Spotify for Mac OS 9 has never existed, and neither have Chrome, Slack, Zoom and other contemporary Mac apps. But that hasn’t stopped an intrepid designer to imagine what these macOS 12 apps would’ve looked liked created for the macOS 9 era back in 1999.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Graphic designer Michael Feeney reimagines popular Mac apps for Mac OS 9
- These include Spotify, Slack, Zoom, Figma, TextEdit, Google Chrome and more
- You can download Feeney’s UI components for your own mockups
Spotify for Mac OS 9, as it would’ve been in 1999
Neither of those apps existed back in the Mac OS 9 era some 22 years ago.
But Berlin-based graphic designer Michael Feeney’s now reimagined Spotify, Slack and other contemporary macOS 12 apps for Mac OS 9. A labor of love, he painstakingly created various user interface elements for these remarkable app mockups. If you’re feeling adventurous, download these assets for free from the Figma community website.
He drew what apps like Spotify, Slack, Zoom, Figma, TextEdit and Chrome would’ve looked and felt like if created for Mac OS 9. In doing this project, the designer notes that user interface trends haven’t changed a lot in the past 20 years, with apps still behaving logically and looking familiar. Read: How to How to access a list of installed Mac apps
Feeney commented:
After all, it is indeed difficult to replace well installed behaviour such as visual feedback on hover, scroll for more content, double click to launch application, etc. Basically, because our operating systems still behave in a similar way, so did the user interfaces and the user experiences of many of our apps. 

One area where both user interfaces and experiences improved dramatically as part of the operating systems is on the accessibility front. The apparition (and improvement) of a full-fledged Voice Control, integrated screen readers, dark mode and so forth is definitely what stood out the most looking back at Mac OS 9.
For further information, visit the (mac)OStalgia project website.
What’s the best Internet operating system ever?
Unveiled on October 23, 1999 as “The Best Internet Operating System Ever,” Mac OS 9 represented the ninth major release of Apple’s classic Mac OS operating system.
Mac OS 9 was discontinued and succeeded by OS X in late 2001. OS X came with features that Mac OS 9 desperately needed, including protected memory, full pre-emptive multitasking, a new user interface dubbed Aqua, the introduction of an automated Software Update engine, multi-user support and other perks.