AppKit

Short description: Graphical user interface toolkit

Calendar, a macOS application using AppKit.

AppKit (formally Application Kit)[1] is a graphical user interface toolkit. It initially served as the UI framework for NeXTSTEP.[2] Along with Foundation and Display PostScript, it became one of the core parts of the OpenStep specification of APIs. Later, AppKit and Foundation became part of Cocoa, the Objective-C API framework of macOS. GNUstep, GNU's implementation of the OpenStep/Cocoa API, also contains an implementation of the AppKit API.

AppKit comprises a collection of Objective-C classes and protocols that can be used to build an application in OpenStep/Cocoa. These classes can also be used in Swift through its Objective-C bridge. Xcode has built-in functionality for developing a Cocoa application using AppKit, including the ability to visually design user interfaces with Interface Builder. It relies heavily on patterns like reference types, delegation, notifications, target–action, and model–view–controller. A sign of the NeXTSTEP heritage, AppKit's classes and protocols still use the "NS" prefix.

Most of the applications bundled with macOS—for example, the Finder, TextEdit, Calendar, and Preview—use AppKit to provide their user interface.

macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS also support other UI frameworks, including UIKit, which is derived from AppKit and uses many similar structures, and SwiftUI, a Swift-only declarative UI framework.

Prior to macOS Catalina, macOS also supported Carbon, a UI framework derived from the Macintosh Toolbox.

## Contents

* 1 Classes
* 2 See also
* 3 References
* 4 External links

## Classes

Of the more than 170 classes included in the Application Kit, the following classes form the core:[3]

* `NSApplication`: a singleton object that represents the application as a whole and tracks its windows and other global state
* `NSWindow`: an object representing a window on screen, it holds a hierarchy of views
* `NSView`: an object representing a rectangular region; it may draw UI content of its own (using drawing engines like Quartz, Core Animation, and Metal), and it may also hold a subtree of other views
* `NSResponder`: an object that can respond to events during the application's lifetime; `NSApplication`, `NSWindow`, and `NSView` are all subclasses of `NSResponder`
* `NSDocument`: an object representing a document saved on disk that manages its display in a window
* `NSController`: an abstract class implementing some functionality for a controller, mediating between views and model objects

## See also

* macOS
* Foundation
* Objective-C
* Swift (programming language)
* UIKit
* Cocoa
* NeXTSTEP
* OPENSTEP

## References

1. ↑ AppKit Release Notes for macOS 10.13. Retrieved 23 Oct 2017.
2. ↑ The legacy of NeXT lives on in OS X
3. ↑ AppKit Framework Reference

## External links

* AppKit classes, in OpenStep specification
* Apple developer documentation for AppKit

* v
* t
* e

macOS

* History
* Architecture
* Components
* Server
* Software

Versions|

* Server 1.0 Hera
* Public Beta Kodiak
* 10.0 Cheetah
* 10.1 Puma
* 10.2 Jaguar
* 10.3 Panther
* 10.4 Tiger
* 10.5 Leopard
* 10.6 Snow Leopard
* 10.7 Lion
* 10.8 Mountain Lion
* 10.9 Mavericks
* 10.10 Yosemite
* 10.11 El Capitan
* 10.12 Sierra
* 10.13 High Sierra
* 10.14 Mojave
* 10.15 Catalina

Applications|

* App Store
* Automator
* Calculator
* Calendar
* Chess
* Contacts
* Dictionary
* DVD Player
* FaceTime
* Finder
* Game Center
* Grapher
* Home
* iTunes (history)
* Launchpad
* Mail
* Messages
* News
* Music
* Notes
* Notification Center
* Podcasts
* Photo Booth
* Photos
* Preview
* QuickTime
* Reminders
* Safari (version history)
* Stickies
* TextEdit
* Time Machine

Discontinued|

* Dashboard
* Front Row
* iChat
* iPhoto
* iSync
* Sherlock

Utilities|

* Activity Monitor
* AirPort Utility
* AppleScript Editor
* Archive Utility
* Audio MIDI Setup
* Bluetooth File Exchange
* Boot Camp
* ColorSync
* Configurator
* Console
* Crash Reporter
* DigitalColor Meter
* Directory Utility
* DiskImageMounter
* Disk Utility
* Font Book
* Grab
* Help Viewer
* Image Capture
* Installer
* Keychain Access
* Migration Assistant
* Network Utility
* ODBC Administrator
* Screen Sharing
* System Preferences
* System Information
* Terminal
* Universal Access
* VoiceOver

Discontinued|

* Software Update
* Remote Install Mac OS X

Technology and user interface|

* AirDrop
* Apple File System
* Apple menu
* Apple Push Notification service
* AppleScript
* Aqua
* Audio Units
* AVFoundation
* Bonjour
* Bundle
* CloudKit
* Cocoa
* ColorSync
* Command key
* Core Animation
* Core Audio
* Core Data
* Core Foundation
* Core Image
* Core OpenGL
* Core Text
* Core Video
* CUPS
* Cover Flow
* Darwin
* Dock
* FileVault
* Fonts
* Gatekeeper
* Grand Central Dispatch
* icns
* iCloud
* I/O Kit
* Kernel panic
* Keychain
* launchd
* Mach-O
* Menu extra
* Metal
* Mission Control
* OpenCL
* Option key
* Preference Pane
* Property list
* Quartz
* Quick Look
* Smart Folders
* Speakable items
* Spotlight
* Stacks
* System Integrity Protection
* Uniform Type Identifier
* Universal binary
* WebKit
* XNU
* XQuartz

Deprecated|

* HFS+

Discontinued|

* BootX
* Brushed metal
* Carbon
* Classic Environment
* Inkwell
* QTKit
* Rosetta
* Spaces
* Xgrid

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