Mac Catalyst Apps: Our Favorites So Far
macOS Catalina includes a new Mac Catalyst feature that's designed to make it simple for developers to bring their apps created for the iPad over to the Mac App Store.
Several developers have taken advantage of the new capabilities in Catalina to create Mac Catalyst apps for the Mac App Store, and we thought we'd round up the most useful of these for those who are wondering how Mac Catalyst apps work and how they compare to their iPad app counterparts.
- Twitter for Mac (Free) - With Mac Catalyst, Twitter reintroduced a Twitter app for the Mac, a year after the original Twitter for Mac was eliminated. Twitter for Mac is a hybrid of the iPad app and the web interface, though it more closely resembles the browser version of Twitter. It works as you'd expect a Twitter for Mac app to work, with a navigation bar on the left for swapping between mentions and messages, and then a Twitter timeline.
- GoodNotes 5 ($7.99) - Popular note taking app GoodNotes 5 is available on the Mac following the launch of macOS Catalina. You can view and access your notes, but taking notes is a much better experience on the iPad because you can use the Apple Pencil or a stylus. You can write on the Mac version, but it requires a mouse or a trackpad, which is not the best experience. Being able to reference your notes on your Mac is super useful, even if the bulk of the functionality is designed for the iPad.
- Allegory ($3.99) - For those who prefer Markdown, Allegory is a Mac Catalyst app that's now available on the Mac. It's simple, straightforward, easy to use, and the available feature set is the same across the iPad and the Mac.
- Carrot Weather ($14.99) - Carrot Weather is a popular iOS app that's now on the Mac. It uses Dark Sky and offers up some accurate weather data. What's more, it has a snarky attitude that turns boring weather information into a much more fun interaction. Carrot Weather is one of our favorite Mac Catalyst apps so far, and given the app's simplicity, it's quite similar to the iPad version.
- Rosetta Stone (Free) - Rosetta Stone on the iPad is an app designed to help you learn a language, and in Catalina, the Rosetta Stone app is also on the Mac. It's a solid port and the experience is overall the same, with the bonus of being able to swap between devices to learn a language no matter what you're using. The app is free, but it requires a subscription.
With Catalyst apps, Mac versions need to be purchased separately from iOS versions, which is a downside that may put some people off of them. For your favorite apps, though, the purchase price may be worth the cross platform availability.
Mac Catalyst apps are still in the early stages of rolling out, and Apple has plans to expand the Catalyst feature in the future. We can expect to see more apps designed for the iPad ported over to the Mac as time progresses, and if you've found a great Mac Catalyst app, feel free to mention it in the comments.
Right now, you can see a collection of other Mac Catalyst apps in the Mac App Store under the "Apps You Love Now On Your Mac" section of the Mac App Store, but it's otherwise tough to tell a Catalyst app from a regular Mac app.
Popular Stories
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below.
Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports.
In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker.
According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found.
Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
One thing worth...
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future.
"I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.
Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
Google Maps on iOS quietly gained a new feature recently that automatically recognizes where you've parked your vehicle and saves the location for you.
Announced on LinkedIn by Rio Akasaka, Google Maps' senior product manager, the new feature auto-detects your parked location even if you don't use the parking pin function, saves it for up to 48 hours, and then automatically removes it once...
Apple and Google are teaming up to make it easier for users to switch between iPhone and Android smartphones, according to 9to5Google. There is a new Android Canary build available today that simplifies data transfer between two smartphones, and Apple is going to implement the functionality in an upcoming iOS 26 beta.
Apple already has a Move to iOS app for transferring data from an Android...
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone.
In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
