When you’re choosing a new Mac app, how much weight does “also on iOS” actually carry for you?
I’m less interested in the obvious cases and more in the messy middle: apps where both answers feel defensible. Have you ever skipped a Mac app you liked because there was no phone companion? Or kept using a Mac-only tool for years and barely missed mobile?
If you have a concrete example, what made multiplatform matter (or not) in that category?
I try and use my devices for specific purposes and use cases. So any new app very much depends on that.
For example, I don’t need Obsidian on my phone, but I do on my MBA. However I don’t want Whatsapp anywhere but on my phone.
I try and keep that compartmentalisation to protect any deep work, and to allow me to be very conscious of the context I’m working in.
Less and less as time goes on. I’m not very interested in new apps on my phone anymore. I used to care a lot about having “all my data with me”, but anymore I just can’t be arsed with finding something on my phone. When I need to get work done I get it done on my Mac. When I’m away from my Mac I really don’t want to be bothered by any of it.
So, for me, it’s not very important at all.
(p.s. I’ve been looking for an excuse to use the phrase “can’t be arsed”, which I find funny and delightful.)
I care more than Mac implementations of apps are as good as their mobile equivalents, as often now desktop access seems like an afterthought.
For example, I cannot access a lot of the functionality of my credit card through the web, they only allow access via the app. Same for my hotel group app and my flight app - their web apps suck and have limited features compared to the mobile apps.
Thankfully, iPhone mirroring makes this less of an issue.
I’m finding more often that I cannot do certain things on my Mac and I’m having to resort to my phone or iPad to be able to access basic functionality for some service services, especially online software.
I’ve never cared at all. I’ve been more concerned when an iOS app doesn’t have a Mac version, although that has basically been solved by iPhone Mirroring.
I’m most interested in getting iOS only apps onto the Mac. I prefer things to have their own apps as opposed to reliance on the web.
I would like to have Apple fix Contacts so that there is seamless mirroring between iOS and Mac, but that’s not the question, just a rant 
Many Mac apps I use a lot (like Curio) would be very difficult to use on iPad and impossible on iPhone, so I’m happy the developer doesn’t even try. Other than that, 95% of what I have in my Mac Dock also has a very good iPad version, and mediocre iOS version.
Katie
When I was working, I was an I.T. manager, consultant, project manager, or whatever the people in charge needed me to be at the moment.
My primary tool was my iPhone, because I usually needed my contacts, task lists, and a way to communicate or do research. I also needed access to a lot of my records which lived in Evernote for many years, and now in cloud storage.
My Mac was a more convenient way to do the job when I was in the office. Very little changed after I retired.
Have you tried keeping your contacts on your email provider’s server? None of my Apple devices host my Contacts and Calendars. And I cannot remember the last time they failed to update in a matter of minutes.
As with others, it highly depends on the use case.
Xcode iOS? Laughable
Omnifocus? iOS an absolute necessity!
Omni-automation? Bonus with cherries on top!
That’s a useful flip. I’d been thinking about Mac apps missing iOS, not services that quietly make the Mac the second-class citizen. Outside banking and travel, where else have you hit that most? And does iPhone Mirroring actually close the gap for you, or is it more of a workaround you still resent?
Love the Xcode vs OmniFocus contrast. What’s the actual rule of thumb for you when iOS becomes non-negotiable? Capture on the go, checking status away from the desk, something else? Trying to get the decision rule, not another long list of apps.
Depending on the app’s use case, really. And, I’d add iPadOS matters. It’s surprising how much i use my iPadPro, and really appreciate a seamless move from macOS to iPadOS. To be fair, though, i also run a headless Mac mini with Screens, so I can access a full blown Mac for things like AI workloads. So for me, it’s a big deal if i can get an app that is designed for each iOS, iPadOS, and Mac
This is very much dependent on the type of app.
In general, I would say no. Where it matters is when that app holds information (or capability) that is important to me.
For instance, I would not be a KeepIt user if it wasn’t on every platform. I need to be able to capture anywhere and retrieve anywhere.
