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Anyone staying on 11.2.3 to keep your iOS apps?
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nope they are fries, potatoes, mushrooms that come with a steak.
Maybe I'm a little bit different, I don't think it's necessary to download a separate app when I have a browser-based solution which does exactly the same thing. The big trend of desktop(maybe even mobile?) is that there will be less and less native apps for non-critical apps which replaced by browser-based solution. One can argue that browser-based apps provides worse user-experience, but I can live with that.
I do side-load iOS apps, but most of them are games, and surprisingly they are not broken on 11.3(I can still launch them) despite they are not available on the Mac App Store.
I do side-load iOS apps, but most of them are games, and surprisingly they are not broken on 11.3(I can still launch them) despite they are not available on the Mac App Store.
No, that would be stupid, with the amount of crashes and missing stabilty fixes. I even jumped to 11.3 beta, though I normally never use macOS beta versions, to get less crashes. I haven't tried those app you list, but those apps I have tried runs at reduced resolution, also video and therefore not a better experience than their browser alternative.
meh, I have had no problems. If I did I would reevaluate the situation. I know I am in the minority, but I am curious if anyone prefers apps to browsers.
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I had crashes all the time. Some photo background process kept crashing. Also exiting xcode always result in one or two crashes. Very disruptive. 10.3.x is a lot better. I still get crashes from xcode, but a lot fewer. Also remember 10.3.1 wasn't released for fun, but to close a sercurity hole actively being exploited.
the M1 started with 11.0 so I guess thats what you mean. All apple products have secuity holes. Your iphone was compromised for years
Yes. I am staying on 11.2.3. I consider app limitations a major feature removal.
I have over a dozen iPad apps I use on my M1 air and consider extremely valuable. I hope Apple changes course again as they have in the past and I will eventually be able to upgrade.
I have over a dozen iPad apps I use on my M1 air and consider extremely valuable. I hope Apple changes course again as they have in the past and I will eventually be able to upgrade.
As I understand, it is up to the developers to decide which platform they support and I find that fair. Some paid apps has a Mac version as a feature and it can ruin the developers business model and loss in revenue, if the iPhone/iPad can be sideloaded.
Im not really concerned with ruining the business model of Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, YoutubeTV, Youtube, SiriusXM, or MLB. The other apps I use have NO Mac version or else I would be using it. Quit worrying about people who are trying to save dollars and take care of the users who are spending dollars.
Then direct your request to them. It is only fair the developers have a say about how their work is distributet.
Yes Im sure those corporations really care what their outsourced devs think... I did email the developer of GV Connect to let him know it worked great on the M1 and that he should consider putting it in the app store. He said he really didn't intend for it to be used on the Mac. I said ok.. he is entitled to his opinion of course.. but it will not deter my use of it on the mac..
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Yes, I’ve been on 11.2.3 all this time specifically for the apps. However, I do also have an ipad which can run all these apps with no issue, and so i’m starting to lean towards updating for bug/security fixes etc. because it feels uncomfortable staying on outdated firmware.
I really like sideloading and honestly the way I did it I see no issue in it. I only sideloaded apps which aren’t available in any form at all on the mac, i.e. the Alexa app to control my speakers, or various games i’ve purchased on my Apple ID which work great with a controller but have no mac versions, and they work absolutely perfectly on 11.2.3 but for whatever reason the developer doesn’t want the Alexa app on the mac, or these games on the mac even though that would only further convince me to get another alexa speaker or to buy more games by these developers. But, they choose not to allow these to be ran on macs at all, and so now i’m actually less inclined to buy more software by these developers. Seems counter intuitive when their purpose is to earn money off of these apps.
But now that sideloading is dead, indeed it is every developers decision whether they’ll allow M1 users to use their apps or not. And I only have respect for developers that have allowed their apps on the mac app store as of 11.3.
For example, I just bought GTA: San Andreas and only because it is on the app store so it will work after i eventually update. Had it not been, I wouldn’t have bought it.
And in the same way, if sideloading wasn’t blocked and GTA wasn’t available on the app store, I would’ve still bought it because I would’ve simply sideloaded it on to my mac and played it as desired.
