The safest and easiest route is downloading the app directly from the desktop store: Open the . Search for the desired iOS application. Click on the iPhone & iPad Apps tab in the search results. Click Get or the cloud icon to install it directly. Option B: Installing Sideloaded IPA Files
ls /Applications/
Inside the Payload folder, you will find your actual application file (e.g., myapp.app ). ipa to dmg
These methods generally only work on Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) Macs. Intel-based Macs cannot natively run iOS apps.
| Software | Platform | Key Features | Cost | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | macOS | Create, burn, convert disk images; supports UDF format. | Paid | | DropDMG | macOS | Drag-and-drop creation; converts between various archive and disk image formats. | Paid (Trial) | | DMG Extractor | Windows | Primarily extracts DMG files; useful if you need to view DMG contents on a Windows PC. | Paid (Demo) | | iArchiver | macOS | Creates and converts DMG, Zip, 7-zip, and other archive formats. | Paid | | AnyToISO | macOS/Windows | Converts DMG to ISO and extracts DMG files. | Freemium | The safest and easiest route is downloading the
Standing for iOS App Store Package , this is an archive file that stores an iOS app. Each IPA file contains the binary for the ARM architecture, resources (like images and audio), and metadata required to run the app on iPhones, iPads, or Apple Silicon Macs. It is essentially a zipped directory.
Apple has been steadily merging iOS and macOS. With , developers can compile a single app that runs on both platforms. In the future, the distinction between IPA and DMG may blur: Click Get or the cloud icon to install it directly
You can use the built-in on macOS to package this bundle into a DMG for distribution.
If you have an Apple Silicon Mac, you can run iOS apps natively. Converting them into a DMG makes them easier to store or share as a standard Mac "installer."