NetNewsWire, on the other hand, isn’t important to me. I’m not even sure if I have it on my current phone.
That’s a useful flip. I’d been thinking about Mac apps missing iOS, not services that quietly make the Mac the second-class citizen. Outside banking and travel, where else have you hit that most? And does iPhone Mirroring actually close the gap for you, or is it more of a workaround you still resent?
There are lots of others. Reddit, for example, has translation in the app and none in the web version. The Brutalist has a great looking app and horrible web page. Apple Sports doesn’t exist on desktop. My e-book reader (Kobo) is much better in the app compared to the web version. My hospital have a fully functional app and only basic website where I can only view appointments, not change or cancel them. The list goes on!
iPhone mirroring is a good compromise, but I’d rather see desktop versions of apps that at least have feature parity. Mirroring will always be a compromise compared to a fully functional desktop version of an app.
Thanks everyone, really appreciate all the concrete examples here. A pattern seems to be forming: iOS matters when the app holds something you need away from the desk (capture or quick lookup), and barely matters for deep-work tools you only open at the Mac.
One follow-up: has “no iOS yet” ever been a real dealbreaker for you, as in you didn’t even try a Mac app because of it? Or do you usually start on the Mac and decide later? And if an app you skipped later shipped an iOS version, did you actually go back to it?
That’s probably the cleanest rule in the thread so far. Is it capture or retrieval that tips it for you? Could you live with an app that only let you look things up on the phone?
Good point, I left iPad out completely. If you had to pick one, would you rather have the iPad version or the iPhone version?
The hospital one is wild. Thanks for the list, that’s a much bigger pattern than I realised.
It really depends on the use case, but I think more often than not, I would prefer it also to have an iOS equivalent, even if I don’t use it that much. For example, a while back I switched to Noteplan, and while I don’t do much task management on my phone, if it didn’t have an iOS app as well, there is no way I would use my Mac only. I think what I run into more often than not is wanting a Mac app for an equivalent iOS app. Another example would be PDF Expert, which has been my PDF app of choice for many years. While I don’t use the iOS app very often, it is very convenient to be able to save a document in iCloud in the PDF Expert folder and pull it up on my phone, for example, at work. I have to walk down the hall to print off documents, which I don’t have to do very often. Oftentimes, I will quickly just put a PDF in the PDF Expert folder on iCloud Drive and then open up PDF Expert to print it off. I know there are other ways to do it, but having that seamless functionality is really helpful.
It would be substantially reduced utility, but yes, I could live with it. The opposite would be pointless… the ability to capture without being able to recall.
In mobile I tend to favor apps that have a desktop counterpart.
But more than that I favor apps that use native Apple frameworks for syncing.
Consider EventKit. If I use a productivity app that uses EventKit for managing tasks and calendar events I might skip the multiplatform requirement because other apps may cover the gap: for example, Fantastical to have my tasks with my events in my desktop for timeblocking and planning, and use Memento Better Reminders in mobile for managing my tasks. (Also corporate servers like Exchange might be authorized as valid Mail and Calendar accounts at macOS level by my employer while custom 3rd party app integrations might not).
Interesting that it’s almost insurance, even if you rarely open it. Was that something you checked before you even tried NotePlan, or did it only start to matter once you were committed?
That’s an angle I hadn’t considered at all. So if the data lives in EventKit, any decent app on the phone can fill the gap, and “same app everywhere” mostly stops mattering?
Retrieval first, then. Makes sense, thanks.
Yes. EventKit manages my calendars and reminders and does a nice job combining Exchange, Apple and Gmail calendars and MS Todo with Apple Reminders. While I don’t complain if an app has additional features on top that may not be portable the basic stuff remains everywhere. That’s why I don’t use Todoist, Omnifocus or Things any more.
The approach has some notable drawbacks in the task management angle because there are some Reminders features that are not exposed through EventKit (for example Reminder Groups), but in terms of “what do I need to do today” I can use Apple’s native apps, Fantastical, Goodtask, Memento, whatever I choose.
But that’s my personal take of course, Im not sure i’m the majority here.