Using Project Catalyst, Apple has been able to port Voice Memos, News, Music, Podcasts, etc. iPad apps to the Mac. Now, Developer Steve Troughton-Smith has done some digging in macOS Catalina and found that Apple is working on Project Catalyst versions of Messages and Shortcuts for Mac app.
The developer has found a Shortcuts framework in macOS Catalina which points to Apple working on bringing the Shortcuts iOS app to the Mac.
There’s plenty of evidence a Project Catalyst version of the Messages app as well in macOS Catalina, with Smith getting the app to work using the Catalyst UI — right down to the various iMessage effects.
There is a whole lot of evidence in Catalina that they're working on a full, Catalyst version of Messages, much like Shortcuts for Mac. So, just like Shortcuts, I decided to cut to the chase and do it myself by calling the system frameworks. Voilà pic.twitter.com/IsXKrGpemd
— Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) June 19, 2019
There were rumours that the Shortcuts app will be a part of macOS Catalina to offer the same level of automation as it does on iOS. However, that did not happen, though developer Steve Troughton-Smith’s discover at least confirms that Apple is indeed working on bringing Shortcuts to the Mac.
If anything, we will likely see these two Marzipan apps make their way to the Mac either with a future release of macOS Catalina or next year.
Our Take
It is clear that Project Catalyst is going to dramatically change and improve the quality of apps available for the Mac. By allowing developers to easily bring their iPad apps to the Mac, Apple will ensure that not only do the quality of iPad apps improve, the Mac app ecosystem also thrives.