SettingsAccess

As of macOS 14 Sonoma:

• Apple completely removed the ability to open the SwiftUI Settings scene using legacy NSApp.sendAction() method using the showSettingsWindow: (macOS 13) or showPreferencesWindow: (macOS 12 and earlier) selectors. The only available method of opening the Settings scene (apart from the App menu → Settings menu item) is to use the new SettingsLink view.

  

• This presents two major restrictions:

  1. There is no way to detect when the user has clicked this button if additional code is desired to run before or after the opening of the Settings scene.
  2. There is no way to programmatically open the Settings scene.

• These restrictions become problematic in many scenarios. Some examples that are currently impossible without SettingsAccess:

  • You are building a window-based MenuBarExtra and want to have a button that activates the app, opens Settings, and then also dismisses the window.
  • You want to open the Settings scene in response to a user action in your application that requires the user manipulate a setting that may be invalid.

• SettingsAccess provides a SwiftUI environment method called openSettings() that can be called anywhere in the view hierarchy to programmatically open the Settings scene.

  Note: Due to SwiftUI limitations, this method is not usable within a menu-based MenuBarExtra. In that context, the custom SettingsLink initializer described below may be used.

• SettingsAccess also provides an initializer for SettingsLink which provides two closures allowing execution of arbitrary code before and/or after opening the Settings scene.

• The library is backwards compatible with macOS 11 Big Sur and later.

• No private API is used, so it is safe for the Mac App Store.

See Getting Started below for example usage.

Add SettingsAccess as a dependency using Swift Package Manager.

• In an app project or framework, in Xcode:

  Select the menu: File → Swift Packages → Add Package Dependency...

  Enter this URL: https://github.com/orchetect/SettingsAccess

• In a Swift Package, add it to the Package.swift dependencies:

  .package(url: "https://github.com/orchetect/SettingsAccess", from: "1.4.0")

Import the library.

import SettingsAccess

• Attach the openSettingsAccess view modifier to the base view whose subviews needs access to the openSettings method.

  @main
  struct MyApp: App {
      var body: some Scene {
          WindowGroup {
              ContentView()
                  .openSettingsAccess()
          }
          
          Settings { SettingsView() }
      }
  }

• In any subview where needed, add the environment method declaration. Then the Settings scene may be opened programmatically by calling this method.

  struct ContentView: View {
      @Environment(\.openSettings) private var openSettings
    
      var body: some View {
          Button("Open Settings") { try? openSettings() }
      }
  }

If using a menu-based MenuBarExtra, do not apply openSettingsAccess() to the menu content. openSettings() cannot be used there due to limitations of SwiftUI.

Instead, use the custom SettingsLink initializer to add a Settings menu item capable of running code before and/or after opening the Settings scene.

@main
struct MyApp: App {
    var body: some Scene {
        MenuBarExtra {
            AppMenuView()
                // Do not attach .openSettingsAccess()
        }
        
        Settings { SettingsView() }
    }
}

struct AppMenuView: View {
    var body: some View {
        SettingsLink { 
            Text("Settings...")
        } preAction: {
            // code to run before Settings opens
        } postAction: {
            // code to run after Settings opens
        }
        
        Button("Quit") { NSApp.terminate(nil) }
    }
}

Try the Demo example project to see the library in action.

Requires Xcode 15.0 or higher.

Supports macOS 11.0 or higher.

SettingsLink is a view that wraps a standard SwiftUI Button and its action calls a private environment method called _openSettings which we have no access to publicly. (A radar has been submitted asking Apple to make it public, but that may never happen.)

It is worth noting that due to how SwiftUI Button works, it is impossible to attach a simultaneous gesture to attempt to detect a button press.

The solution is the use of a custom Button style which, when applied directly to SettingsLink, allows us to capture the Button press action and export a wrapper method as an environment method called openSettings that we can use. This same button style can also let us run arbitrary code before and/or after the button action is triggered by the user.

More info and a deep-dive can be found in this reddit post.

Coded by a bunch of 🐹 hamsters in a trenchcoat that calls itself @orchetect.

Licensed under the MIT license. See LICENSE for details.

If you enjoy using SettingsAccess and want to contribute to open-source financially, GitHub sponsorship is much appreciated. Feedback and code contributions are also welcome.

Contributions are welcome. Posting in Discussions first prior to new submitting PRs for features or modifications is encouraged.