How to Run iOS Apps on A Mac

Apple’s new Macs have the M1. It is the first to be driven by an Apple-designed Arm-based chip. The processor can run on both the iOS and iPadOS apps. It can do so because they both share a similar architecture between the different operating systems. Due to their similarity, you can run iOS apps on a Mac now. 

How to Run iOS Apps on A Mac

How to run iOS apps on a Mac: 

Before we learn how to run iOS apps on a mac, let us know a bit about the mechanism of the process. You do not need your iPad or iPhone to run the apps from your mobile. That is the case only if you own a Mac which uses the M1 chip.

You can download or install the iOS apps from iPhone as long as you have the MacOS 11 big sur or newer ones.

If you do not have the latest version, then you need to know this. You can run iOS Apps on a Mac on your unmodified iPhone apps. The iOS apps can run on your unmodified iPad with no porting process.

The apps on your iPhone or iPad have the same frameworks and fundamentals that Mac Catalyst apps have. They have the same infrastructure to run but without the need to revamp the Mac platform again.

Even if there is no porting process required, you can still think of updating your code. It is because it will provide a better and smoother user experience for you when your app runs on macOS.

If you adopt the modern iOS features, it makes the transition to macOS easier. It is because the present-day features match instantly to the appropriate macOS behaviors.

How to Run iOS Apps on A Mac

However, in many cases, you may not want your iOS apps to run on a Mac. That could be the case if you already own a mac app. It could also be that your app depends only on the features that are on iOS devices only.

So you can now choose to run iOS apps on a Mac. In this article, we will show you how to run iOS apps on a mac.

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The Procedure to Run iOS Apps on A Mac

Firstly, you need to install the iOS and iPadOS apps available in the Mac App Store. The Mac App Store has many apps which you can download. It has the apps that you have previously bought or downloaded on your iPhone or iPad.

Firstly open the ‌Mac App Store‌ on your MacBook.

How to Run iOS Apps on A Mac

If you cannot find the App Store button, then you can search for it on the search bar. It is located on the top of your Mac. 

How to Run iOS Apps on A Mac

There is an alternative way to find it. You can use Apple’s built-in spotlight by pressing the cmd+space bar of your keyboard. The search bar automatically comes; you can find the app store by typing in there.

Note: If you cannot search and find the apps you are looking for, it is since the mac store is only showing mac apps. You need to do the following steps to find iOS apps to run on your Mac.

  • You need to click on your profile. The profile button is in the bottom left.
  • When you click your account, you will find ‘iPhone‌ & ‌iPad‌ Apps‘ below. Choose that option and click on it.
  • Then click the app in the list and download it.

In this way, the iOS app will be installed on your Mac. It is downloaded like the other Mac apps. The installed apps are in the Launchpad folder. You can click on it and open it. You can also look at the application folder.

Another easy way to find your iOS apps is to search for ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ app names in the ‌Mac App Store ‌. You then have to click on the option the ‘iPad and iPhone’ tab. The tabs results are under which lists the apps.

You can download the apps from there. These are the apps that were firstly for the use of the iPhone iPad’s iOS apps. It is how you download and run iOS on a mac.

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How to Run iOS Apps on A Mac

However, you need to know something if you still cannot download or find any apps on the Mac store. It means your developer did not elect the iOS apps to run on your Mac.

If your Mac has the iPhone or iOS apps, only then you can see them and can install them. An app developer can choose to have their apps on the Mac M1  processor. Many famous app developers, like Netflix and Hulu, have decided not to do so.

If you own an Apple Silicon Mac, then you do not need to worry about installing and running iOS on your Mac.

However, if you do not then you may face problems and not be able to download it. If you stream or download through a third party it will be illegal. You also will not see the shows you want on full screen.

You can only view your shows in half-screen mode if you download them in third-party ways.

Be warned that if you install apps like Hulu or Netflix, you can see them, but not in full-screen mode. However, the good news is, you can still download them and watch them offline. The developers of these apps do not yet support their content on the others.

Conclusion

There are illegal ways to download iOS apps to run on your Mac. However, the developers might include these apps or more numbers or iOS apps that run on Mac. For now, we advise you to peruse our article and know how to run iOS apps on a Mac the right way.

FAQS:

Is it okay to run iOS on a Mac?

iOS and macOS can support many of the same frameworks and fundamentals at the same time. Most of the iOS apps also run safely on the macOS. However, you might choose not to run your iOS app on macOS if you know these. You may have already created a Mac version of your app using Mac Catalyst.

Is porting required?

No porting required to run IOS apps from your unmodified iPhone. On the Silicon Mac, IOS apps already run easily.

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