# Popular Mac apps that still need Rosetta

> Rosetta 2 lets Intel apps run on Apple silicon Macs, and Apple has said macOS 27 is the last version with full Rosetta. These are the popular apps that still lean on it. Updated November 8, 2026. Page: https://macpip.com/rankings/mac-apps-that-need-rosetta

When Apple moved the Mac to its own chips in 2020, Rosetta 2 quietly translated older Intel apps so they kept working. It was so good most people never noticed. But Apple has said macOS 27 is the last version with full Rosetta support, and after that only a small part of it stays, mostly for older games.

So which apps people really use still need it? Homebrew marks every app that requires Rosetta on an Apple silicon Mac. We matched that with Homebrew's install numbers, so the apps at the top are the ones the most people will have to replace or wait on.

## How this ranking works

- Source: Homebrew's public install analytics (formulae.brew.sh), which count installs by people who leave Homebrew's anonymous analytics on.
- Read on: November 8, 2026. Updated every week.
- Included: Mac apps whose Homebrew cask says they need Rosetta 2 on Apple silicon. Deprecated and disabled casks are left out.

## The list

| # | App | Installs, 365 days | Installs, 30 days | Maker | On MacPip | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Android File Transfer: Transfer files from and to an Android smartphone | 11,469 | 552 | Google | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/android-file-transfer |
| 2 | Minecraft: Sandbox construction video game | 5,444 | 544 | Mojang | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/minecraft |
| 3 | Blizzard Battle.net: Online gaming platform | 3,939 | 667 | Blizzard Entertainment | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/battle-net |
| 4 | DOSBox: Emulator for x86 with DOS | 3,587 | 233 | DOSBox Team | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/dosbox |
| 5 | RetroArch: Frontend for emulators, game engines and media players (OpenGL graphics API) | 3,196 | 360 | Libretro | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/retroarch |
| 6 | Apache Directory Studio: Eclipse-based LDAP browser and directory client | 3,170 | 204 | Apache Software Foundation | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/apache-directory-studio |
| 7 | smcFanControl: Sets a minimum speed for built-in fans | 3,062 | 135 | Hendrik Holtmann | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/smcfancontrol |
| 8 | PCSX2: Playstation 2 Emulator | 2,459 | 454 | PCSX2 Team | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/pcsx2 |
| 9 | Klogg: Fast, advanced log explorer | 1,855 | 117 | Anton Filimonov | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/klogg |
| 10 | ApplePi-Baker: Backup and restore SD cards, USB drives, external HDD, etc | 1,781 | 96 | Tweaking4All | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/applepi-baker |
| 11 | WebTorrent Desktop: Torrent streaming application | 1,650 | 127 | WebTorrent | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/webtorrent |
| 12 | Tint: Tailwind CSS colour picker | 1,412 | 173 | Beyond Code | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/tint |
| 13 | AWA: Music streaming service | 1,335 | 84 |  | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/awa |
| 14 | Genymotion: Android emulator | 1,315 | 83 | Genymobile | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/genymotion |
| 15 | ClipGrab: Downloads videos and audio from websites | 1,293 | 88 |  | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/clipgrab |
| 16 | Maltego: Open source intelligence and graphical link analysis tool | 1,215 | 111 | Maltego Technologies | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/maltego |
| 17 | LastPass: Password manager | 1,142 | 92 | LastPass | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/lastpass |
| 18 | CubicSDR: Cross-platform software-defined radio application | 1,133 | 63 | Charles J. Cliffe | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/cubicsdr |
| 19 | Electrum: Bitcoin thin client | 1,128 | 87 | Electrum Technologies | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/electrum |
| 20 | Adze: Edit GPX documents | 979 | 74 |  | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/adze |
| 21 | AndroidTool: App for recording the screen and installing apps in iOS and Android | 968 | 40 | Morten Just | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/androidtool |
| 22 | My TouchBar. My rules: TouchBar customization app | 949 | 153 |  | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/mtmr |
| 23 | 3D Slicer: Medical image processing and visualization system | 850 | 127 |  | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/slicer |
