macOS Using Github as a on-demand cloud service for an open source macOS app (Moodist)

[jsgrrchg]

I built Moodist for MacOS to play ambient sound mixes. It currently has 131 sounds and 128 mixes, with plans t

o expand the sound library even further; however, this comes with a problem: the app’s size.

A user on this forum suggested splitting the GitHub repository, separating the app from its sound library, so users can download packs or individual sounds. My question is how scalable using GitHub as a cloud service is?. How would you approach refactoring the app?. Would you add a separate tab to access the broader sounds and mixes libraries?

Thank you so much in advance, Im still learning to code. If you have any feedback about the current implementation, please let me know!

Repo: https://github.com/jsgrrchg/MoodistMac

Latest binary (zip file): https://github.com/jsgrrchg/MoodistMac/releases/tag/Beta-5

 

[keksikuningas]

I think Git LFS is what you need for storing binary files like this

Configuring Git Large File Storage - GitHub Docs

Once Git LFS is installed, you need to associate it with a large file in your repository.

docs.github.com

git-lfs(1) — git-lfs — Debian unstable — Debian Manpages

 

[casperes1996]

Unless you need the files to be in version control they may as well live anywhere else though. GitHub probably would work, although there is a size limit to repos that you may wind up budding into eventually if you add enough audio files to a media repo, and it's not made to be fast for streaming purposes or whatnot. But you can get file-on-demand through the /raw endpoints that just give you raw file download. So your app could start a URLSession on a link like this

https://github.com/jsgrrchg/MoodistMac/raw/refs/heads/main/Moodist/sounds/rain/rain-on-leaves.mp3

(that being from your current repo holding everything) and then download it into the app bundle on demand.

It is possible, but you could also do the same storing the files outside of git on any other page.

 

[jsgrrchg]

Unless you need the files to be in version control they may as well live anywhere else though. GitHub probably would work, although there is a size limit to repos that you may wind up budding into eventually if you add enough audio files to a media repo, and it's not made to be fast for streaming purposes or whatnot. But you can get file-on-demand through the /raw endpoints that just give you raw file download. So your app could start a URLSession on a link like this

https://github.com/jsgrrchg/MoodistMac/raw/refs/heads/main/Moodist/sounds/rain/rain-on-leaves.mp3

(that being from your current repo holding everything) and then download it into the app bundle on demand.

It is possible, but you could also do the same storing the files outside of git on any other page.

This was my original idea, it has a small user base for now. The currently is 200 mb so I still have time until becomes a real problem. Users wouldn’t be downloading the sounds all the time; it would be a one time download.
Thank you!