SLOWLY SLOWLY

Apparently third party developers encountered few issues upgrading to Apple Silicon. I have less than six X86 only apps remaining and those are almost exclusively associated with "add-on" functions for ScanSnap Home and would not be missed if they were deleted. Everything else is now Universal (X86/ARM) code. There are even some ARM only apps that were written for the iPad, but will run on M1 Macs.

Monterey (macOS 12) compatibility on the other hand…
  1. The great majority of apps continued to run in Monterey without need for updates 👍
  2. UI modifiers*¹ have for the most part been running with limited beta versions and are just now coming out with full Monterey compatibility. 👌
  3. Apps that use Unix commands*² for the most part either will not run, or run with limited functionality and are still awaiting Monterey updates/upgrades
  4. Service and repair Apps:*³ either refuse to run or run with warnings 👎
  5. Apps that use kernel extensions*⁴ are struggling.🤞 (Rogue Ameoba has "initial" compatibility for two if its seven apps (and is leaving the App Store), and SoftRAID has a functioning beta but it still does not support APFS.)*⁵


In Monterey, it appears the closer developers get to the hardware the more difficult it becomes. That speaks well for Monterey's security systems but at the same time puts more pressure on Apple to provide tools like the long promised extensions toolkit. I suspect Apple's Universal Access developers are running into some of the same issues which would explain the rumors it will not be in the initial macOS 12 release. I also suspect having to develop for both Intel and ARM Macs isn't helping either. I have to wonder how much this has to do with macOS running two beta releases behind the other Apple operating systems.

Footnotes:
  1. Bartender, Better Touch Tool, Keyboard Maestro, et. al.
  2. MacPilot, OnyX, TinkerTool System…
  3. MaCleanse, TechTool Pro…
  4. SoftRAID, anything by Rogue Amoeba
  5. Apple is supposed to be releasing a "kit" that will permit extensions to run in the user space but there is no evidence that it is available to developers — yet.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein