Question 1

Should I use Settings or MASPreferences for my macOS app?

Accepted Answer

Settings is written in Swift with a modern, protocol-based API and supports SwiftUI, while MASPreferences is older and Objective-C based. Choose Settings for new Swift projects to ensure better HIG compliance and easier integration with SwiftUI.

Question 2

How do I add a SwiftUI view to the Settings window?

Accepted Answer

Wrap your SwiftUI view in a Settings.Pane or Settings.PaneHostingController, then pass it to SettingsWindowController. Use bundled components like Settings.Container for alignment, as shown in the README's SwiftUI examples.

Question 3

Why isn't my settings window showing up with the Settings package?

Accepted Answer

This is a known issue if auto-layout isn't used or no size is set. Fix it by enabling auto-layout or setting an explicit size like preferredContentSize in your view controller's viewDidLoad method.

Question 4

How do I localize the window title in Settings?

Accepted Answer

Localize your paneTitle strings for each settings pane; for single panes, the app name is automatically taken from your bundle's Info.plist, and the package follows HIG rules to handle the rest.

Question 5

Can I use the Settings package with storyboards?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but it's not required. The package recommends using NSGridView in Interface Builder for pane layouts, but for segmented control style, implementation is programmatic to handle complexity.

Question 6

How to handle backwards compatibility for icons in Settings?

Accepted Answer

For macOS versions older than 11, export SF Symbols to images and add them to your Asset Catalog, then use fallbacks in your toolbarItemIcon property, as detailed in the README's backwards compatibility section.

Preferences

What is Preferences?

Overview

Use Cases

Best For

Related Projects

Found a gem we're missing?

Not Ideal For

Pros & Cons

Pros

Cons

Frequently Asked Questions