You Can Run IPhone Apps on Your Mac (but You Probably Shouldn’t)
Many, but not all, mobile-only apps are available in the Mac App Store for Macs with Apple silicon. Such Macs can hypothetically run any iPhone or iPad app, although individual developers can choose whether or not to offer this functionality. There are many reasons why a company might not offer their iPhone app on Mac: maybe they don’t want to optimize it for a larger display, maybe it’s broken somehow, or maybe they’re just not interested in supporting another platform.
However, you may disagree with this decision and wonder if you can use these apps on your Mac anyway. And that’s it: PlayCover is an app that can run any iPhone app you can think of, at least in theory. The problem is that there is no easy way to get versions of applications that will work with it.
iOS encryption problem
Apple encrypts the apps it offers on the App Store, meaning you can’t just download and install them directly—you’ll have to go through the storefront. The main workaround requires you to jailbreak your iPhone and use software designed to decrypt apps. This way, you can create .ips files from apps you download or purchase that can be opened in PlayCover.
In theory, you could also download .ips files from a third party – there are several websites that offer them. The problem is that this method requires you to trust software from strangers on the Internet that you then install on your computer, which is difficult to recommend for a number of security reasons. (You never know what malware might be hidden in these files.) There is also the issue of piracy, since these sites allow you to bypass App Store encryption, which is usually a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
PlayCover works to some extent
With all these caveats in mind, I was able to run the iPhone version of Duolingo on my Mac. This is ideal because the web version lacks all sorts of features, but it still doesn’t feel like a similar experience since I won’t get automatic updates like I do on a real iPhone.
Besides Duolingo, several other iPhone apps and games I tried to open on my Mac either wouldn’t launch or couldn’t get to the login screen. And since the games you play are actually outside of the Apple ecosystem, you won’t have access to any in-app purchases, or even the ability to make new ones. It’s an imperfect solution in many ways, with one major benefit – running software that wouldn’t otherwise be possible – and many potential downsides.
Apart from all this, I must say that PlayCover has several smart features built in that allow you to control games that are optimized for touch controls. You can use the keyboard to emulate a gamepad, for example allowing you to play supported games using the keyboard. If this doesn’t work, you can assign keys to simulate screen taps so that the key presses select the appropriate on-screen buttons to control games. This will require a little effort on your part, but will allow you to play touch screen games using your keyboard.
Thanks to Apple’s silicon, the iPhone, iPad and Mac are truly sister platforms. There’s nothing stopping you from running any iPhone app on your Mac, at least in theory. But for most people, it’s probably a good idea to stick with the iPad apps that can be found in the Mac App Store.