| 24 | Synology Assistant: Tool to manage Synology NAS's across a LAN | 802 | 83 | Synology | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/synologyassistant |
| 25 | OpenRefine: Tool for working with messy data (previously Google Refine) | 801 | 72 | OpenRefine | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/openrefine |
| 26 | TeamSpeak Client: Voice communication client | 763 | 48 | TeamSpeak | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/teamspeak-client |
| 27 | Cocktail: Cleans, repairs and optimises computer systems | 715 | 37 | Maintain | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/cocktail |
| 28 | ksnip: Screenshot and annotation tool | 714 | 59 | ksnip | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/ksnip |
| 29 | MiKTeX: TeX distribution | 702 | 49 | MiKTeX | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/miktex-console |
| 30 | TLA+ Toolbox: IDE for TLA+ | 695 | 57 | TLA+ | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/tla%2B-toolbox |
| 31 | Yandex.Disk: Cloud storage | 661 | 104 | Yandex | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/yandex-disk |
| 32 | Bose Device Updater: Software updates for Bose products | 639 | 16 | Bose | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/bose-updater |
| 33 | 4K Video Downloader: Free video downloader | 632 | 42 | InterPromo | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/4k-video-downloader |
| 34 | Jagex: Official Jagex Launcher | 625 | 85 | Jagex | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/jagex |
| 35 | Tabula: Tool for liberating data tables trapped inside PDF files | 622 | 19 | Tabula | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/tabula |
| 36 | FannyWidget: Notification Center widget and menu bar application to monitor fans | 598 | 26 | Daniel Storm | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/fanny |
| 37 | Kobo: Desktop reader for Kobo eBooks | 595 | 37 | Rakuten Kobo | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/kobo |
| 38 | ClassicFTP: FTP File Transfer Software | 563 | 44 | NCH Software | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/classicftp |
| 39 | Adapter: Converts video, audio and images | 562 | 35 | Macroplant | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/adapter |
| 40 | Soduto: Communicate and share information between devices | 547 | 2 |  | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/soduto |
| 41 | iStat Server: Transmits computer or server’s vital statistics | 541 | 13 | Bjango | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/istat-server |
| 42 | BrowserStack Local Testing: Test localhost and staging websites | 529 | 49 | BrowserStack | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/browserstacklocal |
| 43 | Amazon Photos: Photo storage and sharing service | 448 | 49 | Amazon | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/amazon-photos |
| 44 | Switch Audio Converter: Multiple format audio file converter | 431 | 32 | NCH Software | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/switch |
| 45 | MKVtools: App to create and edit MKV videos | 415 | 33 |  | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/mkvtools |
| 46 | VESTA: Visualisation for electronic and structural analysis | 407 | 29 |  | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/vesta |
| 47 | Scrapp: Screenshot tool with cloud storage | 404 | 25 |  | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/scrapp |
| 48 | Realm Studio: Tool for the Realm Database and Realm Platform | 401 | 28 | Realm | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/mongodb-realm-studio |
| 49 | AirDroid: Mobile device management suite | 383 | 30 | AirDroid | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/airdroid |
| 50 | Kubernetic: Kubernetes desktop client | 362 | 31 |  | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/kubernetic |

## Questions

### Which popular Mac apps still need Rosetta?
By Homebrew installs in the last year, Android File Transfer, Minecraft, Blizzard Battle.net, DOSBox and RetroArch lead the list. 290 apps in Homebrew's ranking still need Rosetta 2 on Apple silicon.

### When does Rosetta 2 stop working?
Apple said macOS 27 is the last macOS with full Rosetta 2 support. After that, Apple plans to keep only a limited part of it for older games. Apps that still need it should get an Apple silicon update before then.

### How do I see which of my apps use Rosetta?
Open About This Mac, then More Info, then System Report, and choose Applications. Apps whose Kind says Intel run through Rosetta. Recent macOS versions also warn you when you open one.

### Where does this list come from?
From Homebrew. Each app's install recipe (its cask) says whether it needs Rosetta on an Apple silicon Mac, and Homebrew publishes how often each one was installed. Read on November 8, 2026.