Less wrangling.
More building.

Honest answer: it depends on how you use Docker. Davit is a UI for Apple's container platform, not a Docker daemon; there is no docker socket and no docker CLI/API compatibility. If your workflow is "docker run, a compose file, the occasional build", Davit covers it today: pull and run with ports/env/mounts/limits, import a docker-compose.yml, build from a Dockerfile, sign in to private registries, browse files, stream logs. If your workflow is scripted against the docker API (testcontainers, tools that expect /var/run/docker.sock, CI scripts shelling out to docker), it can't replace that yet. Your images all work either way; OCI is OCI.

Yes. Build them right in the app (Images → Build Image, since 0.1.8), or with the platform's container build; both land in the same image store Davit shows. Images built with Docker live in Docker's separate store; move one over with docker save and container image load.

The honest answer is architectural: there's no always-on multi-gigabyte Linux VM. Docker Desktop keeps one big VM running whether or not you have containers; Apple's platform instead boots a separate lightweight VM per container, sized to that container, and tears it down when the container stops. With nothing running, the platform's background services idle at roughly 25 MB. Davit itself is a native SwiftUI app (no Electron); its footprint is mostly shared macOS framework memory. So the more containers you're not running, the less it costs you.

Honestly: if OrbStack already works for you, you won't switch for speed; it's excellent, and its shared-VM design is very fast. The engines differ, though. OrbStack is a commercial app with its own Docker-compatible virtualization layer; Davit is a free, open-source UI on Apple's own container platform, which boots a separate lightweight VM per container in well under a second and tears it down when the container stops. What you'd notice in practice: nothing resident when nothing is running, per-container IPs on a bridged network, stronger isolation between containers, and no license or account. What OrbStack still does better: drop-in docker CLI/API compatibility and broader tooling support. Both run standard OCI images.

Yes. The platform has local DNS domains built in: run sudo container system dns create test once (or use your own domain name), set it as the default domain under Settings → Platform → DNS, and a container named web answers at web.test from your Mac. Every container also gets its own IP (shown in its Network section), so direct access always works. Alternatively, running Avahi inside the guest broadcasts a .local mDNS alias, since containers sit on a bridged network with their own addresses.

Yes, with a supported subset. Containers → ⋯ → Import Compose File previews the services, volumes, networks and equivalent commands before starting your stack. Davit supports ports, environment files, mounts, resource limits, health checks, profiles and dependency conditions. Unsupported options are listed as warnings up front rather than silently dropped. Apple's platform has no native compose, so Davit orchestrates the stack itself. See the current support details for the full list and command-line workflow.

Yes: Images → Build Image. Davit talks to Apple's BuildKit-based builder directly (and starts it for you if it isn't running): pick the context folder and Dockerfile, set a tag and build args, and the built image lands in your library. One current platform limit worth knowing: Dockerfiles over 16 KiB are rejected (an upstream apple/container bug), and build contexts can't live under /tmp.

Yes. Sign in under Settings → Registries; Docker Hub, ghcr.io, quay.io or any OCI registry. Credentials are verified against the registry before being saved to your login keychain, and they're shared with the container CLI, so a login in Davit works for CLI pulls too (and vice-versa). For Docker Hub, use an access token rather than your password. Registries that use Docker credential helpers (Google Artifact Registry via gcloud, ECR, and friends) work too: if ~/.docker/config.json names a helper for the registry, Davit invokes it right before each pull, so short-lived tokens are always fresh.

Yes. Every release is Developer ID signed and notarized by Apple, so it opens without Gatekeeper warnings. It's open source (MIT); you can read or build it yourself. It talks only to your local container daemon and to GitHub for update checks.

There is no feature telemetry. Davit connects to your local container platform, the registries you use, and download services when installing or updating software. Current releases use Sparkle to check for updates hosted on GitHub; update archives carry an independent EdDSA signature. Older releases (0.1.33 and earlier) still check davit.app/appcast.json. The current updater is open source: read the code.

No. Davit talks to the platform directly over XPC. If the platform isn't present, Davit can download and install Apple's signed package for you on first launch; no admin password required. It can optionally add the container CLI to your shell from Settings if you want it.