Next3Trains on Mac

Next3Trains runs natively on macOS 14 or later. It’s the same app record on the App Store, so if you’ve downloaded it on iPhone you can just download it on Mac.

The widget works on Mac too - you can add it to Notification Centre or put it on the desktop. Everything added to the iPhone app in 1.9 and 1.10.1 - station information, notices and planned work and booked train lengths - is on the Mac as well.

Keyboard shortcuts

• ⌘R - refresh all routes
• ⌘N - add a route
• ⌘, - open Settings
• Escape - close the train details, notices or station information window

Toolbar buttons that are icon-only show a tooltip when you hover over them.

Deliberate differences on Mac

These aren’t bugs, they’re platform differences:

• Location is foreground-only. The Mac app uses your location while it’s open to auto-select the nearest saved route, but it doesn’t do background location monitoring or station geofences - a desktop doesn’t move between the ends of your commute. It never asks for “Always” permission, and the app works fine if you don’t grant location at all.
• No Live Activities and no Control Center control. Both are iOS features and aren’t in the Mac build.
• No Apple Watch component. Watch apps are installed from the iPhone.
• Click-and-drag doesn’t scroll. Pressing on a list and dragging it does nothing, anywhere in the app. Use the mouse scroll wheel or a two-finger swipe on the trackpad, both of which work. This is how macOS apps behave - content is scrolled, not dragged - so it’s left as the platform default.
• Text size doesn’t follow a system setting. macOS doesn’t expose Dynamic Type to apps built this way, so text scales with the app’s own fonts rather than a slider. Reduce Motion, Reduce Transparency and Increase Contrast are all honoured.

Push notifications work the same way as on iPhone - see What notifications will I get?.

On macOS 26 or later with Apple Intelligence turned on, the Mac app also offers Disruption Summaries, exactly as on iPhone.

• Faq