It's good, but you don't need the WordPress.com OS X app

The WordPress.com OS X app is beautiful and almost pointless.

WordPress has wrapped its app around the most recent browser version of the WordPress.com software. That’s it.

It runs well enough, but it doesn’t do anything that can’t be done in the browser.

Moreover, there are some things it doesn’t do, so you are sent back to the browser version anyway.

There are only three reasons to use the WordPress app:

• To keep Safari or another browser set aside for non-WordPress tasks.
• To go straight to WordPress.com from the Dock or Application launcher.
• If you want to store your WordPress data locally on your Mac.

None of these are compelling reasons to run an app.

WordPress.com and WordPress.org both work well in Safari. But even if you hate working that way. like it or not, there will be times when the app sends you there.

If you keep WordPress in your Safari bookmarks you can get there in two clicks instead of one.

Storing data on your local computer may help if you have a poor internet connection, otherwise, it’s rarely an issue.

If you feel the need to compose a post outside of the site, you could use a Markdown editor like iA Writer or Byword. iA Writer integrates well with WordPress. There are many other editors which link to the software. If you want to use an online service, you can publish to WordPress from Google Docs. In short, there may be a  case for people who spend all day managing WordPress sites to use the app, but for most people it’s just clutter.

There is another flaw with the app. It doesn’t appear to automatically update. If it does, then the updates are infrequent. And there’s no obvious refresh button to hurry updates along. This matters if, say, you want to watch the traffic roll in after a new post.