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Monodraw

(monodraw.helftone.com)
603 points mafro | 16 comments | 27 Aug 25 10:54 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom
1. SirFatty ◴[27 Aug 25 11:33 UTC] No.45038213[source]▶
Windows version in the future?
replies(1): >>45038249 #
2. milen ◴[27 Aug 25 11:37 UTC] No.45038249[source]▶
There are no current plans but never say never (the app is 100% AppKit, so porting means a full rewrite).

I wish I had the time to port it to all three desktop OSes.

replies(6): >>45038661 #>>45038804 #>>45039810 #>>45040235 #>>45042216 #>>45043195 #
3. asimovDev ◴[27 Aug 25 12:19 UTC] No.45038661[source]▶
as a noob Swift dev (Swiftie?) , why AppKit over SwiftUI? Maturity of former?
replies(2): >>45038897 #>>45041031 #
4. SirFatty ◴[27 Aug 25 12:36 UTC] No.45038804[source]▶
ok.. web app? (not a programmer, so no idea if a web app is any different from a development standpoint)
replies(1): >>45040911 #
5. jamil7 ◴[27 Aug 25 12:45 UTC] No.45038897{3}[source]▶
Not the OP but Monodraw predates SwiftUI by quite a while. On top of that SwiftUI is pretty bad on macOS.
6. Bedon292 ◴[27 Aug 25 13:59 UTC] No.45039810[source]▶
It definitely looks like a cool app, and I was excited to test it out, but I don't have a Mac. If you ever hit the point where a rewrite makes sense, it would be awesome as a universal app.
7. ezekg ◴[27 Aug 25 14:29 UTC] No.45040235[source]▶
Monodraw is one of the apps I miss the most after switching to Windows. Would love to see it one day! Would be a buyer for sure.
replies(1): >>45041015 #
8. milen ◴[27 Aug 25 15:19 UTC] No.45040911{3}[source]▶
Targeting Windows/Linux/web still means I cannot re-use the sources. But targeting web might be faster in terms of development time, although I don't have deep expertise on non-Apple platforms, so I cannot say for sure.
replies(1): >>45041440 #
9. milen ◴[27 Aug 25 15:26 UTC] No.45041015{3}[source]▶
One idea I've been toying with would be to do a Kickstarter-style campaign and if it reaches a certain threshold, then I know it would be worth porting.
10. milen ◴[27 Aug 25 15:27 UTC] No.45041031{3}[source]▶
As jamil7 noted, Monodraw predates SwiftUI by about 4yrs.

But more importantly, my priority is delivering the best user experience and that's where AppKit shines.

11. criddell ◴[27 Aug 25 15:59 UTC] No.45041440{4}[source]▶
Targeting the web will remove your giant advantage: native UI.
replies(1): >>45043753 #
12. fragmede ◴[27 Aug 25 17:03 UTC] No.45042216[source]▶
LLMs make that far more tractable these days than it would have been in the past.
13. Gormo ◴[27 Aug 25 18:27 UTC] No.45043195[source]▶
Only three? I want to run it on Haiku and AROS!
14. thimabi ◴[27 Aug 25 19:11 UTC] No.45043753{5}[source]▶
Agreed, but between having a web version and having the app stay exclusive to MacOS, I’d prefer the former.
replies(1): >>45044739 #
15. criddell ◴[27 Aug 25 20:26 UTC] No.45044739{6}[source]▶
Why? There are already all kinds of web sites that do this kind of thing. Monodraw's unique selling point is that it's a native Mac app that takes advantage of the Mac UI and it's done well so the UX is top notch.

If you don't care about making the best possible app that you can, go ahead and do it in the browser. You will get something that's probably good enough and runs everywhere. But it's going to use more battery, more memory, and more bandwidth and not feel like a Mac app. Plus (IMHO) it's less fun to develop for the browser.

replies(1): >>45051388 #
16. thimabi ◴[28 Aug 25 12:34 UTC] No.45051388{7}[source]▶
I believe the attention to detail that sets Monodraw apart can be transposed to the web as well — albeit diverging from MacOS conventions.

It’s possible to make great web apps, it just takes the kind of care and dedication that @milen has already proven to have. If the web interface lowers the barriers to developing a cross-platform version of Monodraw, then I think it would be silly not to consider investing in it.