iOS app on M1 Mac is confused

[skypickle]

I pulled an app off an iPhone 11 running iOs 14.4.2 with iMazing to a Mac running Mojave. I transferred the .ipa file to an M1 Mac. I double clicked the ipa file and the M1 Mac thought it was an installer so I installed it. The installed app thinks it's running on a jailbroken iPhone.

Obviously the app needs to be debugged. But I would like to run this authenticator on my Mac so I don't have to dig out my iPhone every time. I tried to have the app on the Mac registered with the IT department but we could not do it. Apparently, it has be an phone (iPhone or android) to register it. The app works fine on the phone. Is there any way to transfer this registered and working app from the phone to the M1 Mac?

 

[ADGrant]

No there is not. The RSA software will only run on an iOS device that has not been jail broken. An M1 Mac is not an iOS device. The app is working as expected and does not need to be debugged.

 

[skypickle]

What do you know about RSA apps? Do you work there? How can you be so sure.

 

[ADGrant]

What do you know about RSA apps? Do you work there? How can you be so sure.

Well first of all I read the error message which is very clear. Also I use the same RSA application myself every day and I also use other iOS apps to access my employers network (Mobile Iron and Pulse Secure).

It is standard practice with these kind of security sensitive apps to check that they are running on a device that has not been compromised in any way. They don't run on jailbroken iOS devices or Android devices that have been put in developer mode. They certainly aren't going to run on MacOS.

Your own IT dept told you it would not work.

 

[chrfr]

Obviously the app needs to be debugged. But I would like to run this authenticator on my Mac so I don't have to dig out my iPhone every time. I tried to have the app on the Mac registered with the IT department but we could not do it. Apparently, it has be an phone (iPhone or android) to register it. The app works fine on the phone. Is there any way to transfer this registered and working app from the phone to the M1 Mac?

App developers have to deliberately act to make their iOS/iPadOS apps not appear in the App Store. RSA likely did this because the app does not work and is not intended to work on a Mac. There's nothing that needs to be debugged if the developer doesn't want their app to run on a Mac and an end user has circumvented that block.

 

[ADGrant]

App developers have to deliberately act to make their iOS/iPadOS apps not appear in the App Store. RSA likely did this because the app does not work and is not intended to work on a Mac. There's nothing that needs to be debugged if the developer doesn't want their app to run on a Mac and an end user has circumvented that block.

RSA does more than not check the box that says they want to allow Mac installs. There is security code in the app to verify that it is running on an iOS device that has not been tampered with.

 

[chrfr]

RSA does more than not check the box that says they want to allow Mac installs. There is security code in the app to verify that it is running on an iOS device that has not been tampered with.

Yes, but that’s my point. There’s nothing to debug if the developer doesn’t want the app to work on a Mac.

 

[ADGrant]

Yes, but that’s my point. There’s nothing to debug if the developer doesn’t want the app to work on a Mac.

As I wrote in my first reply "The app is working as expected and does not need to be debugged."

Its not just the developer that doesn't want the app to work on the Mac, RSA's customers don't want the app to work on anything other than a properly secured iOS device. That error message is a feature not a bug.

 

[skypickle]

App developers have to deliberately act to make their iOS/iPadOS apps not appear in the App Store. RSA likely did this because the app does not work and is not intended to work on a Mac. There's nothing that needs to be debugged if the developer doesn't want their app to run on a Mac and an end user has circumvented that block.

Actually, the app IS available in the MacApp Store if you have an M1 mac. If you open the App store, click on your name on the bottom left, then there is a toggle just below the big word "Account" that lets you select between mac apps and iOS apps. And yes the RSA apps are listed.

 

[skypickle]

Yes, but that’s my point. There’s nothing to debug if the developer doesn’t want the app to work on a Mac.

In fact, the app runs fine if you download it directly from the App store. It asks to be registered. It is the registration process that somehow uniquely identifies the phone. I guess the app can query the device it's running for the IMEI.

 

[skypickle]

As I wrote in my first reply "The app is working as expected and does not need to be debugged."

Its not just the developer that doesn't want the app to work on the Mac, RSA's customers don't want the app to work on anything other than a properly secured iOS device. That error message is a feature not a bug.

The app is wrongly identifying an M1 mac as a jailbroken device. There is a clue in that error that reflects how the app is testing its environment and that it is not properly interpreting the result of its query. There is a proper way for an iOS app to query its environment to know if it's running on an iPhone or an M1 mac and that is explained here:

How to detect if an iOS app is running on an M1 mac?

I offer an iOS app on the App Store. With the launch of Apple's M1 Macs it's possible to run iOS apps on macOS. I want to prevent that my app is used on macOS, for example by throwing an exception ...

stackoverflow.com

 

[skypickle]

I know you are all trying to be helpful but I was looking for an experienced coder to reply with his/her experience along the lines of the SO article I quoted. These are two different questions an app must be able to ask:
1)am I running on a jailbroken device
2)am I running on an M1 mac

The additional data that the RSA app has to use to tie itself to the device needs to be unique to the device , like the IMEI or the phone number.

 

[skypickle]

There is also a way to detect if an iOS app is running on a jailbroken device and that code is different.

How to detect that the app is running on a jailbroken device?

I have just released my app for iOS, but I'm not sure how to make my app safe from being used by jailbrakers. Can I do something to prevent my app working on jailbroken devices?

stackoverflow.com

 

[hg.wells]

This is going to be just a generic message they setup when the app detects it’s not running on an iOS app.

As everyone else has mentioned this is unlikely to work. If you are still convinced it will, I’d recommend you reach out to RSA Support and ask them directly.

 

[leman]

I know you are all trying to be helpful but I was looking for an experienced coder to reply with his/her experience along the lines of the SO article I quoted.

How would an experienced coder be able to help you? You are using side-loading, which is not supported either by Apple or by the application developer in order to run an application that the developer does not want you to run on a Mac. The app is not broken, it is working as expected. You can't blame the app for not doing something that it was never intended to do. And no, there is no way to transfer the app along with it's registration token/data, because the registration token is tied to the hardware UUID. Otherwise it would be a poor authenticator.

As others have stated, if you want this app to run on macOS, you have to reach to the original developer and ask them to support this use case.