Apple Rolls Out Universal Purchase Support for Mac and iOS Apps

It may get a lot more simpler to buy apps across all of Apple's platforms in the near future.

By Harpreet Singh | Updated: 24 March 2020 19:54 IST

Apple Rolls Out Universal Purchase Support for Mac and iOS Apps

As of now, there are now universal apps available on the Mac App Store

Highlights

Apple is now rolling out support for universal purchases on Mac
Developers can easily enable it on new and existing Mac apps
Users will be able to buy apps across all of Apple's platforms

Apple last month announced its intention to allow developers to bundle their Mac and iOS apps as a part of a single transaction. Back then, Apple said it will start rolling out universal apps from March this year. Apple announced on Monday that developers can now offer universal purchases to their users. This will make it easier for both developers and consumers, in the long run, eliminating the need to purchase separate apps on different platforms. As of now, there are no apps that offer universal purchases between macOS and iOS.

In an update posted on its developer site, Apple said developers can bundle macOS apps as a universal purchase. This will allow users to buy an app and make in-app purchases across all of Apple's platforms including iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS by simply placing a single order. Developers will have to use a single bundle ID for their apps using Xcode.

As Apple is yet to ship Xcode 11.4 GM to developers, there aren't any apps that offer a universal purchase yet. But it's only a matter of time now. Apple's users will be able to purchase universal apps across multiple platforms. The move is also expected to promote Apple's Project Catalyst.

A developer had earlier spotted the universal purchases feature as a part of Xcode 11.4 beta. While it is enabled for new apps created in Xcode 11.4, macOS developers can still add it to their existing apps without any major changes. Developers will still be able to sell their apps as standalone on respective App Store marketplaces.

Apple will also unify categories across the iOS App Store and the Mac App Store once universal apps are rolled out. This will bring minor changes to the way apps are categorised under these app stores.

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Further reading: Apple, Mac, iOS, Apple Universal Apps, macOS

Harpreet Singh

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Harpreet is the community manager at Gadgets 360. He loves all things tech, and can be found hunting for good deals when he is not shopping online. He has written about deals and e-commerce in India for many years, as well as covering social media and breaking technology news. More