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macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 iOS & iPadOS Apps on Mac Release Notes

Considerations for running iPhone and iPad apps on Macs with Apple silicon.

Overview

Macs with Apple silicon can run many iPad and iPhone apps as-is, and these apps will be made available to users on the Mac through the Mac App Store. For more information, see Running your iOS apps in macOS, and watch iPad and iPhone apps on Macs with Apple silicon.

macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 enables you to test your iPad and iPhone apps through Xcode. Below are notes pertaining to running these apps on macOS Big Sur 11.0.1. For additional macOS 11 changes, see macOS Big Sur 11.0.1 Release Notes.

General

Known Issues

  • iOS apps which don’t support iPad multitasking might display certain content in an incorrect orientation. (64660250)

  • WebGL content in WKWebView might experience reduced performance. (70587571)

  • Apps that specify LSMinimumSystemVersion in their Info.plist will be held to that value when running on macOS. Use the MinimumOSVersion Info.plist key. (56477669)

  • When NSAttributedString loads HTML, the runloop might not run. (56722469)

  • Don’t assume the user’s home directory is in /private. (59908476)

  • Methods that aren’t declared but are present on iOS such as allHeaderFields or statusCode aren’t present on macOS. Instead, use the declared methods on HTTPURLResponse. (61076809)

  • iOS applications on macOS use slide-over and split-screen capabilities to resize windows. Your windows might be created in a state that doesn’t match the UIScreen, as though the application was launched in a split or slide-over. (61219476)

  • Device validation by checking for paths such as /usr/libexec/sftp-server or /usr/sbin/sshd isn’t supported. (62360582)

  • App content might be visible during a resize. Don’t rely on your content being blurred like it is when resizing a split on iPad. (63582198)

  • Don’t assume via runtime checks like NSClassFromString(_:) that NSViewController won’t be present. (63995458)

  • CATransaction commits might be delayed until an appropriate time. Don’t make assumptions about the timing of commits and instead use appropriate transaction or animation completion handlers to order your work. (64013629)

  • Don’t assume that /var/mobile exists. (64650450)

  • Ensure apps using WKWebView and UIWebView correctly handle JavaScript mouse or pointer events. This can be alternatively tested by using a mouse or trackpad with iPad. (64668138)

  • Ensure you’ve registered your Mac with Apple silicon’s hardware identifier (available in the System Information app Hardware > Provisioning UDID field) in your account on https://developer.apple.com/account. Find the archive in the Organizer window, click on Distribute App, select either “Ad Hoc” or “Development,” choose your distribution options, select “Automatically manage signing,” and proceed through the remainder of the distribution assistant to create an IPA. Once you’ve created the IPA, you can transfer it to your Mac with Apple silicon, and double-click it to install. During the app’s first launch, macOS prompts you to open the Security & Privacy preferences pane to enable the app. To see the launch button in the preferences pane, make sure your Mac is configured to only allow apps from the App Store and identified developers. (68513041, 68528315)

See Also

macOS 11