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An X (Twitter) desktop app for Mac and Windows

Popular sites · October 18, 2026 · 6 min read

X's download page offers its app for iPhone, iPad and Android, and on a computer you use the website. A Pake app keeps x.com in a window of its own, with a Dock or Start menu icon, apart from your browser tabs, and the settings below decide how well it behaves as a daily window.

What X ships for each platform

The App Store listing does not include the Mac, and X's download page does not offer a Windows build. X Pro is a website too: columns, scheduled posts and several accounts in one session. A Pake app can open either address, x.com for the ordinary timeline or pro.x.com if you prefer columns.

A Pake window is the website without the browser around it. If you only need X now and then, a pinned browser tab does the same job.

Make it from the gallery

On the Create tab, type X into Search apps or paste a web address and open its tile under Social, or paste https://x.com. If the tile is missing, paste the address instead. The gallery entry carries only the address, name and icon, so size and behavior are yours to set. Leave Incognito off so you stay signed in, and click Create App. Create an app lists every option.

With the CLI, after the setup guide:

pake https://x.com --name X

Window size, zoom and the title bar

The window starts at 1200 by 780. A single timeline is a narrow column, so a narrower Size (Window size on Windows), perhaps 600 by 900, often suits it, while X Pro's columns likely need the default width or more. If you resize the window by hand the app remembers that size, and changing Size later from Edit in My Apps clears it.

Page zoom helps on a large screen: Cmd =, Cmd - and Cmd 0 on Mac, Ctrl =, Ctrl - and Ctrl 0 on Windows. Cmd [ and Cmd ] go back and forward, and Cmd R reloads. On Mac, Hide title bar lets the page run to the top edge; on every system Dark window only darkens the frame, and the page keeps the theme X gives it. Customize a web app's window compares these options.

Sign in

Sign in inside the new window. On Windows, if the sign-in opens a window that never comes back, turn on Open new windows in the app under Behavior; for an app you already made, use Edit in My Apps, then Save Changes. On a Mac, sign-in other than Sign in with Apple already runs in the app's own window, so the option does not change it. Passkeys and Touch ID sign-in are not available in Pake apps on macOS, according to the CLI FAQ, so if you normally sign in to a site that way, use a password and a two-factor code in the app. If your X login goes through a Google account, Google can refuse sign-in in embedded views, as the sign-in guide explains. After signing in, quit and reopen the app once to confirm you stayed signed in.

Two accounts in two apps

X Pro can switch between accounts inside one session, and those accounts share that session. If you would rather keep them fully apart, give each its own app. In My Apps, open the ⋯ menu of your X app and choose Add Another Account: Pake copies the settings and icon under a new name, such as X Personal, without any sign-in or browser data, so you sign in with the other account there. Two accounts on one website covers the rest.

Notifications and media

X's notification guide describes two kinds for the web: pop-ups while x.com is open, set under Settings, and browser notifications for when you are away, which it describes for Chrome and Firefox. So check what you get in the app: send yourself a mention or message while the window is open, then again after closing it. Hide on close keeps the app running after you close the window; it is on by default on Mac and off on Windows, where it also turns on the tray icon. A website in the menu bar or tray covers the two options.

Then play a video, open an image and, if you use them, join a Space, since in the app they play in the system webview, not in a browser. If something does not work there, the browser is the fallback.

Find in page and links that leave X

Find in page, under Behavior, adds Cmd F or Ctrl F search for the text on screen, which is handy in a long thread; X's own search box is still the way to find posts and accounts.

Internal URL regex under Advanced decides which links stay in the app and which open in your browser. Click one link that stays on x.com and one that leaves it, and change the setting only if one of them opened in the wrong place. The CLI also has --force-internal-navigation, which keeps every link inside the window, rarely what you want for a feed full of outside links. If you also use Grok, keep it in its own app, as described in Grok on the desktop.

How the window works

The app is a native shell around the system web view, WKWebView on Mac and Microsoft Edge WebView2 on Windows. It loads x.com, so the interface changes when X changes it, and the window reopens at the page you last viewed. Cookies live in the app's own storage, separate from your browser, which is why a browser sign-in does not carry over and why Incognito would sign you out each launch. Pake updates the shell, not the site: Update available in My Apps means a newer runtime, and Update keeps the name, icon and sign-in (Updates).

When something goes wrong

• Signed out after each launch. Check whether Incognito is on; if it is, edit the app, turn it off and save. If it is already off, check whether the site has expired the session or requires sign-in again.
• A link opens in the wrong place. Adjust Internal URL regex under Advanced.
• No alerts when the window is closed. Test with Hide on close on, and treat browser notifications as unconfirmed until you have seen one.
• A feature works in your browser but not in the app. The window is not Chrome, so open that feature in the browser.

FAQ

Is there an official X desktop app?

X's download page lists iPhone, iPad and Android apps. On a computer it points you to the website.

Can I use X Pro in the app?

Yes, create the app for https://pro.x.com instead of x.com. It is the same website in a window.

Does it keep me signed in?

It does when Incognito is off. Check by quitting and reopening once.