Facebook, Google, other major developers decline to offer native Apple silicon apps at launch
AppleInsider Staff
A number of major app makers, including Facebook, Google and Candy Crush Saga developer King, will not offer initial support for Apple silicon Macs at launch, according to a report on Monday.
Apple is widely expected to unveil the first Macs powered by its in-house A-series processors at a special event on Tuesday. The company has been working hard to get developers aboard the new platform, but some larger companies are taking a wait-and-see approach.
Because Apple silicon Macs run on chips bearing a largely identical architecture to those in iPhone and iPad, iOS developers can port their wares to the new Mac operating system with minimal effort. Apple is also allowing iOS and iPadOS app makers to offer apps through the Mac App Store. While some, like Netflix and HBO, have elected to do so, others have declined.
As noted by 9to5Mac, Facebook is not offering Apple silicon-native versions of its family of services, which includes Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. Likewise, Google has declined to offer Gmail, Google Maps and Google Drive apps, while Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and Snapchat will also be unavailable at launch.
Apple will designate apps that do not currently offer Apple silicon support with an App Store message that reads, "Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS."
It should be noted that developers can choose to post apps for review at any time, meaning the lack of native Facebook and Google apps could be temporary.
AppleInsider will offer live coverage of Apple's "One More Thing" event on Tuesday starting at 10 a.m. Pacific, 1 p.m. Eastern.
Malcolm Owen
Amber Neely
Marko Zivkovic
David Schloss
Wesley Hilliard
Mike Wuerthele and Malcolm Owen
38 Comments
I don’t understand the merit of having native apps for many of these when they run just as well in a browser, especially the streaming services and the Google apps.
The only one I really care about is Microsoft Office. I want the Macros that I currently use in Excel to work on the Apple Silicon. Mac Office on iPad does not support Macros. I do not need them office but they are really nice to have. Otherwise, once per year, I will need to spashtop into a windows machine when traveling to do a Macro once I upgrade my MacBook Pro.
I really don’t care about any native fb, gmail app, etc.
The only native app I want on my future ASi MacBook is MS Office.
Maybe the future of all apps is through a browser, especially if HTML starts supporting app-like user interfaces. And since streaming apps already exist, then maybe that's our window to the future of desktop apps, not just games. That may be the approach for big companies that dislike Apple's App Store interface. I suspect Google and Facebook are discussing whether they can bypass the App Store by using streaming for all their apps for Apple Silicon. Just a guess.