Discord offers canary macOS version app with native Apple M1 support

Gaming communications app Discord has released a canary version of its macOS app that runs natively on the M1 hardware of newer Apple hardware. Users report greatly improved performance with this variant of the app.

A Reddit user discovered M1 support in this version of the app. Respondents report improved performance, which also seemed much needed because it is stated, among other things, that ‘doing something in the app always happened with a delay of 1 second’. In addition, the Krisp background noise cancellation now also works; it did not work with the Rosetta rotating variant. You can also run the app in the browser, but that leads to problems with push-to-talk and screen sharing at Discord.

Discord is a communication app aimed at gamers. The application offers the possibility to create your own ‘servers’, with text and voice chat channels and a rights system for users. It also supports screen sharing, in-game overlays and file transfers. In addition to macOS, the app is available for Windows, Linux, Android and iOS, but it can also run in browsers.

Software developers have to rewrite their macOS programs for M1 hardware because it runs on the ARM architecture. Apple’s Rosetta software can make their code compatible on-the-fly with the M1 variant of macOS, but it’s more inefficient. This is reflected in deteriorated performance and shortened battery life on M1 laptops.

Discord on macOS (image via Chip.de)