Delightful Mac app makes emptying the trash fun

If you're anything like this writer, you probably don't empty your trash very often. Digital trash, that is – spare me your judgement. Remembering to clear the computer clutter doesn't tend to come easily, but with the help of this delightful Mac app, it just might. 

There are a couple of reasons why it's prudent to delete things properly. Firstly, there's the obvious question of computer storage – as long as stuff's in the trash, it's still taking up space. And then there's the difficulty of finding a particular file among hundreds (or even, whisper it, thousands). But if a bunch of digital flies were buzzing around my bin, I'd empty it much more often. (Need a laptop with a ton of storage? Check out the best MacBook Pro deals.)

That's exactly what Bananabin offers. When the size of your trash reaches a designated limit, flies start buzzing around the icon in your dock. It essentially turns emptying the recycle bin in to a sort of game – which is arguably an achievement in itself.

In a world of sleek, flat icons, it's fun to see something that takes the idea of skeuomorphism to the extreme. "This is silly and so good! Miss good metaphors in UI," one Redditor comments, while another adds, "Now this'll make me want to empty the trash." 

While the app is in beta, Bananabin is currently free to download. And while we don't expect Apple to adopt this kind of design language any time soon, with iOS 18, the company has displayed a curious penchant for the garish.