Apple says developers shouldn’t need a separate Mac team, thanks to Catalyst

By Kevin Parrish Published October 25, 2019

Apple’s Catalyst program is now in full swing, bringing your favorite iPad apps to MacOS. Todd Benjamin, MacOS product marketing director, provided an update, saying Mac owners will benefit from a whole new app selection pulled from the iPad ecosystem.

Apple first teased Mac Catalyst during its WWDC conference in 2018 followed by a full-blown reveal during the following annual conference. It enables developers to easily port their apps from the iPad to MacOS, resulting in the Mac App Store’s new section labeled Apps You Love, Now On Mac, shown below.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

“For iPad developers, MacOS Catalina makes it easier than ever to bring your apps to the Mac. The process starts by checking a single box in Xcode,” Apple states from inside the Mac App Store. “For Mac users, that means many great iPad apps will soon make their way to the Mac.”

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Highlighted apps include Carrot Weather, GoodNotes 5, Rosetta Stone, PDF Viewer, Post-It, Twitter, and many more.

Benjamin said in a recent interview that iPad app developers don’t need a second MacOS team. Instead, Mac Catalyst gives them a “huge head start” in the development process. It also expands their reach into an ecosystem that was otherwise inaccessible due to resources.

“For many of the early Mac Catalyst developers, it was their first time ever developing an app for the Mac, and it’s amazing what they’ve been able to achieve in such a short time,” he said. “We’re learning a ton from these early adopters and are planning additional resources and support to help them create amazing Mac experiences with Mac Catalyst.”

Mac Catalyst is certainly good news for Mac owners. The Mac App Store isn’t exactly overflowing with the apps end-users consume on iPhones, iPads, and even Android devices. Twitter, in fact, removed its app from the Mac App Store in early 2018, wanting Mac owners to use the website instead. Now it’s back.

With Catalyst alongside MacOS 10.15 Catalina, there’s now new hope for a more robust Mac App Store.

“Catalyst is a great, long-overdue initiative to bring MacOS and iOS closer together, to help the platforms learn from each other,” says developer Troughton-Smith. “I can clearly see it as the obvious path forward for any new apps I will be writing.”

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