MacWinlink--A Native macOS Client for Winlink

September 21, 2026--The Amateur Radio Safety Foundation, Inc. (ARSFI) and the Winlink Development Team are pleased to announce the public beta release of MacWinlink, a native macOS Winlink client for Apple Silicon Macintosh computers.

MacWinlink represents a significant milestone for macOS users of the Winlink system. In development for nearly a year, the application is written entirely in Swift and is designed to provide a modern, native macOS experience while bringing the capabilities of the Winlink system to the Mac platform.

The goal of MacWinlink is to provide feature parity with Winlink Express while taking advantage of the capabilities and conventions of the macOS platform. The public beta is an opportunity for the wider Winlink community to test the application, exercise its various radio interfaces and messaging capabilities, and provide feedback to the development team as development continues.
Read more for how to participate in the public beta test.

Radio and Modem Support

MacWinlink natively supports several important Winlink connection methods, including:

Radio control is provided through SwiftRigControl, a native Swift implementation based on the functionality of rigctld. SwiftRigControl provides MacWinlink with a common interface for controlling supported radios and provides a foundation for expanding radio support as development continues.

For additional radio and modem capabilities, MacWinlink includes an optional MacWinlink Helper application. The Helper provides integration with software that does not have a native macOS implementation, including:

These applications can be painlessly installed and managed using MacWinlink Helper through WINE while allowing MacWinlink itself to remain a native macOS application.

Winlink Messaging

MacWinlink supports the core Winlink messaging functions expected by users of the system, including B2F messaging, Secure Login, message attachments, Peer-to-Peer operation, tactical addresses, message precedence, offline message composition, standard message folders, Winlink forms, and access to Winlink catalogs.

Development is continuing, and additional capabilities will be added and refined as the beta progresses.

Public Beta Testing

MacWinlink is currently available as a public beta through Apple TestFlight. Mac users with Apple Silicon Macintosh computers running macOS 15 or later are invited to participate in testing.
MacWinlink TestFlight:
https://testflight.apple.com/join/M2hzwA4T

The optional MacWinlink Helper application is available from the Winlink download server:
MacWinlink Helper:
https://downloads.winlink.org/User%20Programs/MacWinlink/

Beta testers are encouraged to exercise MacWinlink under a variety of operating conditions and report problems, compatibility issues, and suggestions to the Winlink Development Team.

The release of MacWinlink marks an important step toward making the Winlink system a first-class experience on the macOS platform. The development team looks forward to working with the Winlink community during the beta period and continuing to expand MacWinlink's capabilities.

Download MACWINLINK

--Winlink Development Team
Jeremy Jones, VA3ZTF
Project Lead