iOS apps on Big Sur and M1 Macs

[Lifeisabeach]

I've been slowly trying out a handful of apps I have for my iOS devices on the M1 MacBook Air as it occurs to me to try them. Early on I gave a couple games like Galcon a whirl and they worked fantastic. Earlier this week, I started to reach for my iPhone to remotely adjust the thermostat when it suddenly occurred to me that I should be able to load and use the app on my MBA that was already sitting in my lap. Sure enough.... works GREAT! Another long-time wish list item of mine and many people was to see Good Reader, an outstanding PDF viewer for iOS, be ported to OS X. Guess what? No need for a port now... ths iOS version WORKS! It works perfectly as far as I can tell, and I can even associate PDF files to it by default. Booyah!

Not everything I've tried has worked well. The Eufy app for viewing footage from my doorbell cams flat out crashes when trying to stream. Chunky, a comics reader for iPad that is absolutely fantastic, doesn't work well. It doesn't respond for keyboard navigation (probably never implemented even for iPad if a kb is paired) and even clicking on screen is clunky and uneven in response. Ah well, can't win them all.

 

[chscag]

You might want to look for the statement from Apple that they posted last week about no longer allowing iOS apps to be sideloaded on M1 machines.

It appears that some developers have complained about the process and the fact they did not design their app to run on macOS. Not sure what all the ramifications are about the process and if any loss of revenue is involved.

I'm interested in hearing what you found out.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

You might want to look for the statement from Apple that they posted last week about no longer allowing iOS apps to be sideloaded on M1 machines.

It appears that some developers have complained about the process and the fact they did not design their app to run on macOS. Not sure what all the ramifications are about the process and if any loss of revenue is involved.

I'm interested in hearing what you found out.

That's not "quite" correct. The process for not allowing apps to run if developers objected was always in place. What happened was some people were pulling the IPA files for unapproved apps using iMazing or similar and running them that way (i.e. "sideloading", which I first overlooked you mentioned). So Apple enabled an option to block that from being possible. I'm guessing that on first run, a check is now done to verify that the developer approved use of the app on macOS. Well perhaps more correctly, to see if the developer DISAPPROVED use in such a way. If I'm not mistaken, the developer has to actively disapprove it, otherwise you can install and run it. The right way to do this is install from the Mac App Store. There's a tab on the M1 Macs' App Store to switch between Mac apps and iOS apps. Apps from the iOS App Store won't be available if the developer disapproved use on Macs. Eero's app is one I can say I know of and was specifically looking for.

I suppose it may be possible for a developer to decide at any time that they don't want their apps running on Macs, in which case maybe the plug can be pulled? I don't know.

 

[chscag]

As I stated above, you need to read the article from Apple. This from MacRumors:

Sideloading iOS Apps No Longer Possible on M1 Macs

Apple this week implemented a server side blocking mechanism to prevent M1 Mac owners from sideloading iOS apps that have not been made available on the Mac by iOS app developers. Image via 9to5Mac As noted by 9to5Mac, it is no longer possible to use third-party apps like iMazing to obtain an...

forums.macrumors.com

Seems to me from the article, they cut it off completely?

 

[Lifeisabeach]

As I stated above, you need to read the article from Apple. This from MacRumors:

Sideloading iOS Apps No Longer Possible on M1 Macs

Apple this week implemented a server side blocking mechanism to prevent M1 Mac owners from sideloading iOS apps that have not been made available on the Mac by iOS app developers. Image via 9to5Mac As noted by 9to5Mac, it is no longer possible to use third-party apps like iMazing to obtain an...

forums.macrumors.com

Seems to me from the article, they cut it off completely?

Read it when it came out. I overlooked you qualified "sideloading", but I'm not sideloading.

EDIT: Here's MacRumors' walkthrough on how this is done the "right" way:

How to Install iPhone or iPad Apps on an M1 Mac

Apple's M1 Macs, which are the first to be powered by an Apple-designed Arm-based chip, are able to run iOS and iPadOS apps because of the common...

www.macrumors.com

 

[pigoo3]

I've been slowly trying out a handful of apps I have for my iOS devices on the M1 MacBook Air as it occurs to me to try them. Early on I gave a couple games like Galcon a whirl and they worked fantastic. Earlier this week, I started to reach for my iPhone to remotely adjust the thermostat when it suddenly occurred to me that I should be able to load and use the app on my MBA that was already sitting in my lap. Sure enough.... works GREAT! Another long-time wish list item of mine and many people was to see Good Reader, an outstanding PDF viewer for iOS, be ported to OS X. Guess what? No need for a port now... ths iOS version WORKS! It works perfectly as far as I can tell, and I can even associate PDF files to it by default. Booyah!

Not everything I've tried has worked well.

Sounds like a mixed bag of success with the apps tried so far. The net result at the moment seems to be positive. Able to run "regular" macOS computer apps fine...and able to run some iOS apps. Once all iOS apps are runnable...then have best of both worlds (macOS & iOS apps).

- Nick

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Sounds like a mixed bag of success with the apps tried so far. The net result at the moment seems to be positive. Able to run "regular" macOS computer apps fine...and able to run some iOS apps. Once all iOS apps are runnable...then have best of both worlds (macOS & iOS apps).

There's always going to be a gray area where some iOS apps won't work quite right but could if only the developer would put in some minimal extra effort; some that flat out can't and won't (games and apps that rely on an accelerator, for example); and some that the developer chooses not to allow on macOS (Pixelmator, for example, has separate macOS and iOS apps already and no, the iOS one isn't allowed on macOS). I suppose some of the fringe "kinda works" cases may improve in time just by Apple improving compatibility on the backend in macOS.

 

[pigoo3]

Definitely some early-adopter issues...and issues that will certainly be corrected in time.

Thanks much for the info...I know there are lots of folks out there thinking or needing to purchase a new computer...and not sure what to do (Intel or new M1).

- Nick

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Well we can toss the notion of using the iOS app Good Reader on M1 Macs as a good alternative. Even though Finder will let me associate PDFs to it by default, they won't actually open in GR by double clicking them. GR launches, but doesn't show that PDF. Navigating pages of a PDF is also pretty awful, with no response from any keyboard commands. Even swiping on the trackpad was futile.

 

[IWT]

Well we can toss the notion of using the iOS app Good Reader on M1 Macs

Well, GoodReader has let me down as well. I've been a devoted advocate of them for some years, but in macOS 11 Big Sur (BS), their system simply does not work.

I contacted them by email. I got a very nice automated response with a promise of contacting me personally and offering a solution. 5 or 6 days have passed since then; nothing. Their very detailed and comprehensive website fails to deal with BS.

A real pity.

Ian