FTP is thirty years older than the Mac you are reading this on, but it is still what many shared hosts, cameras, routers and industrial boxes expose. DockBird includes an FTP client written from scratch on SwiftNIO rather than a wrapped C library, so it behaves predictably on Apple silicon and reports errors in plain language.
Listings use the structured MLSD command when the server advertises it and fall back to parsing classic LIST output for older servers. Transfers use a pool of a few connections: one is reserved for browsing, so you can keep navigating while a folder uploads.
If a server supports TLS, switch the connection to FTPS and DockBird will encrypt the control and data channels and verify the certificate before sending anything.
How to connect
- Press ⌘N or click the plus next to Servers in the sidebar.
- Choose the FTP tile.
- Fill in: Name · Host and port (21 by default) · Username · Password · Initial path.
- Click Save, then double-click the server. Approve the host key or certificate prompt if one appears.