So the way I see it developers are only missing out on extra revenue by blocking sideloading and blocking their apps off the app store when no mac versions exist. And I see no logical reason why they should do that, it’s definitely something to think about for a developer who’s trying to maximise their revenue from their apps since making a living is definitely a big part of why they’re doing what they’re doing.
I really like sideloading and honestly the way I did it I see no issue in it. I only sideloaded apps which aren’t available in any form at all on the mac, i.e. the Alexa app to control my speakers, or various games i’ve purchased on my Apple ID which work great with a controller but have no mac versions, and they work absolutely perfectly on 11.2.3 but for whatever reason the developer doesn’t want the Alexa app on the mac, or these games on the mac even though that would only further convince me to get another alexa speaker or to buy more games by these developers. But, they choose not to allow these to be ran on macs at all, and so now i’m actually less inclined to buy more software by these developers. Seems counter intuitive when their purpose is to earn money off of these apps.
But now that sideloading is dead, indeed it is every developers decision whether they’ll allow M1 users to use their apps or not. And I only have respect for developers that have allowed their apps on the mac app store as of 11.3.
For example, I just bought GTA: San Andreas and only because it is on the app store so it will work after i eventually update. Had it not been, I wouldn’t have bought it.
And in the same way, if sideloading wasn’t blocked and GTA wasn’t available on the app store, I would’ve still bought it because I would’ve simply sideloaded it on to my mac and played it as desired.
So the way I see it developers are only missing out on extra revenue by blocking sideloading and blocking their apps off the app store when no mac versions exist. And I see no logical reason why they should do that, it’s definitely something to think about for a developer who’s trying to maximise their revenue from their apps since making a living is definitely a big part of why they’re doing what they’re doing.
Wait, side-load? I’ve heard of side-loading apps on say, the Amazon Fire or other mobile device. But never on a Mac. How difficult is it to do?
I’m on macOS 11.3.1 but if it can still be done, If love to try it.
On M1 macs on 11.2.3, you could sideload any ios/ipados app you own on your Apple ID and run it on your mac. Literally any and every app out there.
As of 11.3.1, sideloading is largely a hit or miss, most commonly a miss, with only some specific apps still working when sideloaded by luck. Essentially only apps in the mac app store can be ran.
In hindsight, it was a big mistake for Apple too offer developers the choice. Of course most have gone with the lazy/greedy option of not supporting it. I'd love to have a nice, sandboxed version of Zoom (I still don't trust their app after this). Pretty much every app I've tried to install hasn't been available.
When I got my Air, I downloaded every .ipa I owned from the iOS appstore with iMazing before devs could implement any kind of anti-mac protection. I didn't think Apple would blanket block them though. Everything I have tried works so I am happy with 11.2.3 and "older" versions of all of my apps.
That's smart. I upgraded to 11.3.1 and I couldn't use those apps anymore. One iOS Scanner app which connects to my Xerox Printer wirelessly is useful when I need to scan some documents. The original driver for MacOS doesn't do the scanning only for printing. Now my work flow has been changed. Damn Apple!
It was not. There are many reasons for opt-out because most iOS apps were not created with Mac in mind and are not intended to be run on Mac. Let's name some situation:
- Already created a Mac version.
- App relies heavily on iOS hardware that is unavailable on Mac, such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, depth-sensing cameras, or GPS.
- App requires frameworks, symbols, or features not present on the Mac.
- App’s interactions rely extensively on touch input that can’t replicate with the keyboard or other input.
- Developer doesn’t want users to have access to the content in app’s bundle or data container.
- App communicates with custom hardware using the External Accessory framework.
- App has hard-coded cases that will cause undefined behavior on Mac
If Apple does not offer the choice people will end up buying "not working apps" on Mac App Store and leave one star comment which is unfair to the developer because they do not intended to support Mac in the first place. Apps with local data store that is not intended to be accessed by user directly will also be in trouble. Many developers relies on iOS sandboxing to "protect" sensitive data on local storage instead of storing data encrypted(a bad but widely adopted practice because iOS is assumed to be "safe"). This will become a big security flaw on macOS as macOS offers direct file system access. Direct file system access might be the reason blocking stream media apps to be available on the Mac App Store as users may duplicate local cache of the media.
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