iPhone/iPad Apps on Mac [Merged]

[WilliApple]

During both WWDC20 and the November 2020 Apple Events, Apple announced that iPhone and iPad apps could run natively on Apple Silicon
Macs.

Windows and ChromeOS have similar functionality to this, except that they use Android. (Windows using the Amazon App Store)
Another downside to this is that they use a reverse Rosetta 2 to run the ARM Android apps on x86 architecture, while on Macs, they are completely native due to the common architecture.

But there is 1 huge advantage to the Windows and ChromeOS library of mobile apps - They force every Android app to run on ChromeOS.​

With Apple Silicon Macs, developers seem to be able to choose to let their app not run on Apple Silicon Macs, reverse of both the ChromeOS and Windows Android stores.

Most developers have actually opted to not have their apps run on the Apple Silicon Macs!

This affects Mac Gaming a lot!!!

The Designed for iPad library seems like a huge joke.
The Voodoo games, Among Us, Talking Ben, and Pay2Win games are literally the only games that take advantage of this.
Not to mention, we could also get some iPad productivity apps on macOS as well!

Games like Hay Day, the Plants vs. Zombies series, and Subway Surfers would be really great fits on Apple Silicon Macs.
We could also get a completely native version of games such as Roblox, and see Minecraft Bedrock for the first time on macOS.

Now, what if developers have a Mac app already, and that's why they opted to not have an iPhone/iPad app on the Mac?
They could easily have their Mac app replace the iPhone/iPad app to run on the Mac, otherwise, we would be having 2 WhatsApps at once on the Mac.

This could also encourage developers to add keyboard support for their mobile app, for both iPadOS and macOS, due to the average user easily leaving a bad review for a bad user experience.

Let me know what you think about this. Do you think this could make Mac Gaming a lot better, and make Macs more appealing to phone addicts? I just feel that Apple missed a huge opportunity and good selling point for the Mac over Windows and ChromeOS.

 

[MmkLucario]

I agree, especially with Minecraft Bedrock. Minecraft education is already on the Mac, so they should have turned on that switch. It would so much easier so I wouldn’t have to look at so many workarounds to play with friends.

 

[TheAppleKing]

I agree on that.

 

[Che Castro]

The only app available that I would use was eBay
And everything looks tiny on the app

 

[dugbug]

I would argue that there are some obvious apps that should be made available to mac users, such as the EERO router manager app and the ECOBEE app. Why are these iphone / ipad only? I don't get it. For non-ipad owners the ipad app versions have a lot of benefit.

I was pleasantly surprised that my solar panel iphone app worked on the mac (enphase) so thats currently the only one I use.

-d

 

[thenewperson]

Yeah, it's unfortunate how they went about it. It's definitely a rare developers over users choice that Apple made here, going as far to try and stop side loading attempts. I do wonder what the response from developers would be if they just went ahead without their approval, but I think they'd probably have gotten a better response (from users and reviewers) to this if they just allowed all apps and let developers deal with the fallout.

 

[quarkysg]

Most developers have actually opted to not have their apps run on the Apple Silicon Macs!

This affects Mac Gaming a lot!!!

IMHO, it all comes down to the revenue developers could get out (or rather the lack of it) of running iOS/iPadOS binaries in macOS.

I would think that if Apple allowed developers the option to enable (re)purchases of iOS and iPadOS apps/games in macOS, the take up rate would be a lot higher. Apple forcing developers to allow it would create a lot of frictions with the developers.

 

[Bodhitree]

Yeah, it's unfortunate how they went about it. It's definitely a rare developers over users choice that Apple made here, going as far to try and stop side loading attempts. I do wonder what the response from developers would be if they just went ahead without their approval, but I think they'd probably have gotten a better response (from users and reviewers) to this if they just allowed all apps and let developers deal with the fallout.

I agree with the OP, and with the points you make above. It’s a big missed opportunity to not bring the entire iPhone and iPad software library to Mac, especially as the iOS software is generally high quality, and it would have been a big shot in the arm for Mac gaming. Microsoft and Google just said, these apps will run on ChromeOS / Windows and the developers are left to cope with it.

The thing is, I’ve seen so many reports of important iOS apps not running on Mac that I haven‘t even tried to move any apps across.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

IMHO, it all comes down to the revenue developers could get out (or rather the lack of it) of running iOS/iPadOS binaries in macOS.

