Getting started

Download the Eden desktop app for Mac

Install Eden on your Mac in about a minute — where to get the download, how to open it, and what the desktop app does that the browser can't.

·3 min read

Eden runs in any browser, but the Mac app gives you a real window in your dock, keeps working in the background, and is the only way to publish Substack without leaving a browser tab open.

Before you start

  • macOS 11 (Big Sur) or later.
  • Works on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs — it's a single universal download, so there's nothing to choose.
  • An Eden account. If you don't have one yet, sign up on the web first and use the same email in the app.

Install it

  1. 01

    Go to the downloads page

    Open eden.so/downloads and click Download on the macOS card. You'll get eden.dmg — a disk image, around 30 MB, so it lands in seconds.

  2. 02

    Open the disk image

    Double-click eden.dmg in your Downloads folder. A window opens showing the Eden app next to your Applications folder.

  3. 03

    Drag Eden into Applications

    Drag the Eden icon onto the Applications shortcut. Installing it properly (rather than running it from the disk image) is what lets it update itself later. Once it's copied, eject the disk image and delete the .dmg.

  4. 04

    Open Eden and sign in

    Launch Eden from Applications, Spotlight, or Launchpad, and sign in with the same account you use on the web. Your boards, Library, and chats are already there — nothing to import or sync.

What the desktop app adds

Everything you can do on the web works the same in the app. What you get on top:

  • Substack publishing that doesn't need a browser open. Scheduled Substack notes publish from the desktop app in the background — it even wakes your Mac just before a scheduled slot so a sleeping machine still posts on time. It also publishes full long-form Substack articles, handed to Substack's own scheduler so they go out with your Mac off. See scheduling Substack for the whole picture.
  • A real app. Its own dock icon and window, Cmd+Tab, native fullscreen, and drag-and-drop from Finder straight onto a board.
  • It stays out of the way. Closing the window (red button or Cmd+W) doesn't quit Eden — it keeps running in your menu bar so scheduled publishing keeps working. Click the Eden icon in the menu bar and choose Open Eden to bring the window back, or Quit Eden to shut it down completely.
  • A menu bar menu for the quick stuff. The same menu opens Floating Capture, Capture Link (the same window, opened straight to the Link tab with a copied URL filled in), Floating Chat, and Floating Docs (each shows its keyboard shortcut, which you can change under Settings → Shortcuts), tells you whether Substack is connected and when your next note goes out, and offers Reconnect Substack only when a sign-in has expired. Below that: the Help Center, Settings, Check for Updates, and links to Eden on X, Instagram, YouTube, and Discord.

Updates

Eden updates itself. It checks for a new version when you launch it and every few hours after that, and when one is ready a toast appears in the top-right corner. Click Update and the app downloads, installs, and relaunches on its own — usually a few seconds.

You never need to re-download the DMG to stay current. If an update ever fails, grab a fresh copy from eden.so/downloads and drag it over the old one; you won't be signed out.

Opening at login

So the app is running when a scheduled post is due, Eden adds itself to your login items the first time you launch it. If you'd rather it didn't, open System Settings → General → Login Items and remove Eden — the app respects that and won't add itself back.

Uninstalling

Quit Eden from the menu bar, then drag Eden from your Applications folder to the Trash. Nothing in your workspace is affected — it all lives in your Eden account, so signing in on the web or reinstalling later picks up exactly where you left off.

Other devices

The iOS app is in beta — join it through Apple's TestFlight from the downloads page. It's a real, working app, but expect rough edges and frequent updates while it's in testing. Once you're in, see saving to Eden from your iPhone.

The Android app is also in beta, installed directly from the APK. See downloading the Android beta.

Windows is still in active development. Until it ships, Eden runs in any browser at app.eden.so.

Where to go next

Related articles

A 5-minute tour of Eden

What Eden is, how the surfaces fit together, and the one workflow that makes it all click. Read this first.

Schedule Substack notes with Eden

Set up Substack scheduling and learn how Eden hands your notes and articles to Substack's own scheduler so they publish even when your devices are off.

Using the Eden Chrome extension

Save any link, post, or image to a board in one click, add inline Save buttons on social platforms, and open creator research in the sidebar.

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