LOL @ OpenAI replacing the native AppKit ChatGPT app with the Electron Codex app after @gruber's recent posts on the topic 😂
(It's almost like Apple doesn't have clear messaging on the right way to build native desktop apps anymore, and, if Apple doesn't know, why on earth would third-party developers make that investment)
@stroughtonsmith @gruber I have a feeling they wanted to get their combo app out ASAP to appear to be at parity with Claude Code. Ironically it also includes the crappy stack.
@stroughtonsmith nooooooo 😭😭😭
Jul 9, 2026, 6:48 PM@stroughtonsmith @gruber And it went from 158MB to 1.46GB ugh.
@stroughtonsmith I of course am with you on Apple's role in this, messaging wise (and example-wise, with odd ducks like Journal, etc.), but the old ChatGPT app (ChatGPT Classic now, apparently) shows that some people there knew the answer.
@stroughtonsmith The right answer is that you build toward the desired experience and pick frameworks to achieve that. Not pick a framework and do your best with it.
@stroughtonsmith Have you been able to figure out exactly how they bundle Electron here? Because I know it *was* Electron previously (a “Show Package Contents” made that obvious) but at a minimum they’re doing *something* with the build that obscures that if they’re still doing it. @gruber
(This is to say nothing of how absurdly terribly the “let’s shove ChatGPT into a weird sub-pane” UI is. Good grief.)
@stroughtonsmith Update: I threw Codex at it (!) and had it inspect the executable file, and it found that the framework is “just” wrapping Chromium, Electron, and Owl (the embedded custom browser), all wrapped into `app.asar` which gets assembled into the app. This makes sense and is roughly what I expected, but is also significantly weirder than the way most Electron apps are assembled. @gruber
@chriskrycho @stroughtonsmith Electron++.
@gruber Just what we always wanted! 🙃 @stroughtonsmith