Apple has disabled users’ ability to unofficially install iOS applications on their M1 Macs (via 9to5Mac) Although iOS apps are still available on the Mac App Store, many apps, like Dark Sky and Netflix, do not have developer approval to run on macOS. Until now, there was a workaround that allowed the use of third-party software to install applications without having to use the Mac App Store, but it appears that Apple has disabled it remotely.
When we tried to install an unsupported application on a Mac M1 running macOS 11.1, we received an error message saying that we were unable to install it and we should “try again later”. You can see a screenshot at the beginning of this article.
According 9to5Mac, the message on the latest macOS 11.2 beta is more specific: “the application cannot be installed because the developer did not intend it to run on this platform”.
Apple’s move to block installations of unauthorized applications is not necessarily surprising. The code was found in beta, indicating that a ban would be imminent, and Apple has given developers the power to prevent their applications from running on the Mac – a power that is hampered by sideloading. However, it is sad to see the feature disappear, as Mac users are accustomed to having more freedom in the programs they can run than on iOS (although Apple’s control over the Mac has been increasingly tight over the years. ).
We were able to run an application that we had already installed, but Apple is clearly repressing this behavior, so there is no guarantee that our already downloaded applications will work in the future.