GoMap: Attempting to run the macOS target fails with errors

So, I spent a good couple of hours on getting the macOS target to build. My intention was to create a framework for the shared code (cp. #155), and to check that the framework properly integrates with both the iOS as well as the macOS project, I need them both to at least successfully build.

The more I went after the build errors and attempted to cut loose bits of code here and there, I was wondering whether this is worth the effort. Sure, a macOS application would be awesome to have as well, but I don’t see an actual need for it. If I was editing OSM data on my laptop, I’d fire up JOSM. That editor is way more advanced than what I need, and is still being maintained and extended.

To cut to the point, I suggest we remove the macOS project from the repository and concentrate our energy on bringing the best OSM editing experience to iOS.

This might sound a bit drastic, but I just wanted to put it out there to discuss. @bryceco, what’s your take on this? What are your plans for the macOS application?

I’ve been improving support for Mac Catalyst the last week and it’s looking pretty good (though still quite a few small things to fix). Feedback welcome! Right-click (with a mouse) or Control-click (without) replaces the + button for drawing. If you’re on a Mac you can download it here: Go Map!!.app.zip

I agree its probably okay to delete the Mac port and stick with Catalyst. A couple comments:

• The shared code is pretty foundational and, in a perfect world, could become a standalone framework that could be used in other OSM apps, so I’d rather keep that partition rather than merging everything.
• I haven’t tried the most recent Catalyst release, but the previous release has some pretty major performance problems when zooming. This needs to be addressed before the Catalyst port can be considered viable.

Now that with Catalyst on Big Sur native feeling UIKit apps on the Mac are possible (and the Mac version of Go Map!! isn’t currently a thing anyway), i’d suggest removing the Mac target and unifying shared and iOS code and removing the #if TARGET_OS_IPHONE macros to dramatically simplify the codebase.

I agree there is no great need for a Mac editor. In addition Apple indicated that next year it will be providing support to simplify porting iOS apps to Mac (see this year’s WWDC), and when that support ships it should be pretty easy to tweak the iOS code for desktop. However, until Apple does that and a desktop editor is a reality I don’t see any reason to delete the Mac port. It really has no impact on day to day development for iOS, and if Apple changes course it may be useful to someone somewhere.