Protonmail MacOS Desktop Icon

Protonmail is a bit unlike other email services - if you want a solid desktop app, you're pretty much either running the Bridge or running it in a browser tab. I'm not a bridge user, and I regularly get into tab hell - so running it in a tab isn't my ideal scenario.

Thus, I wrote up a simple wrapper app for the website that hooks in to get proper notifications, mailto:// support, and so on. Email is too important to live in a browser tab, especially if your muscle memory is built up to have it on your dock/switcher/etc.

My eyes got used to the Mail.app icon over the years, so I opted to fashion an icon in that general style. It tries to evoke that weird "free" feeling the stock Mail.app icon has, while containing nods to the service and purpose itself (e.g, the mountains of Switzerland, PGP encryption, and the stamp itself).

I also didn't want to go with the same generic glyph style that most apps opt for these days - Mac icons used to be better! Overall pretty happy with the results.

(This is in no way affiliated with Protonmail themselves.)

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Posted on Feb 8, 2020

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