Google, Facebook, and others reportedly won't offer their iOS apps on Apple's Silicon Macs

[Polycount]

In brief: Apple's big Mac announcement event is set to take place in just a few short hours, but we have some interesting (and slightly disappointing) news to chew on until then. According to a new report, though Apple's new Silicon-based Macs will technically be able to run any iOS app, some major developers are opting out of offering their software on the devices.

To be more specific, as 9to5Mac reports, both Google and Facebook are actively choosing not to offer "most" of their iOS apps to Mac customers. This means apps like Google Drive, Gmail, Maps, WhatsApp, and Messenger will all be missing.

Obviously, this isn't the end of the world for Mac users -- most of these services have web versions that work even better than their mobile counterparts. However, there's something to be said for the convenience and ease of use that mobile apps can offer, and running locally-installed software tends to give users a greater sense of control.

Other non-Google and Facebook-owned iOS apps that won't be making the jump to Silicon Macs include the likes of Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and, even popular games like Candy Crush and Among Us.

This news might come as a disappointment to those who were excited by Apple's previous announcement that iOS apps could run on its upcoming notebooks, but at the end of the day, third-party developers are ultimately the only ones who can decide how they want their apps to be distributed.

If they feel offering iOS apps on Macs would hinder the end user's experience in some way, or create stability issues, they will simply opt-out of doing so, just as Google, Facebook, Amazon, and others have done here.

There is still room for hope, though. The serving of iOS apps via the Mac App Store is new territory for Apple and the Mac userbase, so it's possible that third-party developers simply want to wait and see how things work out before they fully commit to this idea. In other words, Google and Facebook's iOS apps might still arrive on Mac, but it could take a while.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/87541-google-facebook-others-wont-offer-their-ios-apps.html

 

[QuantumPhysics]

I'm really excited to see what Apple is capable of when they own 100% of their production/parts.

Better displays, CPU, GPU on chip, etc.

 

[bviktor]

Google's been doing this since forever, recently they went as far as to break YouTube for Edge users, even though it uses literally the same freakin' engine as Chrome now. But they'll just break it, because they can.

If you don't use Google for everything (Android, Chromebook, Chrome, Gmail), they WILL screw you over every once in a while. That's the way it is. The same walled garden principle, just in different ways.

It's times like this when I'm glad I use Edge, OneDrive and outlook.com. Everything works fine on all my devices (Windows PC, Ubuntu PC, iPhone).

 

[Farkinell]

Almost all of the Google apps are gimped on iOS anyway, that’s coming from an iPad/iOS user. As stated in the article the web versions are almost always superior.

The Gmail app is such an abysmal email client (attach an email to another email? sorry nope) compared to most other apps, it’s only the inbox promotion, social etc filtering which makes it half usable.

If only MS would update Outlook on iOS to be comparable to Windows..(which they won’t, I know)

 

[CrisisDog]

I'm really excited to see what Apple is capable of when they own 100% of their production/parts.

Better displays, CPU, GPU on chip, etc.

They're capable of making even more profit and lockdowns for applications. I'm not certain how that benefits the consumer though....

 

[Dimitriid]

They're probably not happy that Apple has a potential win and could just assume control of the entire market with these devices. Apple probably will not care since they want you to use *their* apps and services anyway. It will be interesting to see if the other giants start throwing more weight behind Epic and their lawsuit or file some of their own: I suspect the future is sadly a bunch of massive corporations all competing for monopolies accusing each other of exactly the same thing they want to accomplish.

 

[SysTor]

Aren't all these iOS apps touch based? Using them with a mouse will not provide a great user experience. I doubt Apple would be satisfied with such apps. The services provided by Goggle, Facebook etc. will still be available on the new Macs, just like they are on current Macs.
More critical for Apple would be when Adobe and Microsoft desktop apps run natively on the new hardware, because this will be the trigger for many to buy the new hardware.

 

[StupidPeopleSuk]

I remember way back when all the pundits/crybabies/naysayers said that the PPC-to-Intel transition would doom Apple forever, be it through either hardware or software incompatibilities or drivers or any number of other reasons....

Well, here we are 15 years later, and guess what: Apple is still here, doing just great, and making even more bold moves, as they have always done and probably always will....

I predict that after this transition is completed, their next bold move will be to buy either TSMC or Foxconn, or someone else who is deep into their supply chain....

And FYI, Yes, I own a large number of Apple shares, and therefore wish them the best in their pursuits, whatever they may be.... even though I believe they continue to charge way too much for their products... even though they seem to have held the line on major price jumps recently, but some of that comes at the costs of reduced features, like fewer ports or whatnot...

But al of this is ok with me, 'cause it makes me moar richer