Apple Blocks Sideloading iPhone Apps on M1 Macs

Apple no longer allows users to sideload iPhone and iPad apps on the new M1 Macs. They share the same architecture, which makes sideloading technically possible. Apple only allows you to install apps from the App Store.

Sideloading, or installing apps without using an official or unofficial app store, was done using the iMazing program, The Verge wrote in November. It is capable of capturing and backing up the ipa installation files of App Store apps. This file could simply be opened on an Apple M1 system and installed. The apps ran in small windows, but almost always functioned just fine.

That has now come to an end. Anyone who opens an ipa file on an M1 Mac will get a non-specific error message, suggesting to try again later. In the beta of macOS 11.2, Apple explains: “This app cannot be installed because the developer did not intend it to run on this platform”. For now, sideloaded apps still work, writes The Verge.

A similar situation can be seen with game streaming service Geforce Now. That service runs on platforms such as Android, macOS, Chromebooks and LG’s webOS. Users can submit their own game library to that service, which makes it possible to play Windows games on Android, for example, without the publisher ever intending to release its game for Android. Many publishers ordered Nvidia to remove their games from the service.

Image: The Verge