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Show HN: Fast, native Mac file manager (filters, fuzzy find, 9 MB, no Electron)

whimfiles.com

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Show HN: Fast, native Mac file manager (filters, fuzzy find, 9 MB, no Electron)

#1

Post by whimbyte »

My Downloads folder had been left unkept for a really long time and cleaning it up using Finder was quite cumbersome. So I started creating a simple app to help me filter out and delete or move the files in the folder.

It started out very basic and the filtering options genuinely helped me clean out the Downloads folder, then as I thought of more features I would like to see in a file manager I started to add them. Some of the features are:

- Fuzzy go to folder/file where you only need to write a few letters of a full path, get suggestions and can jump to the correct path instantly - Hover over a file to preview an image or PDF without opening it - Dual-pane view and tabs that remember selected filters - Command palette to find actions fast - Batch rename (with regex support and presets for common operations), image conversion (HEIC/WebP/AVIF to JPG/PNG), zip creation - Bookmarks, Quick Look, single-click open, keyboard control

And many other small quality of life features.

I used Claude Code for making the app and the tech stack is .NET/C# with AppKit. The app is compiled to Native AOT so the total app size is only around 9 MB. Since file operations are very important to get right (I don’t want to lose any important files) I put a lot of time into hardening file move/copy/delete operations. Copies are written to a temp file and atomically renamed into place. I also made a dedicated audit of move/copy/delete and verified each operation by hand.

Another thing that’s important to me is apps that are privacy first so the only network request the app makes is to check if there’s a new version (this is not done at all for the trial version, the trial expiry date is enforced locally by just checking the date and trusting the user) and the only information that is sent is the current app version.

The app is Apple Silicon, macOS 12+ and has a 30-day free trial with a one-time launch price of $19.99 (no subscription).

Show HN: Fast, native Mac file manager (filters, fuzzy find, 9 MB, no Electron)
whimfiles.com

Re: Show HN: Fast, native Mac file manager (filters, fuzzy find, 9 MB, no Electron)

#2

Post by jaffa2 »

does this index the disk to do this ? So the filemanager is working with an index rather than the files ? It could be stale ?

I haven't found a good file manager for mac since 15 years now. They all just about do the things I need but not good enough. I've never really done the dual pane thing, my favourite gui for file management was Windows XP. Every iteration of explorer since has gotten objectively worse.

On mac I don't even bother trying to filemanage. I remote in to a windows machine.

I need to be able to get paths and paste paths.

for my downloads I just sort by type in list view and delete whatever by type. just do that a few times a year no big deal. I don't understand why we can't have an AI that sorts out the files they half baked 'stacks' onto the desktop, but all that happens is i now have dozens and dozens of stacks which contain dozens and dozens of files.

Re: Show HN: Fast, native Mac file manager (filters, fuzzy find, 9 MB, no Electron)

#3

Post by ttoinou »

jaffa2 wrote: post #2

does this index the disk to do this ? So the filemanager is working with an index rather than the files ? It could be stale ? I haven't found a good file manager for mac since 15 years now. They all just about do the things I need but not good enough. I've never really done the dual pane thing, my favourite gui for file management was Windows XP. Every iteration of explorer since has gotten objectively worse. On mac…

I’m in the same boat, I don’t like Finder (better than Windows Explorer though), nor do I like default macOS files / folders dialogs, and I really dislike drag and drop behavior on macOS

I dont understand why we are stuck in stone’s age with filesystems GUI

Re: Show HN: Fast, native Mac file manager (filters, fuzzy find, 9 MB, no Electron)

#4

Post by jaffa2 »

ttoinou wrote: post #3
jaffa2 wrote: post #2

does this index the disk to do this ? So the filemanager is working with an index rather than the files ? It could be stale ? I haven't found a good file manager for mac since 15 years now. They all just about do the things I need but not good enough. I've never really done the dual pane thing, my favourite gui for file management was Windows XP. Every iteration of explorer since has gotten objectively worse. On mac…

I’m in the same boat, I don’t like Finder (better than Windows Explorer though), nor do I like default macOS files / folders dialogs, and I really dislike drag and drop behavior on macOS I dont understand why we are stuck in stone’s age with filesystems GUI

One thing worth knowing is in the mac file dialogs you can drop a file from finder into these and it will change directory to where that file is.

The other thing is in most apps in the title bar there is an icon. Drag that to finder and it saves the file. Kinda Risc os style.

Re: Show HN: Fast, native Mac file manager (filters, fuzzy find, 9 MB, no Electron)

#8

Post by whimbyte »

jaffa2 wrote: post #2

does this index the disk to do this ? So the filemanager is working with an index rather than the files ? It could be stale ? I haven't found a good file manager for mac since 15 years now. They all just about do the things I need but not good enough. I've never really done the dual pane thing, my favourite gui for file management was Windows XP. Every iteration of explorer since has gotten objectively worse. On mac…

> does this index the disk to do this ? So the filemanager is working with an index rather than the files ? It could be stale ?

Good question. There is no index. WhimFiles reads the actual directory live when you open it, and filtering runs in-memory on the real file list, so there's nothing to go stale. It also watches the folder and refreshes when things change on disk, so you're always seeing the real current state.

On getting/pasting paths WhimFiles does both: "Copy Full Path" in the right-click menu (or from the command palette), and "Go to Folder/File" where you paste a path and jump straight there. That was one of my own Finder annoyances.

Re: Show HN: Fast, native Mac file manager (filters, fuzzy find, 9 MB, no Electron)

#10

Post by whimbyte »

ttoinou wrote: post #3
jaffa2 wrote: post #2

does this index the disk to do this ? So the filemanager is working with an index rather than the files ? It could be stale ? I haven't found a good file manager for mac since 15 years now. They all just about do the things I need but not good enough. I've never really done the dual pane thing, my favourite gui for file management was Windows XP. Every iteration of explorer since has gotten objectively worse. On mac…

I’m in the same boat, I don’t like Finder (better than Windows Explorer though), nor do I like default macOS files / folders dialogs, and I really dislike drag and drop behavior on macOS I dont understand why we are stuck in stone’s age with filesystems GUI

> and I really dislike drag and drop behavior on macOS

In the app you can have a dual pane with two folders side-by-side and select the file(s) you want to move/copy to the other folder and right click or open the command palette to do the operation, so you do not have to drag them (though dragging still works too). It's also possible to cut files with CMD + X and paste them somewhere else with CMD + V.

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