A lightweight, native macOS app that gives Netflix its own dedicated window — no browser tabs, no distractions. Built with Swift and WebKit.
- Fullscreen on launch — opens directly in fullscreen, just like a real streaming app
- Space bar — play / pause
- Two-finger swipe — swipe left/right to go back or forward (great for getting unstuck)
- Auto-skip — automatically clicks "Skip Intro", "Skip Recap", and "Next Episode" buttons
- Navigation locked to Netflix — the window can't be hijacked to other websites
- Official Netflix icon — uses the real icon pulled from the App Store
No Xcode or build tools needed.
- Go to the Releases page
- Download Netflix-macOS.zip, unzip it, and drag Netflix.app to your
/Applicationsfolder - Double-click the app — macOS will say it can't be opened
- Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down, and click "Open Anyway"
- Enter your Mac password when prompted — then click Always Allow on the Keychain popup
- That's it. From now on it opens with a normal double-click, no prompts ever again.
You'll hit two prompts the very first time. Both are macOS doing its job, not the app doing anything sketchy. Here's exactly what each one is:
macOS automatically blocks any app downloaded from the internet that wasn't sold through the App Store. This is called Gatekeeper and it affects every indie Mac app — VLC, Handbrake, all of them.
Fix: Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down, click Open Anyway. That's it. One time, never again.
Why isn't the app notarized (which would skip this)? Apple charges $99/year for the Developer account required to notarize apps. This is a free personal project. That's the only reason.
Prompt 2 — "Netflix wants to use your confidential information stored in 'Netflix WebCrypto Master Key' in your keychain"
This one sounds scarier than it is. Here's exactly what's happening:
This app uses Apple's WebKit — the same engine as Safari. When you log into Netflix, WebKit stores an encrypted session key (called a WebCrypto key) in your Mac's Keychain so you stay logged in next time. macOS requires your password before any app can access the Keychain for the first time — even Safari went through this.
The app never sees your Netflix password. WebKit and Netflix's own website handle the entire login. The Keychain entry is Netflix's session token — encrypted, stored locally on your Mac, never sent anywhere.
Click Always Allow — this means macOS will never ask again.
Want to verify? The entire source code is public: github.com/taporian/NetflixMacApp. Every single line. There is nothing in the code that reads, stores, or transmits your credentials.
Only needed if you want to modify the code. Cloning is read-only — it just downloads a copy to your machine, you can't change anything in this repo.
git clone https://github.com/taporian/NetflixMacApp.git
cd NetflixMacApp
bash build.sh
open build/Netflix.appRequirements: macOS 12+, Xcode Command Line Tools (xcode-select --install)
Want to contribute? Fork the repo and open a Pull Request — I'll review and merge it if it looks good.
Yes, safely — and it stays on your Mac.
This app is just a WebKit window pointing at https://www.netflix.com, the same engine Safari uses. Your login is handled entirely by Netflix's own website. Your session is stored in your Mac's local Keychain — it is never in the source code and is never sent anywhere other than Netflix.
NetflixMacApp/
├── main.swift # Entry point
├── AppDelegate.swift # App logic, keyboard shortcuts, auto-skip
├── Info.plist # App bundle metadata
├── Netflix.icns # Official Netflix app icon
└── build.sh # One-command build script
This project is for personal use only. Netflix is a trademark of Netflix, Inc.