Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Mithi

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 1, 2006
17
59
London
A few years ago I started working on a little Christmas tree app but never got around to finishing it. Well, today I finally did!

I'm not sure if anyone here will remember it, but it's based on a mac app called X-MasTree that I loved when I was a kid. This was around 2003/2004. Sadly it's no longer being developed and doesn't work on modern versions of macOS.

You can try out my new version at xmastreeapp.com

Let me know if you have any feature requests and I'll see what I can do to get them in before the holidays :)

I also can't find anything out about the original developer John Schilling, if anyone knows him, I'd love to share this version with him.
 

Attachments

  • ChristmasTree.png
    ChristmasTree.png
    737 KB · Views: 2,114
The process has no name in Activity Monitor. Is that normal/deliberate?
Edit:
Small bug – lights are always animated, on or off settings don’t work
Suggestion for new feature – allow setting the size, the default is quite small on a big screen.
On a 4K display, I’ve increased it from Terminal with:

Code:
defaults write com.mthi.ChristmasTree "NSWindow Frame main" "0 0 500 510 0 0 3840 2160"
 
Last edited:
The process has no name in Activity Monitor. Is that normal/deliberate?
Edit:
Small bug – lights are always animated, on or off settings don’t work
Suggestion for new feature – allow setting the size, the default is quite small on a big screen.
On a 4K display, I’ve increased it from Terminal with:

Code:
defaults write com.mthi.ChristmasTree "NSWindow Frame main" "0 0 500 510 0 0 3840 2160"
Nope, not deliberate! Thanks for the feedback, I'll get an update released this week :)
 
@bogdanw Thanks again! I've just released 1.0.4 with the following updates:
  • Fixes not being able to turn lights on/off
  • Adds the ability to resize the window using a drag handler in the bottom right corner
  • Add missing app name in Activity Monitor
  • Allows you to close the preferences window with cmd+w
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mac mini power user
Love this - Thank you so much! But what's the significance of the '12' in the red button that's moving on and off the tree?
Thanks Biffs! The 12 is the number of days until Christmas. I've just released an update that'll now show a hint when you hover over the countdown 🎄🎄
 

Attachments

  • CleanShot 2022-12-13 at 16.19.24@2x.png
    CleanShot 2022-12-13 at 16.19.24@2x.png
    176.4 KB · Views: 147
  • Like
Reactions: bogdanw
Thanks for the app!
It would be cool if it could be kept in front of other apps and be resizable.
Great idea, I'll get an update to pin the app to the front this week.

You should be able to resize the tree already by hovering around the bottom right corner and then dragging when you see the arrow icon ↔
 

Attachments

  • CleanShot 2022-12-13 at 21.34.43.gif
    CleanShot 2022-12-13 at 21.34.43.gif
    2 MB · Views: 169
  • Like
Reactions: sorgo † and Biffs
A few years ago I started working on a little Christmas tree app but never got around to finishing it. Well, today I finally did!

I'm not sure if anyone here will remember it, but it's based on a mac app called X-MasTree that I loved when I was a kid. This was around 2003/2004. Sadly it's no longer being developed and doesn't work on modern versions of macOS.

You can try out my new version at xmastreeapp.com

Let me know if you have any feature requests and I'll see what I can do to get them in before the holidays :)

I also can't find anything out about the original developer John Schilling, if anyone knows him, I'd love to share this version with him.
Thanks very much.......and it's the only Christmas tree we have this year!!
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: G5isAlive and Mithi
Thanks for the app!
It would be cool if it could be kept in front of other apps and be resizable.
Thanks again for the suggestion! I've just pushed an update, and you can now pin it in Window > Pin to top.

Merry Christmas 🎄
 

Attachments

  • CleanShot 2022-12-14 at 08.52.27@2x.png
    CleanShot 2022-12-14 at 08.52.27@2x.png
    608.4 KB · Views: 128
  • Like
Reactions: sorgo †
Unsure if it's a 'feature' but the days remaining button keeps switching off and the number moves to beside the nearest red ornament on the tree when the lights flash ..
 
Unsure if it's a 'feature' but the days remaining button keeps switching off and the number moves to beside the nearest red ornament on the tree when the lights flash ..
Hey Biffs, nope definitely a bug. Which OS version are you running? I'll dig into this
 
Thanks @Biffs for your patience! I've just upgraded to Ventura and managed to reproduce the bug and get it sorted. If you check for updates now that should fix the animation issues and the countdown flying around.
 
Thanks @Biffs for your patience! I've just upgraded to Ventura and managed to reproduce the bug and get it sorted. If you check for updates now that should fix the animation issues and the countdown flying around.
Hey - no worries about patience! I'm delighted to have this on my desktop. If you relish challenges you need to make it a screensaver too!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mithi and haddy
Hello love the app. Was wondering if u can add these things.

Ability to make the star bigger
Faster rate of lights change
color and rgb lights
Ability to make notification icon scale bigger
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mithi
I have a 48inch monitor and these is how it looks. Look at the notification icon and star, they looked way out of scale compared to tree.
View attachment 2129827
😂😂😂 The notification bubble especially does look ridiculous.

Thanks for all the suggestions! I should have some time this week to push a couple of updates. Merry Christmas! 🎄
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.