diff --git a/addon/YaCy.app/Contents/Info.plist b/addon/YaCy.app/Contents/Info.plist
index 69804aa9f..5f772f193 100644
--- a/addon/YaCy.app/Contents/Info.plist
+++ b/addon/YaCy.app/Contents/Info.plist
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 <key>CFBundleAllowMixedLocalizations</key>
 <string>true</string>
 <key>CFBundleExecutable</key>
-<string>startYACY.sh</string>
+<string>startYACYMacOS.sh</string>
 <key>CFBundleDevelopmentRegion</key>
 <string>English</string>
 <key>CFBundlePackageType</key>
diff --git a/addon/YaCy.app/Contents/MacOS/startYACYMacOS.sh b/addon/YaCy.app/Contents/MacOS/startYACYMacOS.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..456ddea4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/addon/YaCy.app/Contents/MacOS/startYACYMacOS.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env sh
+
+# Launcher for YaCy in a MacOS bundle : 
+# rely on the generic startYACY.sh, but specifies the user home relative path for YaCy data
+# This data directory is set in conforming to OS X File System Programming Guide 
+# see : https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/FileManagement/Conceptual/FileSystemProgrammingGuide/MacOSXDirectories/MacOSXDirectories.html
+
+"`dirname $0`"/startYACY.sh -startup "'Library/Application Support/net.yacy.YaCy'"
diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index 879296ef4..14acd7b66 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -764,7 +764,8 @@
   	</copy>
   	<copy file="${addon}/YaCy.app/Contents/Info.plist" tofile="${release_mac}/YaCy.app/Contents/Info.plist" filtering="true" overwrite="true" />
   	<move file="${release_main}" tofile="${release_mac}/YaCy.app/Contents/MacOS" verbose="false" />
-  	<!-- startYACY.sh will be the main entry point : we set permissions to make it an executable file -->
+  	<!-- startYACY.sh and startYACYMacOS.sh will be the main entry points : we set permissions to make it executable files -->
+  	<chmod file="${release_mac}/YaCy.app/Contents/MacOS/startYACYMacOS.sh" perm="755"/>
   	<chmod file="${release_mac}/YaCy.app/Contents/MacOS/startYACY.sh" perm="755"/>
   	<exec executable="hdiutil">
   	  	<arg line="create -srcfolder ${release_mac}/YaCy.app ${release}/yacy_v${releaseVersion}_${DSTAMP}_${releaseNr}.dmg"/>
diff --git a/startYACY.sh b/startYACY.sh
index 8763b9086..567cc5e89 100755
--- a/startYACY.sh
+++ b/startYACY.sh
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ Options
   -l, --logging		save the output of YaCy to yacy.log
   -d, --debug		show the output of YaCy on the console
   -p, --print-out	only print the command, which would be executed to start YaCy
+  -start, -startup [data-path] start YaCy using the specified data folder path, relative to the current user home
   -g, --gui		start a gui for YaCy
 USAGE
 }
@@ -101,6 +102,10 @@ for option in $options;do
 			-t|--tail-log)
 				TAILLOG=1
 				;;
+			-start|-startup)
+				STARTUP=1
+				isparameter=1
+				;;
 			-g|--gui)
 				GUI=1
 				isparameter=1
@@ -111,7 +116,11 @@ for option in $options;do
 			isparameter=1;
 			continue
 		else
-			parameter="$parameter $option"
+			if [ $parameter ];then
+				parameter="$parameter $option"
+			else
+				parameter="$option"
+			fi
 		fi
 	fi #parameter or option?
 done
@@ -189,7 +198,11 @@ for N in lib/*.jar; do CLASSPATH="$CLASSPATH$N:"; done
 CLASSPATH=".:$CLASSPATH"
 
 cmdline="$JAVA $JAVA_ARGS -classpath $CLASSPATH net.yacy.yacy";
-if [ $GUI -eq 1 ] #gui
+
+if [ $STARTUP -eq 1 ] #startup
+then
+	cmdline="$cmdline -startup $parameter"
+elif [ $GUI -eq 1 ] #gui
 then
 	cmdline="$cmdline -gui $parameter"
 fi