Improvements to the Blender macOS User Interface Experience
- Mentors
- Julian Eisel
- Organization
- Blender Foundation
- Technologies
- c, python, c++, macos, Objective-C
- Topics
- user interface, macos, user experience
In recent years, Blender support for macOS specific features has drastically improved. With the introduction of the Metal Viewport, features such as HDR support and development support from Apple, Blender can now be easily regarded as one of the best 3D applications available for the Mac. However, when it comes to its user interface, Blender still doesn’t feel quite properly integrated within the macOS environment. This GSoC proposal aims to change this, with the goal of making Blender feel closer to a fully native macOS application.
This proposal plans to improve the Blender macOS user experience by incorporating part of the Blender interface into the macOS interface. Effectively making it closer to the macOS Human Interface Guidelines, and providing macOS Blender users with a familiar experience, more tightly integrated into their operating system.
To achieve this goal, this proposal will focus on the improvements of two main UI elements: the macOS menu bar and title bar. While this proposal will focus on macOS implementation, a byproduct of it will be the creation of an unified interface for native menu bar items, which will then make it possible to implement such functionality on other OS and Desktop Environments in the future.