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iOS apps run on M1 Macs?
- Thread starter Rafagon
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It is possible to run iOS apps natively on M1 Macs, but the developers can opt out. The majority of developers seems to have done that, so the most popular iOS apps are not availiable in the App Store (e.g. all Google apps, Facebook, Instagram, ...).
Here's one of the few apps I found, the all-time classic "Crossy Road". It's featured on the Mac App Store in the "iOS apps on macOS"-story. iOS apps run in windowed mode on the Mac. "Crossy road" is optimized for iPad, so a real iPhone-only app would run in an even smaller window.
I have no idea if it is possible to run M1 Mac apps on iPhones, perhaps someone will find a way to do so, but it isn't possible out of the box.
Here's one of the few apps I found, the all-time classic "Crossy Road". It's featured on the Mac App Store in the "iOS apps on macOS"-story. iOS apps run in windowed mode on the Mac. "Crossy road" is optimized for iPad, so a real iPhone-only app would run in an even smaller window.
I have no idea if it is possible to run M1 Mac apps on iPhones, perhaps someone will find a way to do so, but it isn't possible out of the box.
You can get around the apps that aren't available to go on a Mac, if you using an app like iMazing. I got some apps working. Haven't played around enough to decide if it's worth it, though. Instagram, for instance, is worthless to use on a Mac. It doesn't resize and is just so small. I think that will be the case with many of them.
Dumb Question: I looked for 10 min to find Mobile Apps in the App Store. Is that were we officially download them. I'm not a fan of side loading.
Some iPad apps are *TERRIBLE* to use. The interface isn't rendered right, controls overlapping each other.
Others work perfectly.
The Mac App Store is where you download them. I haven't found a way to "browse for iPhone/iPad apps", but if you go to your account, and look at purchased apps, you can select the "iPhone/iPad" tab to see ones you've already purchased. If you search for an app, you can change the results to show iPhone/iPad, too.
But note that not all iOS apps can be downloaded to macOS. Some developers have blocked it. As someone else mentioned, there are apps to download them off your iPad/iPhone and then you just run them on the Mac.
Others work perfectly.
The Mac App Store is where you download them. I haven't found a way to "browse for iPhone/iPad apps", but if you go to your account, and look at purchased apps, you can select the "iPhone/iPad" tab to see ones you've already purchased. If you search for an app, you can change the results to show iPhone/iPad, too.
But note that not all iOS apps can be downloaded to macOS. Some developers have blocked it. As someone else mentioned, there are apps to download them off your iPad/iPhone and then you just run them on the Mac.
If you go to the Mac App Store and use the search bar, then in search results you can click the tab for iPhone and iPad apps. Not very intuitive - Hopefully Apple will add a dedicated browse option in the future.
