feat(macos): migrate init template from Objective-C to Swift#2948
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Saadnajmi wants to merge 5 commits intomicrosoft:mainfrom
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feat(macos): migrate init template from Objective-C to Swift#2948Saadnajmi wants to merge 5 commits intomicrosoft:mainfrom
Saadnajmi wants to merge 5 commits intomicrosoft:mainfrom
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Replace the Objective-C/Storyboard-based macOS init template with a modern Swift implementation that aligns with the upstream React Native community template (https://github.com/react-native-community/template). Changes: - Replace AppDelegate.h/AppDelegate.mm with AppDelegate.swift using the new RCTReactNativeFactory pattern (matching upstream iOS template) - Replace main.m with main.swift for the app entry point - Remove Main.storyboard (684 lines of XML) in favor of a programmatic menu bar built in Swift - Update project.pbxproj to reference Swift source files - Remove NSMainStoryboardFile from Info.plist The new template uses: - RCTReactNativeFactory + ReactNativeDelegate (non-deprecated API) - NSObject + NSApplicationDelegate (instead of deprecated RCTAppDelegate) - Programmatic NSWindow creation (1280x720 default) - Programmatic menu bar: App, Edit, View, Window, Help menus - Same bundleURL/sourceURL pattern as upstream community template
Replace imperative NSMenu/NSMenuItem creation with a small @resultBuilder DSL that reads almost like SwiftUI: NSApp.mainMenu = NSMenu { NSMenuItem { NSMenu("Edit") { NSMenuItem("Undo", action: Selector(("undo:")), key: "z") NSMenuItem.separator() NSMenuItem("Cut", action: #selector(NSText.cut(_:)), key: "x") } } } The builder infrastructure is ~30 lines: - MenuBuilder: collects NSMenuItem instances into an array - SubMenuBuilder: wraps a single NSMenu as a submenu - NSMenu convenience init with builder closure - NSMenuItem convenience inits and .keyModifiers() chainable helper
AppKit doesn't provide default menus programmatically (that was the
storyboard's job), but keyboard shortcuts like ⌘C, ⌘V, ⌘Q, ⌘W only
work when a corresponding NSMenuItem exists. So we need the menus, but
they don't belong inline in AppDelegate.
Move all standard menu construction into a single factory method:
NSApp.mainMenu = .standardMenu(appName: "HelloWorld")
This keeps AppDelegate focused on React Native setup while the menu
boilerplate lives in a self-contained NSMenu extension that's easy to
customize or replace.
Replace the AppKit-based AppDelegate template with a SwiftUI App that hosts the React Native root view via NSViewRepresentable. - Use @main on a SwiftUI App struct; remove main.swift - Use Window scene with .defaultSize(1280x720) instead of manual NSWindow - Wrap factory.rootViewFactory.view(withModuleName:) in NSViewRepresentable - Drop the ~130 line NSMenu.standardMenu extension; SwiftUI provides the standard App, Edit, View, Window, and Help menus by default - Initialize RCTReactNativeFactory in AppDelegate.init() instead of applicationDidFinishLaunching, so it's ready when the scene body evaluates Reduces the template AppDelegate from 181 to 59 lines.
mischreiber
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Apr 27, 2026
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Approved assuming you take the suggestion in that one comment on AppDelegate.swift
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Summary
Replaces the Objective-C/Storyboard-based macOS init template with a modern SwiftUI implementation. The app delegate hosts the React Native root view inside a SwiftUI
Windowscene viaNSViewRepresentable, so the template gets standard macOS menus, window management, and lifecycle handling for free from SwiftUI.Net diff vs main: ~219 insertions, ~770 deletions — most of the reduction comes from removing the 684-line
Main.storyboardXML and the ~130-line programmaticNSMenubuilder.Why SwiftUI?
When replacing the Storyboard, both pure AppKit and SwiftUI were on the table:
NSMenuItemboilerplate) and manually creating anNSWindow.WindowGroup/Window, plus declarative window sizing via.defaultSize(...).Because React Native's view is an
NSView, embedding it in SwiftUI is a one-liner withNSViewRepresentable— no awkward bridging.Changes
Files removed
AppDelegate.h/AppDelegate.mm— replaced byAppDelegate.swiftmain.m— replaced by@mainon the SwiftUIAppstruct (nomain.swiftneeded)Base.lproj/Main.storyboard(684 lines of XML) — replaced by SwiftUIFiles added
AppDelegate.swift(59 lines) — contains:@main struct HelloWorldApp: Appwith aWindowscene,.defaultSize(width: 1280, height: 720)AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegatewired via@NSApplicationDelegateAdaptor, initializingRCTReactNativeFactoryininit()ReactNativeDelegate: RCTDefaultReactNativeFactoryDelegateforbundleURL()/sourceURL(for:)ReactNativeView: NSViewRepresentablewrappingfactory.rootViewFactory.view(withModuleName:)Files modified
Info.plist— removedNSMainStoryboardFilekeyproject.pbxproj— updated file references from ObjC/storyboard to Swift; removedmain.swiftreferences in favor of@mainArchitecture alignment with upstream
UIApplicationDelegateApp+NSApplicationDelegateadaptorUIResponder, UIApplicationDelegateNSObject, NSApplicationDelegate✅RCTReactNativeFactory+ReactNativeDelegateRCTAppDelegate(deprecated)RCTAppDependencyProvider()bundleURL()/sourceURL(for:)@main)@main) ✅UIWindow(frame:)WindowsceneRCTRootViewdirectlyNSViewRepresentable→RCTRootView@main@main✅Menu bar
SwiftUI provides the standard macOS menu bar automatically with no code:
Using
Window(instead ofWindowGroup) intentionally omits the "New Window" command, which is appropriate for a single-window React Native app.Testing
pod installsucceedsAppDelegate.swiftcompiles cleanlyRCT_NEW_ARCH_ENABLED=1)NewAppScreen) renders inside the SwiftUIWindowWhy this is better than pure AppKit
AppDelegate.swiftvs the AppKit versionNSMenuboilerplate — SwiftUI provides standard menus automaticallyNSWindowsetup —Windowscene handles size, title bar, lifecyclemain.swiftneeded —@maingenerates the entry point.defaultSize(width:height:)