discover · compare · collections · requirements · contribute · feed · watching · stats · help with your tokens
milanvarady/Applite · source
Snapshot 0 · 2026-11-04T12:47:27Z · Swift · MIT
Content fingerprint
a202e66b9b91eae0f11301f77396defa64b628b2c0b4cf0d291712a354668f8bGitHub description at capture
A native macOS app store for software that isn't on the App Store, backed by Homebrew Cask
README at capture
# Applite A native macOS app store for software that isn't on the App Store, backed by [Homebrew Cask](https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-cask). [](https://github.com/milanvarady/Applite/releases/latest) [](https://github.com/milanvarady/Applite/releases) [](LICENSE.txt) ## Table of Contents 1. [What Sets Applite Apart](#what-sets-applite-apart) 2. [Comparison](#comparison) 3. [Key Features](#key-features) 4. [Screenshots](#screenshots) 5. [Download](#download) 6. [Built With](#built-with) 7. [Development and AI](#development-and-ai) 8. [Contact](#contact) 9. [Roadmap](#roadmap) 10. [Contributing](#contributing) 11. [Packages Used](#packages-used) 12. [Credits](#credits) 13. [License](#license) 14. [Alternatives](#alternatives) ## What Sets Applite Apart **Applite brings its own Homebrew.** Every other Homebrew GUI expects `brew` to already be on the machine, which means the user has opened a Terminal and installed the Xcode Command Line Tools first. Applite downloads a Homebrew tarball into its own Application Support directory on first launch and runs it from there, in API mode behind a git shim. - **No Terminal, no Command Line Tools.** Applite can be the first app on a fresh Mac. - **Brewfile import and export**, so restoring your apps on a new machine is a file and a checklist. - **Casks only, by design.** No formulae, no services, no CLI surface. Apps in categories, with icons and a search field. - **Uses your existing Homebrew** if you have one. Point it at any prefix in Settings. ## Comparison Three actively developed alternatives worth knowing about. All of them are good software solving a slightly different problem. | | **Applite** | [CaskHub](https://github.com/alielsokary/CaskHub) | [BrewUI](https://github.com/Homebrew/brewui) | [Cork](https://github.com/buresdv/Cork) | | ------------------------ | -------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- | | Installs Homebrew itself | Yes, no CLT or Terminal needed | No, guided manual setup | No | No | | Scope | Casks only | Casks only | Formulae and casks | Formulae, casks, services, taps | | Audience | Non-technical | Non-technical | All Homebrew users | Power users | | Price | Free | Free | Free | 25 € prebuilt, free if self-compiled | | License | MIT | MIT | AGPL-3.0 | Commons Clause (source available) | | Minimum macOS | 14 | 15.6 | 14 | 13 | | Brewfile import/export | Yes, with a per-app selection sheet | No | Not yet | Yes | | Telemetry | None | Sentry + TelemetryDeck | None | None | | Status | Released | Released | Early development | Released | Comparison drawn in August 2026; check the projects themselves for current state. ## Key Features - Install, update, and uninstall apps in one click - Self-contained Homebrew installation, no Command Line Tools required - Works with an existing Homebrew installation if you have one - Handpicked gallery of apps, plus full-catalog FTS5 search - Brewfile import and export for migrating to a new Mac - Casks from custom taps - System proxy support (HTTP, HTTPS, SOCKS5) - Localized in 7 languages - Free and open source, no telemetry ## Screenshots <picture> <source media="(prefers-color-scheme: dark)" srcset="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/milanvarady/Applite/main/docs/screenshots/discover-dark.png"> <source media="(prefers-color-scheme: light)" srcset="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/milanvarady/Applite/main/docs/screenshots/discover-light.png"> <img alt="Applite Discover page" src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/milanvarady/Applite/main/docs/screenshots/discover-light.png"> </picture> ## Download [applite.app](https://applite.app) or a direct [DMG download](https://github.com/milanvarady/Applite/releases/latest/download/Applite.dmg) or `$ brew install --cask applite` Minimum OS version: **macOS 14+**. Universal binary, Apple Silicon and Intel. ## Built With Swift and SwiftUI, targeting macOS 14 so `@Observable` and `NavigationSplitView` are available without back-deployment shims. No Combine. The cask catalog is a local SQLite database (GRDB.swift, WAL mode) synced from the Homebrew JSON API, with FTS5 and BM25 ranking for full-catalog search. Loading is two-stage: SQLite paints the UI immediately, then `brew list --cask` and `brew outdated --cask` fill in installed and outdated state reactively, so nothing blocks on the brew CLI. Architecture notes are in [CLAUDE.md](CLAUDE.md). ## Development and AI I'm the sole maintainer of Applite. Starting with version 1.4, I use [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code) as part of my development workflow, and I'd rather state that plainly than leave people to guess. The reason is capacity. This is a side project maintained by one person, and the realistic alternative to AI-assisted development is not hand-written code, it's a much slower release cycle or no releases at all. Several things that shipped recently, the SQLite migration and the six-language localization among them, would have sat in the backlog indefinitely otherwise. Scope of what that actually means: - The core of the app was written by hand, before any AI involvement. - AI assistance is used for refactoring and reorganization work, and for small to medium sized new features. - Architecture decisions, code review, and what does and doesn't go into the app are mine. Nothing merges that I haven't read. If you object to AI-assisted code on principle, that's a legitimate position and [Cork](https://github.com/buresdv/Cork) is explicitly developed without it. ## Contact If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me: [milan@milanvarady.dev](mailto:milan@milanvarady.dev) Or join the [Official Discord Server](https://discord.gg/MpDMH9cPbK). The [FAQ](https://applite.app/faq) and [Troubleshooting](https://applite.app/troubleshooting) pages answer most questions. ## Roadmap I don't have much time for development, but I release updates periodically. View the [roadmap](https://github.com/users/milanvarady/projects/1). ## Contributing The project is open to contributions. See the [Contribution Guidelines](docs/CONTRIBUTING.md) for more information. For typos and minor bugs, open a PR directly. For anything larger, open an issue or bring it up on Discord first, so we don't both spend time on something that doesn't fit the project's scope. ## Packages Used - [Homebrew](https://github.com/homebrew) - the package manager everything is built on - [GRDB.swift](https://github.com/groue/GRDB.swift), Gwendal Roué - SQLite database and FTS5 search - [Sparkle](https://github.com/sparkle-project/Sparkle) - app updates - [Kingfisher](https://github.com/onevcat/Kingfisher), Wei Wang - image downloading and caching - [ButtonKit](https://github.com/Dean151/ButtonKit), Thomas Durand - async buttons - [SwiftUI-Shimmer](https://github.com/markiv/SwiftUI-Shimmer), Vikram Kriplaney - loading placeholders ## Credits App icons are sourced from [CaskFlow](https://github.com/alielsokary/CaskFlow) by Ali Elsokary (MIT), a metadata pipeline that extracts icons from vendor `.icns` files. Casks without a CaskFlow icon fall back to a generated monogram tile. ## License Applite is licensed under the [MIT](https://choosealicense.com/licenses/mit/) License. See [LICENSE](LICENSE.txt) for more details. ## Alternatives Compared above: - [CaskHub](https://github.com/alielsokary/CaskHub) - cask-focused app store with strong discovery features - [BrewUI](https://github.com/Homebrew/brewui) - Homebrew's official GUI, in early development - [Cork](https://github.com/buresdv/Cork) - full-featured Homebrew GUI for power users Others: - [WailBrew](https://github.com/wickenico/WailBrew) (Go, Wails, React) - [Brewer X](https://panini.house/brewer/) (paid) - [BrewMate](https://github.com/romankurnovskii/BrewMate) (Electron based) - [Brewlet](https://github.com/zkokaja/Brewlet) (menu bar app) - [App Fair](https://github.com/App-Fair/App) (looks discontinued) - [Cakebrew](https://github.com/brunophilipe/Cakebrew) (discontinued)