Show HN: Oliphaunt – A native Mastodon client for macOS

I’ve been building Oliphaunt, a native Mastodon client for macOS, as a solo project — designed to be fast, lightweight and feel right at home on the Mac. It’s not built with Catalyst or Electron framework.

Key features:

• Native macOS UI using AppKit with some SwiftUI integration (not a web wrapper)

• Core Data for local caching

• Responsive, keyboard-friendly interface

• UX tailored for desktop-class Mac computers

• Supports multiple accounts, cross-instance timelines and search

You can try it via TestFlight (macOS 14+ Sonoma): https://testflight.apple.com/join/Epq1P3Cw

Feedback is welcome here, on GitHub, or via TestFlight: https://github.com/anosidium/Oliphaunt-Feedback-And-Support

Show HN: Oliphaunt – A native Mastodon client for macOS
testflight.apple.com

Yes. It's not on the Mac App Store yet.

Nicely done, looks good!

Swift Data is CoreData in a wrapper.

Also, not OP, but I’m glad it’s written in AppKit vs SwiftUI purely; AppKit just feels better on the desktop. I can always “smell” a SwiftUI app just like I can an Electron app.

Thanks! I’m glad to hear that.

It’s an AppKit-first app — I’ve used SwiftUI in parts where it fits well, but I’ve avoided relying on it entirely because it’s still maturing, especially on macOS. In certain areas, it can compromise the native look and feel, or introduce unexpected behaviour.

As for Core Data, it’s a proven and robust framework that already does everything I need. Swift Data is still relatively new and doesn’t yet offer the same level of flexibility or stability for more advanced use cases.