I agree. I think there's a lot of extra revenue to gain from people enjoying a game on Mac or iPad, and then rebuying it on the other platform.

I would think that if Apple allowed developers the option to enable (re)purchases of iOS and iPadOS apps/games in macOS, the take up rate would be a lot higher. Apple forcing developers to allow it would create a lot of frictions with the developers.

But they can already do that, they just release separate Mac and iPad/iOS binaries.

I would love to see a lot of the iPad apps on Mac, but I won't be re-buying them, unless the developers actually put in an effort to port the interface and input to something that fits on my Mac. Clicking the 'Allow sale on macOS' button and giving me a half-assed app that I have to mentally fight to use, is not something I want to pay for.
For some simple apps and games that should be easy (I guess), but for others it would require a complete interface redo, and I understand that they don't want to spend time and resources on that for a minor niche userbase.

 

[quarkysg]

But they can already do that, they just release separate Mac and iPad/iOS binaries.

That means more work for the developers with potentially not many sales. Chicken and egg problem IMHO.

I would love to see a lot of the iPad apps on Mac, but I won't be re-buying them, unless the developers actually put in an effort to port the interface and input to something that fits on my Mac. Clicking the 'Allow sale on macOS' button and giving me a half-assed app that I have to mentally fight to use, is not something I want to pay for.
For some simple apps and games that should be easy (I guess), but for others it would require a complete interface redo, and I understand that they don't want to spend time and resources on that for a minor niche userbase.

Agree with your sentiment. I would largely do the same, unless I really value the apps such that I want it running on my Mac.

The problem as I see it is that the iOS App Store is so successful in enabling free apps that consumers are spoilt into thinking that apps should be free. Not many are willing to pay too much for mobile apps, and that thinking will get carried into macOS if running the same app.

 

[dugbug]

IMHO, it all comes down to the revenue developers could get out (or rather the lack of it) of running iOS/iPadOS binaries in macOS.

I would think that if Apple allowed developers the option to enable (re)purchases of iOS and iPadOS apps/games in macOS, the take up rate would be a lot higher. Apple forcing developers to allow it would create a lot of frictions with the developers.

So lets pull this thread a bit. In my post above I mentioned the EERO router iphone app. It lets you monitor and configure the EERO wifi routers. This app is free and only useful if you have purchased EEROs. It also does not use any motion controls or multi-finger gestures.

Why do they prevent you from running the app on the mac?

-d

 

[quarkysg]

So lets pull this thread a bit. In my post above I mentioned the EERO router iphone app. It lets you monitor and configure the EERO wifi routers. This app is free and only useful if you have purchased EEROs. It also does not use any motion controls or multi-finger gestures.

Why do they prevent you from running the app on the mac?

-d

Maybe the developer doesn’t want handle additional support from macOS users? Maybe the app doesn’t work well in macOS? Only the developers knows.

 

[dmccloud]

So lets pull this thread a bit. In my post above I mentioned the EERO router iphone app. It lets you monitor and configure the EERO wifi routers. This app is free and only useful if you have purchased EEROs. It also does not use any motion controls or multi-finger gestures.

Why do they prevent you from running the app on the mac?

-d

One possible reason (which would be developer-specific) is support resources. A smaller developer might have issues keeping up with iOS/iPad OS support issues already. Allowing their apps to run on Apple Silicon Macs would increase the required support overhead, possibly beyond what the developer can afford and/or handle. In the case of the EERO app, it might be using some of the GPS location features of the iPhone, which are not present on the Mac side of things.

 

[Toutou]

This has been discussed here several times already. There’s no technical reason why you couldn’t run 1:1 iPadOS or iOS apps on an Apple Silicon Mac, but there are many UX reasons. An iPad app looks out of place on a Mac, doesn’t support keyboard shortcuts, doesn’t support the menu bar, may not be able to scale properly and quite a few other problems. The Apple ecosystem allows developers to share huge parts of the codebase between multiple platforms, but there’s still a clear distinction between macOS and iDevices UI, behavior and app life cycle.

Forcing all iOS apps to also be macOS apps would place unnecessary burden on developers who don’t want to spend their time developing for macOS and allowing all iOS apps to run in a fixed-size emulator-ish window on a Mac would be terrible UX.

The current situation is optimal. Developers who want to have their app on both platforms are given great tools to achieve that and those who don’t are not forced.

I agree that the situation is a bit easier for games, as those often use 3rd party game engines and a custom UIs, but the platforms are still different enough (performance, input methods, thermal constraints) for 1:1 ports to not make sense.

 

[bobcomer]

The current situation is optimal. Developers who want to have their app on both platforms are given great tools to achieve that and those who don’t are not forced.

It's not optimal for users.

 

[Gerdi]

Windows and ChromeOS have similar functionality to this, except that they use Android. (Windows using the Amazon App Store)
Another downside to this is that they use a reverse Rosetta 2 to run the ARM Android apps on x86 architecture, while on Macs, they are completely native due to the common architecture.

But there is 1 huge advantage to the Windows and ChromeOS library of mobile apps - They force every Android app to run on ChromeOS.​

This is only partially true. On my Surface Pro X, I do have Google Play Store and Google Play services installed. And of course Android Arm apps running natively without any Rosetta like translation.
Android actually believes, that it is running on a Google Pixel device, such that the store has no reason to deny installation.

 

[dugbug]

One possible reason (which would be developer-specific) is support resources. A smaller developer might have issues keeping up with iOS/iPad OS support issues already. Allowing their apps to run on Apple Silicon Macs would increase the required support overhead, possibly beyond what the developer can afford and/or handle. In the case of the EERO app, it might be using some of the GPS location features of the iPhone, which are not present on the Mac side of things.

Well that would be weird that a router manager app requires GPS... you are in your home on your private wifi network that it runs and they get the data from the router.

They are also a large company (part of amazon).

Either they have no idea they have thrown this switch, like its part of amazon's wrapper build system for IOS or something, or this is an ill-thought out engineering decision.

-d

 

[WilliApple]

Well that would be weird that a router manager app requires GPS... you are in your home on your private wifi network that it runs and they get the data from the router.

They are also a large company (part of amazon).

Either they have no idea they have thrown this switch, like its part of amazon's wrapper build system for IOS or something, or this is an ill-thought out engineering decision.

-d

In the case of the EERO app, it might be using some of the GPS location features of the iPhone, which are not present on the Mac side of things.

I'm pretty sure there is a GPS on the Mac. Otherwise, why would there be a fully functional maps app?

 

[thenewperson]

I'm pretty sure there is a GPS on the Mac. Otherwise, why would there be a fully functional maps app?

Because they use wifi triangulation to determine your location. Also a maps app can always be used without GPS/location for everything that doesn't require knowing where you are (looking up businesses, directions between two other locations, etc)

 

[dmccloud]

I'm pretty sure there is a GPS on the Mac. Otherwise, why would there be a fully functional maps app?

Because WiFi triangulation coupled with IP address geolocation has been a thing for well over a decade now. That was where aGPS (assisted GPS) got its start before everyone started including a true GPS solution in a smartphone.

 

[WilliApple]

Because WiFi triangulation coupled with IP address geolocation has been a thing for well over a decade now. That was where aGPS (assisted GPS) got its start before everyone started including a true GPS solution in a smartphone.

Ok, if this solution works on the Mac for maps apps, then it should take place as the API on the Mac. This further proves that iPhone and iPad apps can run natively on the Mac.

 

[satcomer]

Ok, if this solution works on the Mac for maps apps, then it should take place as the API on the Mac. This further proves that iPhone and iPad apps can run natively on the Mac.

The newest Xcode will compile for IOS and Silicon Mac application at the same time even!

 

[ADGrant]

It's not optimal for users.

Perhaps, but the developer owns the application and has the right to decide what platforms it will support.

WhatsApp doesn't even support the iPad.

 

[bobcomer]

Perhaps, but the developer owns the application and has the right to decide what platforms it will support.

True, but that doesn't make me think they're any less stupid for limiting where their apps can run. (I'm a developer too btw, just not a commercial developer)

 

[PianoPro]

Anyone know a way to download an iPhone app (it's a free AVR control app) to try it on a AS Mac when it hasn't been marked for using on a Mac? Probably not, but I thought I'd ask.