set rules we still hold to: no Electron, no telemetry, no subscriptions where a one-time purchase makes more sense. Every release is signed with our Apple Developer ID and notarized before it ships.

Today we build for people who live in macOS all day. Developers, designers, video editors, IT admins. People who want tools that feel like part of the system — not a web page bolted onto it.

Years building Mac apps

28+

Apps in the catalog

Trackers in any app

Swift

Every line of it

Meet the Team

The people writing the code

A small group of Mac developers who use these apps every day on their own machines.

Robert Shaw

Founder & Lead Engineer

Olivia Taylor

Systems Developer

Melokuhle Ndlovu

Design & QA

How we build

Native, all the way down

An app feels like the Mac only when it's built on the Mac's own frameworks. That's the discipline behind every MacXTools release.

We build in Xcode against Apple's own frameworks — AppKit, SwiftUI and the system APIs — and profile every app in Instruments before it ships, so memory, energy and launch time are measured, not guessed. No cross-platform shell, no bundled browser, no shortcuts that make an app feel foreign on macOS.

Xcode & Swift

Instruments

Standards our apps hold to

A Mac app isn't just code that runs — it's code that behaves the way macOS users expect. We build against Apple's own guidelines and security rules rather than around them.

Human Interface Guidelines Apple's design rules for macOS. Menus, keyboard shortcuts, light and dark mode and window behavior all follow the HIG so our apps feel familiar from the first launch. Notarization Every build is signed and submitted to Apple's notary service, so Gatekeeper opens our apps cleanly instead of warning users that software is unidentified. App Sandbox Apps run inside Apple's sandbox with only the entitlements they truly need, so a file utility can't reach anything beyond the files you hand it. Universal Binaries We ship a single universal build that runs natively on Apple Silicon and Intel, so there's nothing to translate and no Rosetta penalty on an M-series Mac.

Our Method

What ships in every release

A checklist we run before any app leaves our machines and reaches yours.

Measured, not guessed

Launch time, memory and energy use are profiled in Instruments on real Apple Silicon and Intel hardware. If an app isn't fast and light, it doesn't ship.

Signed & notarized

Each build is code-signed with our Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so it opens without a Gatekeeper fight and you can verify exactly who published it.

Light & dark from day one

Every screen is checked in both appearances and against VoiceOver, Dynamic Type and full keyboard control, so the app works for everyone on macOS.

Same standard we set in 2016. It holds for every new app and every macOS release that lands in front of us.

Inside MacXTools

Where the work happens

A small studio of Macs, second monitors and a lot of test hardware, from the newest Apple Silicon to older Intel machines we still support.

The MacXTools studio

Where the code gets written

Apple Silicon & Intel test bench

Design and QA review

Compatibility testing

How we handle your data

Your files stay on your Mac

MacXTools apps do their work on-device. A cleanup, a conversion or a capture runs on your own machine, so nothing gets uploaded and there's no analytics SDK quietly reporting what you do.

The only network request any app makes is an optional update check, and you can turn that off. Everything else is verifiable: watch the connections in Little Snitch or the Network utility while you work.

Files uploaded

Trackers bundled

Accounts required

100%

On-device work

Our Vision

To make the small tools your Mac is missing, built so well they feel like they were there all along.

Native, always

If it doesn't feel like the Mac, it's not done. We build on Apple's frameworks, not around them.

Yours to keep

Buy once and own it, or use the free tier forever. Your files never leave your machine.

Small & fast

One job, done well, without a splash screen or a spinner. An app should open before you finish clicking.

When a job needs more than a small utility, we say so — instead of bolting features onto an app meant to stay simple.

See what 9 years of Mac-native work feels like

28+ apps, all native, all free to try. No account, no subscription.

Explore all apps Free, no account Contact the team We read every message