Check if your apps are M1-compatible with the free iMobie M1 App Checker

Apple M1 Chip (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

iMobie M1 App Checker will tell you which apps are designed for Apple silicon and which will require Rosetta 2.
The app will also check your iPhone and iPad apps to see whether they will work on your Mac as well.

Apple's M1 Macs are out in the wild and there's already talk of what will come next. The Apple silicon transition is in full swing and the iMobie M1 App Checker will tell you whether your apps are along for the ride.

While some apps have been redesigned with Apple silicon in mind, others will need to run under Rosetta 2 emulation. Performance is still fine in that case, but you're going to want a universal app to get the best out of your new Mac – and this app will tell you which apps are universal and which are not.

On top of that, the app can also check your iPhone and iPad apps to see whether they are good to go on an M1 Mac as well. If they are, it will link you out to the App Store to download them. If they aren't, you have the option of exporting the app and running it yourself – although I'm undecided on where I stand on that front. Developers likely chose not to take their iPhone and iPad apps available in the Mac App Store for a reason, after all.

You can download the free iMobie M1 App Checker now.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.