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Sketch: Proud to Build a Truly Native Mac App

sketch.com

331–340 of 362 posts

Re: Sketch: Proud to Build a Truly Native Mac App

#331
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm 80% certain that my next computer is going to be either a desktop or a ThinkPad X1 running Arch. A lot of what I do doesn't require a Mac, and frankly I enjoy Linux more.

That's basically what I did. After my last Mac died a few years ago I dusted off an older Mac and purchased a new ThinkPad P50. I thought it would take me most of a couple years to get as comfortable with Linux as I was with macOS. Instead it took just one month for the ThinkPad to become my main driver and another two months before I mothballed the Mac. The only thing I really, really miss is OmniGraffle.

I know. I'm loathe to give up my Mac specifically because of OmniGroup and their products. I'm hoping org-mode can become a replacement.

Re: Sketch: Proud to Build a Truly Native Mac App

#332
Also it was super easy to bypass the registration with a super simple hack on their old mac app. It’s been a few years but I remember something along the lines of having to use the menu bar to open a file while they were prompting me to pay. There was probably another step involved but I was able to read and write files forever without paying. Reminded me WinRar

Re: Sketch: Proud to Build a Truly Native Mac App

#333
post #173

Design is communication. I loved sketch and was a devout user for years. But with Sketch, I can only communicate with a very small set of people. It required a plethora of other tools and services to share, get feedback, or insights on my work. The tool is only as effective as the reach of its creation. If technology has shown us anything in this generation, it is that reach and collaboration are immensely more valua…

> Design is communication. I assume it’s unintentional, but the rest of your comment twists the original meaning of the maxim[0]. In my experience, “design is communication” generally means a slightly less obvious thing: how through the medium of your design you communicate with the end user. Your points about the importance of communication between designers are valid, but by using that maxim you make it sound like…

Agree. But one thing to note is that many of the communication tools and features built into tools like figma or Adobe xd are not just for communication among designers but communication between designers and developers and even other stakeholders like clients and project managers.

Re: Sketch: Proud to Build a Truly Native Mac App

#334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a recent experience with autodesk that shows that free tiers can disappear or be neutered after you've invested significant time and energy into them. If you just owned that version of the software it would work forever instead you are at the mercy of the platform forever. Caveat emptor

Except some non-subscription software are still SaaS in disguise. Take a look at Sketch. You can use a file on future versions...but up to a point. If you hit that limit, you will have to buy the upgrade.

I don't use sketch, so I don't know anything about it. It's mac only and while i have an ipad pro and an iphone, I don't own a mac and dont want one, and thats a mac only app.

I'm not sure why sketch would have the restrictions they have except that forever supporting old formats might be more expensive than they could justify.

Re: Sketch: Proud to Build a Truly Native Mac App

#335

By now, I'd treat Apple-exclusive app developers for Stockholm syndrome. I used to build a Mac-only native app for real-time audio processing, which was great for battery life, snappy performance and had no latency. But the work that Apple pushed on me just to keep things running okay-ish across OS releases was too much to bear compared with the meager revenue of only serving 10% of the addressable market. By now, my…

> my app is using a cross-platform C++ framework ... Windows and surprisingly Linux pay for development of new features Which app is that?

Spatial Audio Designer + it's virtual sound card. As heard in Red Tails by Lucasfilm, for example. Or the Expendables 3 bluray.

LAWO hardware mixing desks are Linux based, so the broadcast world demands Linux tools.

But the whole thing started out as an Apple exclusive app to be used together with Pro Tools. Ironically, Pro Tools has also had lots of problems with new macOS releases, so when their Windows presence grew, we observed our most important customers jumping ship and decided to follow them.

The C++ framework is JUCE. I'm a big fan of its visual editor and how easily you can extend that to support your own GUI components.

Re: Sketch: Proud to Build a Truly Native Mac App

#336
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every single day I’m finding myself using more and more Figma over my standard workflow tools like Photoshop and Illustrator...I just absolutely love how fast and snappy it is.

IDK if I'm the only one but figma feels lightyears away from sketch in snapiness, but the multiplayer features of figma are what give it the edge.

Agree, Figma is definitely slower, but Sketch has issues too when there are too many objects in the workspace. I think if Sketch made their performance 10x better, then I'd agree that native apps are better, but it's more like a 1.2x than a 10x.

Re: Sketch: Proud to Build a Truly Native Mac App

#337
post #197

Platform exclusivity should be discouraged, not praised. If I can't use the software then their supposed benefits of being native don't do me much good.

I think one the issues here was that sketch started as a very small indie mac app. In the case of one or two developers working on a niche product, exclusivity is forgivable. The problem is that sketch got way too popular, way too big and took investment and are now expected to compete with a competitor like figma.

Which, as a person who uses Linux and Windows, makes Figma the clear winner. Sketch isn't even a choice if I can't use it.

Re: Sketch: Proud to Build a Truly Native Mac App

#338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Calling it now, the Native Mac OS App this blog post champions won't exist in 10 years. People have been predicting doom for Apple from various angles since the 1980s and they always end up having to eat their shoes: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=500 If anything, Apple Silicon Macs will usher in a new era of Apple exclusivity, and you'll move on to predicting doom for their Next Big Thing. :)

Why is what I'm proposing doom? The iPad is a more popular and modern platform than MacOS, MacOs users should be happy they now get to take advantage of that beloved ecosystem. (Well that's what the PR will say anyway) Think you're missing the point what I'm making and passing it off as just general Apple negativity.

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Re: Sketch: Proud to Build a Truly Native Mac App

#339
post #225
post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Swing is definitely not "less native" than Electron. The entire window is a web view in Electron apps. I believe Java Swing was even an officially supported UI toolkit on the Mac a long time ago.

The menus in Swing aren't native but are in Electron.

What menus?

Re: Sketch: Proud to Build a Truly Native Mac App

#340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing IMO that really killed Sketch was not being able to share Sketch files with non-Mac users and let them open them up. They should have at least created a Windows/Linux (or web) viewer. They don't need edit functionality but nearly always someone in the approval/feedback process of a mockup will not be on Mac. It's just not realistic at larger orgs (or IMO smaller ones too) to expect everyone to be on a Mac.…

> The thing IMO that really killed Sketch Are we just accepting that Sketch is “dead” now? Genuinely curious. I realize Figma has been doing great things, but wasn’t under the impression that Sketch is over.

All I know is a few (2 or 3) years ago I constantly got expense requests to cover sketch license renewals. It suddenly... stopped. We cover a Figma license but it never seems much.

We had at least 4 people in the team that ran a (poorly performing, annoying) VM with OSX just for sketch.

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