I really like the Crusader network test application for measuring network throughput and latency. It’s cross-platform and provides a useful reference for network measurements. But the macOS binary opens a Terminal window that’s confusing and “gets in the way”. Furthermore, you have to know which binary to use – Intel or Apple Silicon.

I decided to create a double-clickable “macOS application bundle” that hides the unwanted stuff and launches the proper binary file. In addition, it now has a nice icon file.

It turns out to be pretty straightforward to make the bundle. Even though the bundle isn’t signed (and needs to be granted permission to run the first time), it operates exactly as desired.

I put the process into the create-crusader-macos-app repo. The script shows how to combine all the pieces – downloading the binary file(s) from its own repo, the Info.plist file, the .icns that contains the icons, and a startup script that are required for the bundle.

It’s now easy to build the app anytime a new version gets released.

I wanted to create a macOS bundle for an application that I use frequently, and wanted it to have an attractive icon. I had a good PNG image, and knew that there must be a way to convert it to the multiple sizes required by modern macOS.

I found Ben Souchet’s png-to-icns repo that does exactly what I want. It takes a 1024×1024 PNG image, and outputs the desired .icns file.