MainframePunch
Mid-Century Modern Messaging
Free · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.
Install the app and MainframePunch will appear in your iMessage "+" dropdown options immediately. Text unlimited single punch cards for free!
MID-CENTURY MODERN MESSAGING
Before emojis, before texting, before the screen — there was the punch card.
MainframePunch turns whatever you type into an authentic keypunch card, punched column by column, with the clack of a real Hollerith machine. Send one to a friend and they hear the punches too.
PUNCH CARDS RIGHT INSIDE MESSAGES — FREE Tap the MainframePunch icon in any conversation and punch a card without leaving the chat:
Realistic Custom Card — classic manila stock, your words in real Hollerith code
Mid-Century Color Card — the same encoding in period-correct pastels
Ready-made cards — SEND COFFEE / ON MY WAY / SYNTAX ERROR / ABEND / CALL ME and more
Every iMessage single card animates as it punches and carries genuine keypunch audio, so your recipient watches and hears the machine work. All of it is free. No account, no limits, no catch.
THE OPERATOR'S CONSOLE Open the app for the full machine:
Type or paste your message and watch the beam sweep across the card
Stack up to seven cards into a single deck
Export a Full Reel — a shareable video with synced punch audio
Send along a Hollerith decoder card so anyone can read the holes (for education or to drive your friends crazy!)
Adjust punch speed from deliberate to production line
CORRECT DOWN TO THE HOLE Every character is encoded per ANSI X3.26 Hollerith — the same zone and digit punches an IBM 029 would have made in 1964. The sound is sampled from an actual keypunch machine, not a synthesized click.
OPERATOR ACCESS Everything is unlimited for your first fourteen days. After that, punching cards in iMessage stay free, and an Operator subscription keeps the reel exporter running:
Monthly — $2.99, with a 3-day free trial
Annual — $19.99, with a 7-day free trial
Already bought MainframePunch? Thank you. Your purchase carries over — you keep everything, permanently, at no charge.
Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings.
Privacy Policy: https://mainframepunch.com/privacypolicy
Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Ratings & Reviews
VERSION 2.0 — Cards can be punched directly in the MainframePunch iMessage extension.
Quick Punch cards and ready-made cards all carry authentic keypunch audio — thirteen clacks sampled from a real IBM Hollerith machine — and the sound travels with the card, so the person receiving it hears the punches too, not just you.
CARDS THAT PUNCH THEMSELVES Every card now starts blank and fills in as the beam sweeps from column one to the end, settling into the finished card. What used to be a silent still is now a small performance.
QUICK PUNCH, REBUILT Punch a card without ever leaving the conversation:
Realistic Custom Card — classic manila stock
Mid-Century Color Card — period-correct pastels
A dozen ready-made cards for when you're in a hurry
EXTENDED HOLLERITH ENCODING The zone punches for letters J through Z have been corrected to match ANSI X3.26. If you punched a card in an earlier version, the holes are now exactly what an IBM 029 would have produced. Special characters have been added!
A BRIGHTER CONSOLE Warmer phosphor green throughout, a live scrolling prompt on the message line, and a new attract loop on the console when the machine is idle.
FREE TO DOWNLOAD, WITH OPERATOR ACCESS MainframePunch is now free. Punching cards in iMessage is free and stays that way. Everything — including Full Reel exports and stacked decks — is unlimited for your first fourteen days, after which reel exports are covered by an Operator subscription ($2.99/month or $19.99/year, each with a free trial).
IF YOU ALREADY BOUGHT MAINFRAMEPUNCH You keep everything. Your original purchase grants permanent Operator access automatically — no subscription, no action needed, no charge. Thank you for backing this thing early.
UNDER THE HOOD Rebuilt on Expo SDK 54 and React Native 0.81 for iOS 26, with a rewritten audio engine and faster, more reliable reel exports.
The developer, Thomas Gillan, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Thomas Gillan
- Size
- 61.3 MB
- Category
- Photo & Video
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 15.1 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 15.1 or later. - iPad
Requires iPadOS 15.1 or later. - iPod touch
Requires iOS 15.1 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 12.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- Copyright
- © 2025 T. G. Gillan
