Configuring a Mac app for direct download outside the Mac App Store

I have a couple of Mac Apps on the Mac App Store, "KeyPad - Bluetooth Keyboard" and "Screen Mirror and Control" I have been getting requests from users asking if there is a Non-app store version that they can download and install on their Work Mac.

Their Organization Policy does not allow them to log into the Mac App Store. They are able to install apps that ship a DMG on the Internet. My apps are Freemium - free for 3 days and requires an in-app purchase to continue to use them.

I'm looking for inputs on how I can help these users without too much effort.

I have looked at Sparkle (for app Updates) and Paddle (for Key based licensing).

BUT;

My apps do not have network access (they can only access bluetooth and USB) and I hate the idea of adding network access when the core features of the app do not need it.

Apple Business Manager allows organizations to purchase apps, individually and in bulk, just does not support In-app purchases. So they cant go to their company admin and ask them to push it to their Mac.

Are others here running into this? Any recommendations?

https://redd.it/1o4dcae
@macappsbackup

I need an app for Remote Desktop access to my MacBooks from each other and my iPhone and NOT Jump Desktop please


M3 Max Macbook Pro with macOS 26.0.1
iPhone 17 with iOS 26.0.1

For me, Jump Desktop is terrible, in my experience it has been unreliable and caused problems such as MacBook speaker volume spontaneously muting uncontrollably.

So what should I use instead?

Thank you!

https://redd.it/1o4e4rf
@macappsbackup

Fluster now includes a calendar view and a whiteboard component

Hey everyone,

My name's Andrew, and I'm the creator of [Flusterapp.com](http://flusterapp.com). While I've been focusing mostly on the modified model of relativity that led to the creation of Fluster over the past month, there have still been some major improvements to Fluster. Among the major improvements are:

\- There's now a calendar view that integrates with Fluster's task manager. I do intend to integrate Google calendar at some point, but for now the calendar view is primarily related to the task manager.

https://preview.redd.it/mok7deg3fouf1.png?width=2880&format=png&auto=webp&s=78bb56868ed5360c0f76b60c9cfef636b2e0e48a

\- A whiteboard component is now available thanks to excalidraw. The excalidraw library is incredibly capable with the ability to export to png, noscript, and to your clipboard. Of course, the data is also persisted in your database and retrieved each time the component is loaded. All that's required is a unique id field that is used to identify the data within your database. Because of this, you can use the same id field in multiple locations to share your diagrams and sketches across multiple notes.

https://preview.redd.it/muyesn31fouf1.png?width=2880&format=png&auto=webp&s=285144bff0ede61e4b609ec91bd8bd16b2e589eb




And for those that are curious, I've started an official Fluster subreddit so we can have a shared space for all the Fluster related questions, comments, feature requests and general suggestions. It's a bit empty at the moment, as I've just created it a week ago and haven't promoted it anywhere yet, but you can find that subreddit at [reddit.com/r/Fluster\_app](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fluster_app/).

As far as the next features I plan to add, I'd love feedback from everyone. The original browser based app that I built for my own personal use had several features that have yet to make it into the current, native fluster application, and I'd really like to know what would help you get more from Fluster or maybe be intrigued enough to give it a try. Some of the missing features:

* Jupyter Integration (This one might take a week or two)
* GLTF and other 3-d model support
* A page that automatically loads tabular files into a data table with excel like features.
* Extend the plot functionality to include less commonly used plots. This uses the amazing plotly library under the hood, so anything that Plotly supports can be added.
* And of course, if there's something I missed, just let me know. Mobile and tablet apps are planned for this winter if I don't go back to school in January (I'm trying to, but I might be too late), but I really need some sort of income so I can pay for my Apple license and the Android developer fee first.




https://redd.it/1o4o3fb
@macappsbackup

Software updates from 2026 onwards?

Over the last few days, I've been asking myself what I'll do after MacUpdater closes on 31 December 2025.

To be honest, I'd been hoping all along that it might continue under new ownership. But at least for now, there's no word on that front.

So my path would be towards brew. I'm still a little hesitant here, as this would result in a mixture of AppStore (35), Brew (79) and other apps (10) that would have to be checked manually.

MacUpdater felt like a unified whole, even though parallel checks with Latest and Topgrade repeatedly revealed unrecognised updates.

But what remains now:

Latest – A very good tool, but unfortunately it doesn't cover all apps.

Caskly – So, moving to brew, which is made very easy by Caskly. AppStore apps are also covered. So, in my case, only 10 apps would remain.

Brewer X – Unfortunately, there is no trial version for this tool. At 29 Euro, it is currently three times as expensive as Caskly. If the screenshots are to be believed, it would be an all-in-one app that also replaces Wailbrew. I just wonder why I haven't read anything about this tool here. Is it because of the price? Is it not good?

I'd be interested to hear what you think – where has your search taken you, or are you just waiting for 2026?

https://redd.it/1o4onqy
@macappsbackup

Which app to manage many mail (especially gmail) addresses?

Hi,

After many years, I came up with many email addresses, mostly from gmail but still some from yahoo and hotmail. These addreses are for different purposes (social accounts, game accounts, shopping membership accounts, accounts to manage some systems like NAS and many more..)

Although I do not need to login these accounts frequently, I sometimes need to check or sometimes I do not want to miss if any important mails are sent to those addresses.

My question is, what may be the best apps to manage all those email addresses from a single app or a unified mailbox? I would prefer an app where I would be able to see emails in each mail account in private folders for that account and all also within a unified folder to see all email all together.

i would appreciate your advice and feedback. Thanks in advance!

https://redd.it/1o4r3pr
@macappsbackup

Files into year folders app?

Anyone know of an App that can take a big directory and then move files into subfolders by year so create sub folders that are 2018, 2019 , 2020 etc and copy
The files from that year into it?

https://redd.it/1o4te0r
@macappsbackup

Lulu+Spybuster.app

I use lulu because its free but I also miss the map feature of little snitch. I found that this is free and seems to do some neat mapping.

spybuster.app

Anyone use this before, and have you found it useful?

https://redd.it/1o4v82v
@macappsbackup

2 month after releasing my first app - ClipV!

https://redd.it/1o4qkln
@macappsbackup

Is Topgrade safe to use?

I just learned about this app from a separate post thread here in r/macapps about app updaters. It looks like a nice tool.

Thank you!

https://redd.it/1o4yypb
@macappsbackup

Would you be willing to give this a try?
https://www.reddit.com/r/SideProject/comments/1icefkq/i_built_snapdb_a_dependencyfree_database/m9pxtyb/

https://redd.it/1o524o1
@macappsbackup

Any reliable alternatives to MacUpdater, given its discontinuation?

Are there any reliable alternatives to MacUpdater as of October 2025, that would find all the available updates? Most apps don't have a Homebrew package...

https://redd.it/1o55k0x
@macappsbackup

AppHub: usable Launchpad alternative for macOS 26

https://redd.it/1o5awzb
@macappsbackup

I am looking for best ebook reader (mainly epub format) that support dropbox or amy other cloud except icloud



https://redd.it/1o5bkoh
@macappsbackup

A timeless classic, reimagined. Toasty Squadron

https://redd.it/1o5cecz
@macappsbackup