Field	Info
Project Homepage	github.com/technusm1/kiwings
Description	Lightweight Kiwix alternative for macOS
Build status
Download latest version	1.0-beta4

Introduction

KiWings is a lightweight Kiwix alternative for macOS. Kiwix is an open-source tool that allows you to read offline copies of fantastic content like Wikipedia (its a 80GB download), TED Talks etc. Originally, I started working on this tool to learn UI development on macOS, an endeavor that continues to this day. But this tool has now become a full-fledged project itself.

Under the hood, this tool is a front-end for kiwix-serve designed for macOS 11.3 and later. kiwix-serve is a tool designed by Kiwix team, which can work as a standalone content server, but as of writing this, is not directly released as macOS binary, though compilation is supported.

🔥WARNING: Bugs and shortcomings are unfortunately commonplace in software. On my part, I’m releasing the tool as a sandboxed app (meaning macOS will restrict its capabilities to do any damage), but this tool is RELEASED AS IS, WITH NO WARRANTY - IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE.

Features

• Sandboxed. Less chances of damaging your computer. More peace of mind.
• Menu bar app that’s available when you need it.
• Automatically detects different installed browsers on your machine, and allows you to conveniently access your content library from any of them (see screenshots).
• Open-source

Screenshots

Stopped	Running

Installation & Requirements

• Please make sure you have macOS 11.3 or later installed on your machine.
• Download the latest release from here (currently in beta, but should be usable).
• Open the DMG file in Finder.
• Drag and Drop the KiWings app into your Applications folder.

Build Instructions

There are 3 simple steps:

• Checkout the project via git or download the source archive.
• Open the project in Xcode (tested on 12 and 13).
• Build it. It needs internet to fetch the underlying dependencies, so make sure you are connected to the internet.

Easy, right?

Giving feedback

Before you raise an issue, please make sure to search the Issues section properly to see if there isn’t any issue already filed for the problem you’re facing. Being a bit busy these days, it may not be possible for me to attend to your concerns in a timely manner. That said, your feedback is extremely valuable and appreciated. I may not be able to reply, but I do read in a timely manner.

Credits

• Kiwix team’s kiwix-tools. Source code is available here: https://github.com/kiwix/kiwix-tools
• Sindre Sorhus’s LaunchAtLogin package: https://github.com/sindresorhus/LaunchAtLogin
• CheckboxHeaderCell gist here: https://gist.github.com/Lessica/176c2314336fc861398de1e1045aa368
• Detecting button press in SwiftUI: https://stackoverflow.com/a/70191752/4385319
• Enumerating installed browsers on OSX: https://stackoverflow.com/a/931277/4385319