# Native macOS app **URL:** \ **Category:** Feature Requests\ **Tags:** app, tempest, apple\ **Created:** [August 19, 2021, 11:51pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/native-macos-app/14660 "2021-08-19T23:51:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chad.mcgimpsey](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/chad.mcgimpsey/32/8657_2.png) [@chad.mcgimpsey](https://community.tempest.earth/u/chad.mcgimpsey)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2021, 11:51pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/native-macos-app/14660/1 "2021-08-19T23:51:46Z")
Bring the iOS app to the Mac! ---
**Author:** ![sunny](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/sunny/32/16368_2.png) [@sunny](https://community.tempest.earth/u/sunny)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 7:25am UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/native-macos-app/14660/2 "2021-08-20T07:25:09Z")
isn’t the web interface on the mac almost exactly the same? ---
**Author:** ![mercedes105](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@mercedes105](https://community.tempest.earth/u/mercedes105)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 12:18pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/native-macos-app/14660/3 "2021-08-20T12:18:02Z")
sunny yes,I am unable to see that much difference! ---
**Author:** ![iladyman](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/iladyman/32/2305_2.png) [@iladyman](https://community.tempest.earth/u/iladyman)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 2:04pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/native-macos-app/14660/4 "2021-08-20T14:04:42Z")
I did not know that a mac could be used via bluetooth to setup the station? Perhaps that is the main difference? No one has voted for this yet? I am confused why you need this. Perhaps @chad.mcgimpsey could you please explain more of your requirements for us to understand the purpose of your request. cheers Ian 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![chad.mcgimpsey](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/chad.mcgimpsey/32/8657_2.png) [@chad.mcgimpsey](https://community.tempest.earth/u/chad.mcgimpsey)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 5:58pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/native-macos-app/14660/5 "2021-08-20T17:58:14Z")
Yes, the web interface and the iOS app are almost exactly the same. So why do we have the iOS app then? Convenience, functionality, and performance. It’s more convenient and there are less steps to opening a native app then going to your browser, finding the favorites link, and clicking on it. The iOS app adds additional functionality such as lightning strike notifications, rain start/stop notifications, and Home Screen widgets. Additionally, native apps can inherently offer higher performance because you’re using an API to grab smaller amounts of data instead of loading a full webpage full of graphics, etc. (although caching obviously helps with this), and you can use background app refresh to keep the app’s data current. With Apple converging many of the APIs and frameworks between iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, it is easier than ever to turn an existing iOS app into a fully functioning macOS app. Does Weatherflow _need_ to port their existing iOS app over to the Mac? No, of course not. Can I just continue clicking on the bookmark link in Safari to open up the webpage? Of course I can. But I’d really like to see the app ported over as a native macOS app, and I want to see if anyone else in the community feels the same way. One of the things I’d absolutely love to see included with a native macOS app would be **Notification Center widgets**. For Weatherflow, this is an additional feature that they can sell to new customers with a fairly high ROI. It would most likely take very little additional work to get this up and running. ---
**Author:** ![gizmoev](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/gizmoev/32/941_2.png) [@gizmoev](https://community.tempest.earth/u/gizmoev)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 6:34pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/native-macos-app/14660/6 "2021-08-20T18:34:02Z")
> [@chad.mcgimpsey](#): > > So why do we have the iOS app then? Beyond what you stated, it is required to setup the station initially and some other things after setup like adding/changing sensors. ---
**Author:** ![sunny](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/sunny/32/16368_2.png) [@sunny](https://community.tempest.earth/u/sunny)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 8:45pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/native-macos-app/14660/7 "2021-08-20T20:45:42Z")
i don’t buy the argument of convenience or performance. I don’t have a mac, but there is probably a pretty easy way to have a desktop item that when clicked starts a fresh browser with the weatherflow page automatically loaded. Performance would only be an issue if the webpage is running slow or it noticeably slows down other functions of your machine. From a developers view it is probably a lot easier to just make a webpage that runs on any device, than it is to make a native version for each possible device/os. (even though some browser versions might need special coding e.g. slightly different web behavior on safari, chrome, firefox and explorer). To me it just doesn’t seem to be a valuable way to go, a lot of extra work and testing for only marginally gain. But of course if enough people vote for it, who knows it might happen. ---
**Author:** ![chad.mcgimpsey](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/chad.mcgimpsey/32/8657_2.png) [@chad.mcgimpsey](https://community.tempest.earth/u/chad.mcgimpsey)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 10:45pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/native-macos-app/14660/8 "2021-08-20T22:45:12Z")
Hey @sunny. Do you use the Tempest app on your phone or do you go to the website? Do you use the Facebook app or go to your browser and then go to Facebook? How about for Twitter, news, a Roomba, etc.? I didn’t create these arguments out of thin air… they are well established in the tech community. Apple & Microsoft aren’t making it easier to make native desktop apps for the hell of it; there are reasons the _entire_ industry is moving in this direction. “To me it just doesn’t seem to be a valuable way to go, a lot of extra work and testing for only marginally gain.” One of the main considerations I thought about before I wrote this feature was that it _wouldn’t_ be that much extra work and _could_ have a high ROI. _Could_. It’s up to the Weatherflow team to determine if they see the value here and if they want to pursue this. Neither you or I can see their codebase. Neither of us know if this would take 15 minutes to accomplish or three weeks. If Weatherflow is primarily using Apple’s APIs and frameworks, this could literally take 15 minutes to accomplish. Please stop wasting everyone’s time with hypothetical analyses. This is a _feature request_. As community members we can basically say, “yeah… I like that” and vote for it or say, “nope, I don’t need it” and move on. I’m not sure why you feel the need to tear it apart. I love my Tempest, and as a startup advisor I love working with and supporting startup companies. I’m honestly trying to be helpful and supportive to the Weatherflow team by telling them about a feature I’d like. ---
**Author:** ![sunny](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/sunny/32/16368_2.png) [@sunny](https://community.tempest.earth/u/sunny)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2021, 11:19pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/native-macos-app/14660/9 "2021-08-20T23:19:33Z")
Sorry, you are right, it is only a feature request and by all means go for it. But on my PC I do use a browser for facebook, twitter, etc and I didn’t install any native program. ---
**Author:** ![gizmoev](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/gizmoev/32/941_2.png) [@gizmoev](https://community.tempest.earth/u/gizmoev)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2021, 9:59pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/native-macos-app/14660/10 "2021-08-21T21:59:58Z")
> [@chad.mcgimpsey](#): > > Do you use the Tempest app on your phone or do you go to the website? I happen to use both, depending on what I want to accomplish. On my desktop I use a browser for all the items you mentioned. On the computer I use for my TV I just pinned the web site to my desktop/Taskbar for a quick click for my weather. Don’t PWAs open like an app on Safari? I know that some sites, including this forum, offer notifications so I would assume it wouldn’t be too difficult to make it where your weather data could show up in a widget or something similar. Maybe MacOS and Windows don’t make it easy to do this in one PWs. ---
**Author:** ![greg.saiz](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.tempest.earth/greg.saiz/32/14766_2.png) [@greg.saiz](https://community.tempest.earth/u/greg.saiz)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 1:16pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/native-macos-app/14660/11 "2022-09-23T13:16:44Z")
FYI If you use the apple silicon Mac, you can now use iOS app on your mac. Just tried it and it works great. ---
**Author:** ![mercedes105](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@mercedes105](https://community.tempest.earth/u/mercedes105)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2024, 3:56pm UTC](https://community.tempest.earth/t/native-macos-app/14660/12 "2024-01-04T15:56:30Z")
greg.salz thanks for the info