Feature: Native macOS Menu Bar Client (SwiftUI)

[Deceased-prince]

Hey! I loved the project, but the Python client was a bit clunky to use on Mac. I built a native SwiftUI menu bar app using CoreBluetooth that completely replaces the Python script. It has a UI toggle and auto-launch functionality. Would you be interested in me submitting a Pull Request to add this to the repo as the official Mac client?

[TymekV]

Hi, There exists a proof-of-concept macOS app that I created, but it's far from done (https://github.com/EasySpotApp/AppleClients)

Could you take a look and maybe try to merge the two projects together and submit a PR against the AppleClients repo?

Also, @GGORG0 we should probably add a mention of the macOS clients repo somewhere

[GGORG0]

Hey, thanks for your feedback @Deceased-prince !

the Python client was a bit clunky to use on Mac.

Yeah, it was never intended to be the final solution... 😅
The Python client was meant to be used only during development for testing, and from my own experience it's absolutely not good at its job and sometimes even crashes BlueZ (the Linux Bluetooth daemon). I started working on a fully-featured Rust desktop client for Windows and Linux (with MacOS support too, but only as a coincidence, as we have the AppleClients repo). I came across a problem with the BlueZ API and some inter-process-communication issues (to allow usage from scripts and custom frontends other than a generic system tray icon [GNOME, KDE, etc.], while also supporting both Unix/Linux's IPC and Windows' IPC).

I miały lost interest in the project (as you can see by the last commit date), as it never worked really well, and I also had less and less of a reason to use it, because the WiFi coverage in my school has expanded over the time, and also just because of being busy with school work.

With the popularity of this project slowly increasing I'm planning on reviving the Rust desktop client and making an Android client (for e.g. tablets), expanding the functionality to maybe battery and cell signal reading, and others. I really want this project to go well, but I just haven't had much time lately to regain interest in it.

@TymekV worked on the Apple (i(Pad)OS, MacOS, and maybe WatchOS) clients, but from what I remember his approach to the menubar popup wasn't the greatest, so your PR or help is greatly appreciated! If not a PR, you could just publish your existing client code on your repository and @TymekV could merge it with his implementation.

Or, if your implementation is more complete and well-rounded, we could just replace the current clients with your one entirely, in which case you could even become the maintainer of it, in a separate repo under our organization.

P.S. BTW, how did you stumble upon this project?

[Deceased-prince]

@GGORG0 Hey sorry for the late response spending time with the family this weekend. ive been testing this all day with my agent running and i must say i am estatic. i would love to be a maintainer. this is my first project and i wont deny i had some help from a local model i run. i can also take a look at a client for other apple devices.

I also took a look at the current AppleClients repo. The UI Tymek built is beautiful, but I noticed the hybrid AppKit/SwiftUI menu was causing some friction. The client I built is a pure macOS utility using the modern MenuBarExtra API. It’s incredibly lightweight—it acts more like a 'sniper', making the BLE connection to write the [0x01] command, and then instantly dropping the Bluetooth connection to save battery while falling back to CoreWLAN to verify the Wi-Fi connection state to a target hotspot.

I’d be more than happy to completely replace the Mac client and take on the maintainer role for a dedicated macOS repository under the org if you think that’s the cleanest path forward! Alternatively, I can just push this to my own public repo this week and you or Tymek can strip it for parts. Let me know what structure works best for you guys!" i will say I dont have an apple dev account yet so it will throw an unidentified dev warning for now.

BTW i found this repo on a shizuku forum and the app you made is Awesome! no issue so far with the agent i made for it.

[GGORG0]

Hey sorry for the late response spending time with the family this weekend.

No worries, so have I 😉

I also took a look at the current AppleClients repo. The UI Tymek built is beautiful, but I noticed the hybrid AppKit/SwiftUI menu was causing some friction. The client I built is a pure macOS utility using the modern MenuBarExtra API. It’s incredibly lightweight—it acts more like a 'sniper', making the BLE connection to write the [0x01] command, and then instantly dropping the Bluetooth connection to save battery while falling back to CoreWLAN to verify the Wi-Fi connection state to a target hotspot.

(I don't have or use any Apple products, or know Swift, so I'll leave the response to this part to @TymekV )

I’d be more than happy to completely replace the Mac client and take on the maintainer role for a dedicated macOS repository under the org if you think that’s the cleanest path forward!

We'll review your code and see. If you actually know more about Apple development than @TymekV , who isn't the best in the subject, and you can give us meaningful support in the development, we may make you a co-maintainer of the Apple clients.

Alternatively, I can just push this to my own public repo this week and you or Tymek can strip it for parts.

Yeah, I think this will be the best bet for now, and after reviewing your approach and code we can decide what to do with it later. Please do publish the app on your repo and link it over here.

i will say I dont have an apple dev account yet so it will throw an unidentified dev warning for now.

@TymekV has the paid dev account.

[Deceased-prince]

@GGORG0
@TymekV
Sounds like a perfect plan! I completely agree with reviewing the code first to see how it fits into the broader ecosystem.

I’ve just published the native macOS client to my repository here: EasySpot-Mac-Client

I also cut a v1.0.0 release so someone with a mac can download the compiled app and test it out immediately without needing to open Xcode. (Just a heads up: since I don't have the paid dev account, you'll get the standard 'unidentified developer' warning and will need to right-click -> Open to bypass Gatekeeper).

Take your time looking it over! I added a breakdown in the README explaining the hybrid architecture (using CoreBluetooth for the initial trigger and falling back to CoreWLAN for passive state monitoring). It keeps the Mac's battery drain to an absolute minimum.

Also, that is fantastic news that @TymekV has the paid dev account. That completely solves the signing and notarization hurdle if you decide to do an official releases down the line. Let me know if either of you have any questions as you dig into the code!

Edit: I uploaded basically a blank commit by mistake it will be a bit before I can replace
edit 2: corrected

[Deceased-prince]

@GGORG0 @TymekV I made some more changes and added some photos, and fixed the app under releases. i think i have been attaching them wrong