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ayushap18/pokefolders

Analysis updated 2026-06-24

28SwiftAudience · designerComplexity · 2/5LicenseSetup · moderate

TLDR

A macOS 13+ SwiftUI app that designs custom folder icons in a collectible-creature visual style with elemental themes, badges, and effects, then exports PNG, iconset, or icns and can apply the icon to a real folder.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((pokefolders))
    Inputs
      Theme presets
      Drag and drop images
      Real folder selection
    Outputs
      PNG icons
      iconset folders
      icns bundles
      Applied folder icons
    Use Cases
      Style desktop folders
      Export icon assets
      Save named presets
    Tech Stack
      Swift
      SwiftUI
      AppKit
      CoreGraphics
      CoreText
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Code map

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filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Design a custom Finder folder icon in an elemental theme

USE CASE 2

Export an icon as PNG, iconset, or a single icns bundle

USE CASE 3

Apply the generated icon directly to a folder on disk

USE CASE 4

Save and reload named JSON presets of icon settings

What is it built with?

SwiftSwiftUIAppKitCoreGraphicsCoreText

How does it compare?

ayushap18/pokefoldersappeight/app8-ios-sdknvwalj/ai-memory-reader
Stars282525
LanguageSwiftSwiftSwift
Setup difficultymoderatemoderatemoderate
Complexity2/54/53/5
Audiencedesignerdeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · moderate Time to first run · 30min

Requires macOS 13 or newer and uses the iconutil tool that ships with macOS to produce icns bundles.

No open-source license has been chosen yet so all rights default to the author and contributors should add a license before sending pull requests.

In plain English

PokeFolders is a small Mac application that lets a user design custom folder icons in a style inspired by collectible-creature games, then either save the icon to a file or apply it directly to a real folder on the desktop. It runs only on macOS 13 or newer. The README is explicit that the project contains no official artwork or trademarks from any branded franchise, every theme it ships with is an original elemental design. The app builds each icon by combining a classic folder silhouette with an elemental color scheme, a badge, and optional effects like glow, shadow, gradient, texture, and text. Ten bundled styles are included, with names like capture orb, electric, fire, water, grass, psychic, dark ghost, fairy, gold, and pixel. The user can change base colors, tab color, badge type, badge position, corner radius, icon size, and transparency, and can save their settings as named presets in local JSON files. A preview pane shows the icon at 512 by 512 pixels alongside Finder-size thumbnails on light and dark backgrounds, so the user can check how the icon will look in real Finder windows before exporting. Drag and drop is supported: dropping an image into the preview turns that image into a custom badge or watermark. Export options cover the standard macOS sizes from 16 by 16 up to 1024 by 1024, written either as plain PNG files, a complete .iconset folder with the @2x retina variants, or a single .icns bundle. The .icns is produced through the iconutil tool that ships with macOS. The app can also pick a real folder using a native file picker and apply the generated icon to it through the NSWorkspace API. Under the hood the project uses SwiftUI for the main window, AppKit for native panels and folder application, and CoreGraphics with CoreText for the actual icon rendering. A small executable check target stands in for a unit test framework and exercises rendering, exports, and preset save and reload. The README notes that no open-source license has been chosen yet, so contributors should add one before sending pull requests.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Walk me through pokefolders rendering an electric theme icon at 512x512 using CoreGraphics
Prompt 2
Show me how pokefolders builds an icns through the iconutil tool
Prompt 3
Explain how pokefolders applies a generated icon to a real folder via NSWorkspace
Prompt 4
Add a new bundled theme to pokefolders alongside fire, water, and grass
Prompt 5
List every export size pokefolders writes when producing a full iconset

Frequently asked questions

What is pokefolders?

A macOS 13+ SwiftUI app that designs custom folder icons in a collectible-creature visual style with elemental themes, badges, and effects, then exports PNG, iconset, or icns and can apply the icon to a real folder.

What language is pokefolders written in?

Mainly Swift. The stack also includes Swift, SwiftUI, AppKit.

What license does pokefolders use?

No open-source license has been chosen yet so all rights default to the author and contributors should add a license before sending pull requests.

How hard is pokefolders to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated moderate, with roughly 30min to a first successful run.

Who is pokefolders for?

Mainly designer.

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