One of the side effects of Macs getting Apple Silicon processors has been the ability to easily run iOS apps in macOS. Although developers may refuse to make their iOS apps available in the Mac App Store – and it was initially reported that Facebook, Google Maps and YouTube were among the refuseniks – until now it’s been possible to install or ‘sideload’ all apps using other methods.
But those days may soon be over, reports 9to5Mac.
The site has found an error code in the new beta version of macOS Big Sur 11.2 that Apple uploaded on Wednesday. This indicates a possible change in DRM protection to stop the installation of apps that have not been approved by the developer of that platform.
The error message reads: “This application cannot be installed because the developer did not intend for it to run on this platform.”
So far no code is active, and it is still possible to install any iOS apps on M1 Macs by downloading an .ipa file for iPad and installing it with Apple Configurator 2 or Imazing, and Apple has so far not mentioned any changes for developers. But the change appears to be in the pipeline for some point in the future.
This article originally appeared on Macworld Sweden. Translation by David Price.
