I've been using IRC on and off since the late 90s. Back then, everyone I knew used Windows and mIRC. Since moving to Mac somewhere around 2011, I really missed an IRC client that fit my taste. So I've been pondering from time to time if I should create one, just for fun. Creating an IRC client in 2026 is not something that will pay the bills : ) It would be just for the joy of programming. But the amount of work involved always made me throw the thought aside.
But one night when I had nothing better to do, I started implementing the good old spec in Swift (RFC 2812). And then I got motivated to continue, adding IRCv3 extensions and UI. Been working on it on and off on it since the end of 2025. Now I feel pretty satisfied with the result. Say hi to bIRC — an IRCv3 client for Mac.
Read more on the bIRC website if you're interested.
https://birc.app