How to create a Mac OS X app with Python?

Question

I want to create a GUI application which should work on Windows and Mac. For this I\'ve chosen Python.

The problem is on Mac OS X.

There are 2 tools

Answer 1

If you're not completely committed to wxPython (and for anyone else looking for a cross platform Python GUI framework), I recommend you check out Kivy. It's cross platform, GPU accelerated, and it will do the app packaging for you. It's easy to jump into, has a well thought-out architecture, and gives you an incredible amount of flexibility in terms of the interface. It's the best way I've found to make a cross platform Python GUI app.

Answer 2

PyInstaller will automatically create bundles under Mac OSX for windowed executables. When running ypinstaller.py, make sure to pass the option "--windowed".

This feature is documented in the website of pyinstaller

Answer 3

cxFreeze was the choice. I use it pack my python program to a Mac OS X app. Which works like a charm.

Answer 4

A motivated person could probably reconstruct usable source code from the Python bytecode in your app, so you might reconsider your opposition to py2app. If you don't trust your final users, why are you doing business with them?

Answer 5

I haven't tried it with big Python projects, but for my own scripts, the easiest way I found was to use Automator

You can interactively create an app project with Run Shell Script action, then paste in your script in its editor, select your shell program (/usr/bin/python), finally save the project. And you have yourself a Mac native app.

Automator can also be driven by AppleScript. So you can pipeline this py-2-app conversion process to your build scripts.

I've never tested a GUI program with it so I don't know if you'll be happy with it. But I'd give it a try since you may wonder how well all the cited 3rd-party python modules/applications are maintained, and how long they are gonna last. Coming bundled with OS X, Automator will likely stay, unless Apple got REALLY tired of it.

Answer 6

The only way is py2app. You have no other way. Sorry. The research you did seems very solid and you did not miss anything.