With the arrival of Macs with Apple Silicon Apple announced that we could run iOS and iPadOS apps directly on our Mac. Most developers are more than happy to cover more market and be able to offer their services to more people, but some, like Facebook or Netflix have decided to prevent this execution. Or, at least, it seemed that way, because it turns out that we can install those apps anyway.
The magic of IPAs
When we download an app on our iPhone or iPad, what we do is download a file with an IPA extension. These same files can run without any complications on Mac with Apple Silicon. The only issue is that we need this file from the app we want to run.
We need the IPA file of an app that we have bought and that is linked to our Apple ID. This means that we must have purchased the application ourselves and the only way to do it is in the App Store, so how do we download that file? Easy, from the backup of our iPhone, for example.
Run apps yes, but only apps that we have officially purchased.
The iMazing app allows us to directly download the IPA files from our iPhone or iPad. The steps proposed by the Reddit user probablyamy in this thread are the following:
- We connect our iPhone or iPad to the Mac and run iMazing.
- We choose Appsfrom the connected iPhone or iPad.
- We tap on Manage appsat the bottom.
- We played in Librería.
- We download the apps that we want to run on our Mac.
- We secondary click on the download and choose Export IPA.
Once we have the IPA downloaded, we simply double-click it to install it and move it to the Applications folder on our Mac like any application. From here we can open it and use it like any app.
This system works in apps like Netflix, Instagram and many others. WhatsApp, on the other hand, has specific requirements and does not even open. Bear in mind that with this system, even if it works, we are bypassing the restriction for developers to run their apps on the Mac. Some of these restrictions are aimed at preventing us from running apps that do not work properly on the Mac. Netflix, for For example, it does not allow us to enter full screen. Instagram or Plex, meanwhile, work excellently.
IN APPLESFERA
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Let’s also bear in mind that this is not the system that should be used to run apps on our Mac. So much so that it is likely to stop working in future updates. In general, although we now have this trick to install apps, we will have to wait for the developers to allow us to use them officially. Of course, after seeing how well some apps work without even modifications, it will be more difficult than ever to excuse that they are not already present in the Mac App Store.
