Onboarding and dependency UX: five gaps from the owner's new-user test #178

Five UX gaps found during the owner's new-user test of the onboarding flow (v0.6.0, fresh macOS user account). All are about telling the user what to do next, not about functionality.

1. Background dependency install shows "failed" before "done"

The .NET row in the onboarding's background-install list briefly showed the failure state, then flipped to success a few seconds later. The row needs an explicit "installing…" state between the button press and the outcome — the spinner exists in the dependency panel but the onboarding's own list does not use it.

2. The Xcode step does not say "open the App Store" clearly enough

A new user who has never opened Xcode sees the Xcode step but the guidance to go to the App Store is not prominent. The step should say, in large text: "Xcode is not installed — open the App Store to download it (free)" with a button that opens macappstore://apps.apple.com/app/id497799835.

Note: on a multi-user Mac where another account already has Xcode installed, the new user's xcode-select -p still points at CommandLineTools, and /Applications/Xcode.app exists. The detection should recognise this state and say "Xcode is already installed on this Mac — just open it once" instead of "Xcode is not installed".

3. Does a fresh Xcode include the iOS SDK?

No. Since Xcode 15, the iOS SDK ships as a separate download (xcodebuild -downloadPlatform iOS). A fresh App Store install has xcodebuild but no iOS SDK. The first launch of Xcode prompts to install additional components (which includes the iOS SDK), or the app's own flow downloads it. This should be stated in the onboarding so the user knows what to expect.

4. The Xcode dependency row should say "you do not need the iOS Simulator"

Xcode's Components page auto-downloads the iOS Simulator runtime (~8 GB) alongside the iOS SDK. The app never uses the simulator. When the Xcode row shows the SDK is ready (or after the first launch), add a note: "You do not need the iOS Simulator (~8 GB) — cancel it if Xcode offers to download one."

5. The signing guidance needs English menu paths and more detail

When no Apple ID certificate exists, the guidance text (in the Install group) tells the user to sign in to Xcode but uses Chinese menu names. Xcode itself has no Chinese localization, so the user cannot find the menu. The guidance should say, in both languages:

Open Xcode → Settings → Apple Accounts (the menu is in English), sign in with your Apple ID, select Personal Team, then click Download Manual Profiles. Wait ~30 seconds for the certificate to appear, then press Check again.

Also: the certificate does not appear immediately after sign-in — the user had to download it manually (Manage Certificates → +) and wait before the app detected it. The guidance should mention this delay.