Choosing macOS Menu Bar App Lifecycle

Overview

Default to SwiftUI scenes. Use AppKit as a bridge, not as the app's primary entry, unless you have a concrete lifecycle or compatibility reason.

Last verified: 2026-03-14.

When to Use

• New macOS status bar or menu bar app in SwiftUI
• Existing menu bar app needs a Settings or Preferences window
• Deciding whether to use @main struct App or NSApplication.shared with a custom main()
• Refactoring an AppKit-heavy menu bar app toward SwiftUI

Do not use this skill for:

• Pure AppKit apps with no SwiftUI adoption plan
• iOS or iPadOS menu bar questions