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Products & Applications

Codex on Mac: A Writer's Four-Month Journey Building Custom Apps

A 9to5Mac writer describes four months of using OpenAI's Codex agent on a Mac to build custom apps despite no programming background.

AI News Feed · 2026-09-01 07:48

In an article published Monday, the writer describes how Codex for Mac's Computer Use feature, introduced in April, changed his perception of the AI tool. He initially found Codex intimidating compared with ChatGPT, but now says ChatGPT without Codex feels like a toy.

The report traces the feature's lineage to Workflow, an iOS automation app launched in 2014 by Ari Weinstein and colleagues. Apple acquired Workflow in 2017, and its technology later became Apple Shortcuts. Weinstein and other Workflow veterans then formed Software Applications Incorporated, which previewed an AI assistant called Sky before being acquired by OpenAI. Sky never launched publicly, but Codex for Mac delivered its technology through the Computer Use plugin.

The writer says trusting an AI to control a Mac requires trust, and his confidence came from the inherited history with Workflow and Shortcuts. He began using Codex daily in May. His first project was a Mac app called Flow, built to help monitor app releases and updates. He described his desired features to Codex as if messaging a colleague, and the app was created incrementally. The app's icon is his handwritten initial, made with Apple Pencil and Procreate and converted with Apple's Icon Composer.

The writer says iterating can go on forever, so it is important to close the loop and consider a project complete. With Flow, he can measure how many of his 9to5Mac posts originate from using the tool, as opposed to measuring time spent building it.

Since then, he has built more modern versions of apps he has used for years, tailored to specific needs. He created a column view for social media and one for RSS, each 275 pixels wide, designed for macOS 27 Golden Gate. The narrower columns free up screen real estate in the middle, and he customized toolbar buttons to keep a touch of color instead of graying out.