bIRC is a new native macOS IRC client — and the timing could not be better

macOS has been the worst place to be an IRC user for a while. Textual was sunset in July after fifteen years, LimeChat has not had a commit in five years, and Colloquy stopped shipping app updates eight years ago. Both of the latter were just removed from the IRCv3 tables.

Into that gap comes bIRC, a native Mac client that appeared in the IRCv3 client tables at the end of July.

What it claims, and the list is unusually current: IRCv3 message tags, server-time, batches, CHATHISTORY, reactions, replies, typing indicators, read markers, redaction and multiline. TLS with CertFP, SASL, and SOCKS5 or HTTP-CONNECT proxies. Bouncer compatibility with ZNC and soju. DCC transfers with passive mode and resume. A JavaScript API for commands and message hooks.

That is a more complete IRCv3 story than most clients on any platform, and it is paired with the things people actually want from a Mac app — native windows and toolbars, split views, semantic colours, system notifications.

The catch is licensing. bIRC is closed source, and the developer is upfront about why: a sole developer treating it as a side project, without the time to run a project's pull requests and issues properly. He says he may open source it later. That is an honest answer, and it is still a real consideration if you have watched proprietary Mac IRC clients arrive and leave before — which, on this platform, you have.

Worth a look if you are on a Mac and were left holding Textual. Worth reading the macOS client comparison first if you would rather stay on something with source you can keep.

Get it: birc.app