I think that, in this case, "without the bloat" is not a very meaningful ask.

Most of the size of the app bundle is the image for the virtual machine it uses to host Docker. By comparison, the GUI bits are quite small.

> Agreed. I want a .app file for macOS that does everything Docker Desktop does, without the bloat.

Everything Docker Desktop does, without the bloat of the Desktop app ;)

Apps on Mac OS X are bundles, they're actually folders. This is something from the NeXTSTEP era that still persists in Mac OS X.

update:

"To everyone in the NeXTSTEP community (and it is a community) but also to @mattl I apologize for saying Mac OS X apps are files not folders."