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Apple M1 Tidbits: Running iOS Apps With .IPAs, Running x86 Homebrew Apps, Accessing macOS Recovery and More

How can I legitimately download an IPA for something I've purchased?

There is an iOS/iPad game that I'd like to play on my M1 MacBook but isn't listed as compatible.
 
sofakng said:
How can I legitimately download an IPA for something I've purchased?

There is an iOS/iPad game that I'd like to play on my M1 MacBook but isn't listed as compatible.
Click to expand...
  1. Download Apple Configurator 2 from the App Store
  2. Open Apple Configurator and connect your iOS device directly to your Mac, "trusting" the computer etc.
  3. Click on the device in Apple Configurator, and then click the "+" Add button.
  4. Select Apps
  5. Sign in to the iTunes/App Store with the right Apple ID
  6. Search for the app you want to download, click it, and start the download
  7. Wait until Apple Configurator prompts you asking to overwrite the app on your device
  8. At this point, the app is downloaded to
    Code: 
    ~/Library/Group Containers/K36BKF7T3D.group.com.apple.configurator/Library/Caches/Assets/TemporaryItems/MobileApps/
  9. Go to that location and copy out the .IPA file to a safe location
  10. Finally, click "cancel" on the Apple Configurator prompt to avoid reinstalling the app on your device
 
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Thanks for such a detailed explanation!

While I was searching I also found the iMazing app which can also save the IPAs? I'm also hesitant about 3rd party apps though because a lot of them are spyware, etc.
 
sofakng said:
How can I legitimately download an IPA for something I've purchased?

There is an iOS/iPad game that I'd like to play on my M1 MacBook but isn't listed as compatible.
Click to expand...
I was able to install Hearthstone (but wasn't able to log in, haha) by installing the iMazing app (free trial) and plugging in my iPad to the laptop to download the .ipa file. It was easy and worked well, had it installed in under 5 min.
 
I’m curious if .ipa installed apps on M1 Macs will also update via the App Store when available? Technically they’re pointing to the same location whether on iOS or macOS, right? Or if redownloading an .ipa and installing again overwrites any existing data or configurations?
 
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I got : This app cannot be installed because its integrity could not be verified.
while I double click the ipa file which i dump from frida-ios-dump.
 
I can get apps to install either directly from the app store or via the imazing method. But none of them run. I click on them and nothing.

What's wrong with my Mac or OS?

Just checked the log when trying to run one of the apps:

"FairPlay decryption failed on binary."
 
Last edited:
ozgadgetguy said:
I can get apps to install either directly from the app store or via the imazing method. But none of them run. I click on them and nothing.

What's wrong with my Mac or OS?

Just checked the log when trying to run one of the apps:

"FairPlay decryption failed on binary."
Click to expand...
Do you have SIP disabled?
 
ozgadgetguy said:
I figured out that was the issue. Re-enabled and its all good now, thanks.
Click to expand...
Although I’m happy that fixed the issue for you, I’m hoping Apple fixes that so that SIP can be disabled and we’re still able to open iOS apps.
 
the ipa will run as in ipad. Is there any idea to run as in iphone or modify the app's resolution？
 
I am able to run, but how can I update my app now? If I try the same trick with an updated version of the app, I run into this problem:
A coordinated app install already exists form com.company.app with intent IXCoordinatorIntentUpdating (creator App Store) but request by iOS App Installer (pid ####) was for intent IXCoordinatorIntentInitiating
 
Installed an ios game on my M1 Mini but the game kept crashing everything I double clicked on it. Is that normal?
 
mmendoza27 said:
Okay, ended up getting an iOS app installed on the machine. Here is what I did:

1. Followed the Apple Configurator instructions here: https://medium.com/xcnotes/how-to-download-ipa-from-app-store-43e04b3d0332

This will allow you to download an IPA to your Mac and when you double-click the IPA, it installs the app in your Applications folder.

2. However, this will not initially work if you try and open it. You'll need to use Terminal and use xattr to recursively go through and change the permissions. I had to do this with sudo. So it looked something like this:

sudo xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine [path to the app]

Once you do this, you should be able to open the app. Obviously these apps are not fully optimized but they work. It's better than nothing!
Click to expand...
I tried all the steps but still not working, can you pls help?
 

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muhit90 said:
I tried all the steps but still not working, can you pls help?
Click to expand...

I was receiving this error before is ran xattr so I'm not sure what exactly is the problem here. It should work once you change the attributes of the IPA after you install it into your Applications folder. Perhaps you don't have administrative permissions on your machine?
 
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