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Brent Simmons

What Brent Simmons thinks about design

@brent-simmons · 14 positions · On ppll ↗

Mac and iOS developer; created NetNewsWire and MarsEdit, co-created the JSON Feed format, and blogs at inessential.com.

Brent Simmons did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

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Only Brent Simmons on design. See everyone on design

4 dated positions, 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what Brent Simmons has said — not written or endorsed by them.

4 positions so far — this page is not yet offered to search engines.

  1. Our readingUsers do not care whether a Mac app uses stock UI or custom UI.

    Their wordsUsers have shown — again, I don’t need to prove this — that they don’t think about a stock Mac app vs. custom.

    ↗That About Wraps It Up for Stock Mac UIinessential.com 1st of 4 in this piece

  3. Our readingUsing stock Mac UI no longer saves developers work; it can mean more work than custom UI.

    Their wordsBut my app NetNewsWire has a very stock Mac UI, and Liquid Glass adoption last year was a lot of work. Using stock Mac UI didn’t save us much — in fact, we had more work to do compared to the apps with more custom UI.

    ↗That About Wraps It Up for Stock Mac UIinessential.com 2nd of 4 in this piece

  5. Our readingApple has the best UI designers in the world, but its direction on how the Mac should look is missing the mark.

    Apple

    Their wordsWell, I still think Apple has the best collection of UI designers in the world, but, for whatever reasons, the guidance from above on how the Mac UI should look is missing the mark.

    ↗That About Wraps It Up for Stock Mac UIinessential.com 3rd of 4 in this piece

  7. Our readingThere is no longer a real reason for Mac apps to stick with stock Mac UI.

    Their wordsAnd we’re left with no real reason to stick with stock Mac UI (except for wanting approval from longtime Mac people like me, and you really shouldn’t care about that at all).

    ↗That About Wraps It Up for Stock Mac UIinessential.com 4th of 4 in this piece