aesel for Mac and iPhone #

Aesel (iOS 17+) and AeselMac (macOS 14+) compile the same SwiftUI sources. ApplePlatform.swift adapts WebKit hosting and native image drawing to UIKit or AppKit. Both run the bundled JavaScript session, notebook renderer, and AC piece preview; the Mac target does not use Electron or start a Node process. The live WebKit preview stays in the upper-right corner, including for new pieces and thread changes, and can expand to fill the workspace.

Appearance follows the system automatically. Native controls and the notebook share the system palette; enabled Mac buttons use a pointing hand. The experience model defines draft, sign-in, generation, and publishing behavior, including the proposed guest AI allowance. The integration roadmap inventories the remaining ports and their acceptance gates, including providers, paired hosts, media, files, and releases. The native provider dropdown retains AC, Claude, and Codex with their desktop images. Claude and Codex remain disabled until the CLI bridge is ported; AC's model is Automatic. The existing Electron app still supports all three.

./run.sh mac               # build and open Aesel Native.app

The native Mac target currently supports the shared Piece workflow: AC sign-in, hosted inference, drafts, publishing, notebook, saved threads and braincells. It uses the separate computer.aesthetic.aesel.native identity while desktop terminal/CLI providers, local media renderers and other Electron integrations are ported. It does not replace the installed Electron app or import its credentials. Mac sessions live in the app's Application Support directory; iPhone sessions retain their existing Documents location. Tokens use Keychain.

To build both targets without installing, run ./bundle-session.sh and xcodegen generate, then build schemes AeselMac (macOS) and Aesel (generic/platform=iOS, with signing disabled for a compile check).

The preview state transitions have a standalone native check:

xcrun swiftc Sources/Session.swift Tests/SessionPreviewChecks.swift -o /tmp/aesel-preview-check
/tmp/aesel-preview-check

Native SwiftUI chrome uses the desktop palette, typeface, mascot scene and slash commands. A hidden WKWebView runs the same JavaScript AC agent as the desktop; a separate WKWebView opens the signed-in user's published piece. Unpublished edits can preview through AC's JavaScript dropped:piece interface. The runtime and model still need an internet connection.

The notebook bundles the desktop's sanitized rich-reply renderer: ruled pages, Markdown, highlighted code, math, diagrams and color swatches. Tap the piece title to open its published URL, or the eye to hide/show the preview. The account's daily and purchased braincells refresh after turns and on foreground; tap the balance to retry. Desktop source-value editing, version scrubbing and hover interactions are not yet available on iPhone.

./run.sh                  # simulator
./run.sh device           # USB-connected iPhone

The script copies easel/{src,context,phone} and the desktop notebook renderer into the app, generates the Xcode project and builds with two compiler jobs. It starts no local HTTP server and shares no laptop credentials. ./bundle-session.sh refreshes these resources before a manual Xcode build. Keep the iPhone unlocked for installation/launch; DEVICE=<UDID> selects a device. AESEL_HOST is an optional explicit development host override; normal launches use the bundled custom scheme with no listener.

AC sign-in #

/login opens aesthetic.computer's existing login flow inside the app. A main-frame bridge accepts tokens only from HTTPS aesthetic.computer, while the login sheet is open, and only from that sheet's WKWebView. The access token goes into device-only Keychain storage; draft source goes into Documents. Old prototype tokens borrowed from the laptop are discarded on upgrade. /logout clears aesel's token and web login data.

This signs into the same AC account. It does not share another iOS app's cookies or Keychain. A retained web login can renew the token when /login is opened again; continuous native refresh and browser SSO are future integration work. A new native OAuth callback must be registered before adopting ASWebAuthenticationSession. No unregistered callback is assumed here.

The account needs an AC handle to publish; missing handles produce a linkable instruction. Generated writes retain the existing automatic publishing behavior; /publish retries explicitly, and /open is available after publication. Draft preview is separate from the public sharing URL.

Release gates #

The bundle identity remains computer.aesthetic.easel, matching macOS's existing App Store record; the visible name is aesel. The icon is opaque at 1024 pixels. An iOS platform can be added to that record; phone functionality, sign-in, preview, model errors and background/foreground behavior need device acceptance before uploading. App Review approval is not guaranteed by a successful build.

The JS bridge signals ready after module evaluation, not on didFinish. Publishing strips Node's forbidden User-Agent header for WebKit. Bundle guide text is injected at startup so it does not depend on custom-scheme fetch.

Threads and media #

The native home screen resumes local threads or starts a Piece. Each saved thread retains its source, transcript, publication owner and AC model conversation; account tokens are excluded. The previous single draft migrates on first launch. Thread switching waits for an interrupted turn and any upload before changing source. Returning home leaves the current preview alive.

Picture, Sound, Paper and Game Boy are desktop-only until their actual render and tool backends are ported; their chooser rows do not create pretend sessions. The editor keeps only the piece title, preview, notebook and message input visible. The version button opens account, status, balance and thread controls. Braincell models are automatic, including resumed threads with old manual choices. Dollar values come from the allowance endpoint and distinguish free from purchased credit. Account character colors come from AC's saved palette, including the @ character, with the same fallback palette as desktop.