KagiTabs

Notes

• Targets:

  • The app target is set to run on macOS 11 or later.
  • For quicker iteration on view components, the preview target leverages the Xcode Preview feature available on macOS 14.

• The main focus of this work is the implementation of the toolbar, particularly the tabs as the tab set moves from 1 to many items.

  • Several attempts were prototyped:
    • Only relaying on NSStackView
    • Declarative auto layout constraints defined in Interface Builder only
    • Entirely programmatic layout of tabs
  • The final implementation strategy was to use NSStackView in conjunction with computed layouts, which went through some iterations in order to successfuly balance the following objectives:
    • provide a complete realisation of the specs outlined in link1 and link2
    • handle unspecified edge cases, such as long webpage titles
    • allow glitch-free animation
    • work properly when used as a view of an NSToolbarItem
    • not be a nightmare to understand and maintain

• Wiring between view model and presentational components is achieved using the following:

  • macOS bindings where straightforward
  • Combine + KVO

• The following needs further refinement or has only been through basic testing:

  • Pixel-perfect alignment
  • Dark Mode compatibility
  • Keyboard navigation (when 'Keyboard Navigation' setting enabled in System Settings)

• The following has been considered out of scope:

  • Main menu
  • Any WKWebView behaviour beyond that out-of-box
  • Failure cases for networking
  • Localisation
  • Any performance optimisations