Blog · Platform · · 3 min read
Terramine Desk on your Mac: the desk in a window of its own
A desktop app for the Mac that opens the same Terramine Desk as the browser, with tabs, macOS notifications and a badge on the Dock: what it is, what it is not, and how to sign in.
Most teams open Terramine Desk in a browser tab, and that is still the ordinary way in. From October 2026 there is a second one for the people who live in the desk all day: an app for the Mac that opens the same workspace in a window of its own, with tabs across the top and the Mac's own notifications. It is in beta and available on request.
What the app is, and what it is not
The app does not contain a copy of the product. Every tab loads the live desk from your workspace's address, exactly as a browser tab would. When a change is rolled out to the browser version it is in the window at the same moment; there is no second version to download and no way for the two to disagree. What the app adds is everything around the page: the tabs, the notifications, the badge on the Dock, downloads, links and the microphone.
Under the hood the window is the same browser engine the desk is tested in, so a page behaves identically on both sides. That engine is updated with the app, not with the desk.
Tabs across the top
An order, a supplier request, a company card and a letter can be open side by side, each in its own tab and named after what it holds: ERP and the order number with the customer's name, CRM and the company, E-mail and the subject. The keyboard works as in a browser - Cmd-T for a new tab, Cmd-W to close one, Cmd-1 to Cmd-9 to jump between them - and tabs can be dragged into another order. The tabs that were open come back on the next launch.
A page of the desk that opens something in a new tab, such as a PDF or an order from the inbox, opens it as a tab of the window. A link to anybody else's site goes to the Mac's own browser.
Notifications on the Mac
The desk's bell decides what deserves a notice: a letter nobody has answered, a call that asked for a person, a task that is late. In the app those notices reach the Mac's own notification centre, and the number of new ones sits on the Dock icon. A notification clicked opens the tab it belongs to and brings the window forward. Closing the window does not quit the app, so the bell keeps ringing while you are in another program.
Signing in
The first launch asks for the workspace address. Then the desk's own sign-in page appears in the tab: Google or a passkey, as in the browser. There is a second way in for a Mac that is not signed into Google: under Your account on the website, Sign in on another device shows a code, and the app exchanges it for a session of its own. Either way the Mac is then listed under Your account, with the day it signed in and the last time it was seen, and it can be signed out from there.
Files and links
A quotation's PDF, an Excel export or a packing list saved from the desk lands in Downloads under its own name, numbered the way Finder numbers a second copy. Links of the form terramine://, in a letter, a chat message or a document, open the record in the app rather than in a browser.
Availability
The app is in beta. Builds are available on request; they are not yet signed with an Apple Developer ID, so the first launch goes through System Settings, Privacy & Security, Open Anyway. A signed build and a Windows version are planned and will be announced here. The mobile layout of the desk and the Android and iPhone apps are unaffected.
Questions
Does the Mac app work offline?
No. Every tab is the live desk, so the app needs the same connection a browser would.
What is stored on the Mac?
Only the session, kept in the browser engine's own store, and the app's settings: which workspace, which tabs were open and where the window stood. Records stay on the desk.
Can two people share one Mac?
Each macOS user account has its own session and its own tabs; a second person signs in as themselves.