Chat like it's 2006.
Just you and your friends.

A private desktop messenger with the feel of the classic era: one window per conversation, nudges that shake the screen, glossy emoticons and "X has just signed in" popups — plus files sent straight from Mac to Mac, voice and video calls and screen sharing.

⬇ Download for macOS OshOsh-0.1.0-universal.dmg · 231 MB ♪ Sound pack OshOsh-Tones-1.0.0.oshoshpack · 972 KB
Version 0.1.0 · macOS 12+ · Apple Silicon & Intel · free, no ads, no tracking
Contact list with online, away and offline groups A conversation window with emoticons Incoming call window

Everything the old messengers did. And the things they couldn't.

OshOsh is built for two to five friends, not for the whole world. It runs on your Macs and talks to a tiny private backend; nothing is recorded, nothing is sold.

The contact list you remember

Your display picture, your personal message, your friends grouped under Online, Away / Busy and Offline with the classic glossy status glyphs.

  • Someone signs in → a popup slides up from the corner, with a sound
  • Unread messages turn the name bold with a little envelope
  • Add a friend by e-mail; they get the "X has added you" prompt
Contact list
Contact list — Bob is online.

Conversations with personality

"Alice says:" lines, your own font and colour, 45 hand-drawn glossy emoticons that appear as you type :) or (Y), winks that rain over the window, and the nudge — it really shakes their window.

  • Messages sent while your friend is away wait for them, with a "You have N new messages" line
  • Full history on every Mac, searchable
Chat window
Emoticons appear as you type; winks rain over the whole window.

Files, straight from Mac to Mac

Drop a file on the chat. When you are both online it goes directly between your computers — no size limit, no server in between, encrypted. If your friend is offline, leave it in the cloud (up to 100 MB) and they pick it up later.

  • Accept / Decline before anything is written to disk
  • Transfers resume where they stopped after a disconnect
File transfer card
A received file with progress and Finder shortcuts.

Calls, video and screen sharing

Voice and video calls, sharing your whole screen or a single window, all peer-to-peer. Switch to another app and the call shrinks to a small always-on-top window in the corner.

  • Mute, camera on/off, share screen — one row of buttons
  • Your own ringtones: built-in, sound packs, or any mp3
Incoming call
Incoming call.

Download

One download for Apple Silicon and Intel. The sound pack is optional and installs into the app.

OshOsh for macOS

The app, version 0.1.0.

⬇ Download OshOsh-0.1.0-universal.dmg
231 MB · macOS 12 or newer

OshOsh Tones sound pack

Extra ringtones and notification sounds for every event.

♪ Download OshOsh-Tones-1.0.0.oshoshpack
972 KB · double-click to install after the app

Install in a minute

  1. Open the .dmg and drag OshOsh into Applications.
  2. The app is not signed with an Apple certificate, so the first launch needs one extra step: right-click OshOsh.app → Open → Open, or run this once in Terminal:
xattr -cr /Applications/OshOsh.app
  1. Start OshOsh, click Get a new account, then add your friend by e-mail. When they click Allow, you see each other online.
  2. Sound pack: double-click the .oshoshpack file (or Options → Sounds → Install sound pack…).
macOS asks for Microphone, Camera and Screen Recording permission the first time you call, video-call or share your screen. After granting Screen Recording, restart the app once.

In the box

Contact list with online / away / busy / offline
One window per conversation, "X says:" style
Nudges, winks, 45 glossy emoticons
Files direct Mac to Mac, resume after a drop
Cloud drop-off when your friend is offline
Voice & video calls, screen sharing, mini window
Full, searchable history on every Mac
Built-in sounds, sound packs, or your own mp3s

Updating: download the new .dmg and drag OshOsh over the old one. Account, history and settings stay.