A native Kanban app for Mac: windows, shortcuts, and no web wrapper
What makes a Mac Kanban app feel native, and how to use Hense's board windows, menu bar commands, keyboard shortcuts, and right-click actions on macOS.
The short answer. Most Kanban apps on the Mac are the web app in a window: slow to open, web scrolling, an account and a subscription. Hense is a native macOS app built with SwiftUI. It opens instantly, keeps your boards in a sidebar, opens any board in its own window, has a real menu bar and keyboard shortcuts, syncs through iCloud with no account, and is free to start with a one-time Pro upgrade.
Why “Kanban app for Mac” is a different question
If you search for a Kanban app on Windows or in a browser, the answer is a web service. On a Mac the question usually means something more specific: you want the board to behave like the other apps on your Mac. Open in a second, remember its window, respond to the keyboard, show up in the Dock and the Window menu, work on a plane.
Team tools fail that test on purpose. Trello, Notion, ClickUp, and Jira are built around a server, because a team needs one, and their Mac apps are wrappers around the website. That is fine for collaboration. It is a poor fit for one person who wants a board next to their other windows.
So the things to look for in a Mac Kanban app are plain: is it native, does it need an account, how does it sync, and does it respect the keyboard.
What native means in Hense on macOS
Hense is one codebase for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and the Mac version uses the platform properly:
- A sidebar of boards on the left and the open board on the right, in a standard split view. Collapse the sidebar with the toolbar button when you want the board alone.
- Each board in its own window. Right-click a board in the sidebar (or use the Board menu) and choose Open in New Window. Put your week on one side of the screen and a project on the other. Windows remember their size and sidebar width between launches.
- A real menu bar. File has New Board, New Column, and New Card. A Board menu has Filter by Label, Copy Board, and Edit Board, enabled only when they make sense. Help opens the in-app Help index.
- Keyboard shortcuts for everything above (the table is below).
- Right-click everywhere. Boards, column headers, and cards all have context menus with edit, copy, move, and delete.
- Drag and drop with autoscroll. Drag a card toward the edge of a board and the board scrolls; drag toward the bottom of a long column and the column scrolls.
- Search in the toolbar with All Boards or Current Board scope, and results that open the board and scroll to the card.
Setting up on the Mac
In Hense
- Install Hense from the Mac App Store (it is the same listing as the iPhone and iPad app, one purchase for all three). If you use it on iPhone already, your boards appear as soon as iCloud syncs.
- Press ⌘N to create a board. Name it and pick a color.
- Add columns with ⇧⌘N. To Do, Doing, Done to start; a Waiting column is worth adding for anything that depends on someone else.
- Add cards with ⌥⌘N, or click Add Card at the bottom of a column. Open a card to add a description, dates, a checklist, labels, or a file.
- Open a second board in its own window from its context menu when you want two boards visible at once.
Keyboard shortcuts on Mac
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| ⌘N | New board |
| ⇧⌘N | New column in the open board |
| ⌥⌘N | New card in the open board |
| ⌘E | Edit the open board (name, color, labels) |
| ⇧⌘D | Copy the open board (Pro) |
| ⇧⌘L | Filter by label |
| ⌘? | Help |
Two Mac-specific tips: scroll a wide board horizontally with a trackpad swipe or, on a wheel mouse, by holding ⇧ Shift while scrolling. And drop a card inside the window; releasing a drag outside a Hense window is the one thing macOS drag sessions handle badly.
A Mac workflow that actually gets used
The Mac is where boards get planned, and where the temptation to over-build is highest. A layout that has held up:
- One window for the current week, a small board with Today, This Week, Waiting, and Done. It stays open on a corner of the screen.
- A second window for whatever project you are inside right now. Product Roadmap, the book, the renovation.
- The sidebar collapsed in both windows, so each is just a board.
- ⌥⌘N as the capture habit. When something comes up in email, press the shortcut, type the card, hit Return, go back to what you were doing. Sort it into the right column later.
If that sounds like a lot of boards, note the limit: the free version includes 2 boards, which covers exactly this setup. Pro removes the cap.
Files, screenshots, and attachments on Mac
Cards can hold attachments: images, screenshots, PDFs, and other files, added from the Files picker or your Photos library. On the Mac this is where a board starts replacing a folder of loose files. A card called “Send the contract” with the contract attached, in the Waiting column, is the whole status of that task in one place. Attachments open in place with Quick Look and sync to iPhone and iPad through iCloud. Free includes one attachment per card; Pro is unlimited.
Free vs Pro on Mac
The free version includes everything that makes Hense feel native: the sidebar, board windows, menu bar, shortcuts, context menus, board search, drag and drop, and iCloud sync, with 2 boards, 5 columns per board, 3 labels, 5 checklist items per card, and 1 attachment per card.
Hense Pro is $9.99 USD once, not a subscription. It removes the limits and adds copying boards, columns, and cards, end-state columns (finished work stops showing as overdue), search across all boards, and the label: and column: search filters. Buying Pro on the Mac unlocks it on your iPhone and iPad too.
What Hense is not (so you can decide quickly)
- Not a team tool. No shared boards, assignees, or comments. If several people work the same board, use Trello or Notion.
- No Trello import. You rebuild boards by hand, which for a personal board is usually a ten-minute job and a useful prune.
- Mac only among desktops. There is no Windows or web version, by design; the app is built on iCloud and SwiftUI.
Frequently asked questions
Is Hense a native Mac app?
Yes. Hense is built with SwiftUI and runs as a native macOS app with a sidebar, multiple board windows, a menu bar, keyboard shortcuts, and right-click menus. It is not an Electron or web-wrapper app.
Can I open more than one board at a time on Mac?
Yes. Right-click a board in the sidebar, or use the Board menu, and choose Open in New Window. Each board window remembers its size between launches.
Does Hense on Mac need an account or subscription?
No. There is no account to create; boards sync through your own iCloud. Hense is free, and Hense Pro is a one-time $9.99 USD purchase rather than a subscription.
Which macOS versions does Hense support?
macOS 15 or later, on Apple silicon and Intel Macs that run it. The same purchase covers iPhone (iOS 18 or later) and iPad (iPadOS 18 or later).
Can I import my Trello boards into Hense?
Not yet. There is no import feature today; boards are created in the app. Rebuilding a personal Trello board usually takes a few minutes and is a good chance to drop cards you no longer need.