App Scan

The App Scan tool (a.k.a. the Apple Silicon App Test) is a free, in-browser check: point it at a Mac app and it tells you whether that app is built natively for Apple Silicon or not — before you buy an Apple Silicon Mac, or to audit the apps you already have. It’s live today at doesitarm.com/apple-silicon-app-test.

How to use it

1. Open the App Scan tool and click Select Apps.
2. Pick one or more .app bundles or .zip files. (Inside a .dmg or .pkg? Extract the .app first, then scan it.)
3. Wait — scanning takes roughly a minute per 500 MB. You can scan several apps at once.
4. Read the result per app: its detected architecture, size, and a status. Open Details for the binary breakdown, or Request a Review to ask for a human check.

How it works

The scan runs entirely in your browser — your app file is never uploaded. The tool:

1. Unpacks the app bundle (it understands .app, .app.zip, and .zip).
2. Finds the executable inside the bundle.
3. Reads the Mach-O header of that binary, which declares the CPU architecture it was compiled for — arm64 (Apple Silicon), x86_64 (Intel), or a Universal binary that carries both.

Because it only inspects the binary’s architecture, it works from any modern browser — even on Windows, Linux, or ChromeOS. Download the Mac version of an app there, hand the file to the scanner, and you get the same answer. This is the same binary evidence the rest of DoesItARM uses as one input to a verdict — see How verdicts work.

What the result means

• Native (Apple Silicon) — the binary is arm64 (or Universal with an arm64 slice). It runs natively.
• Non-native (🔶) — the file is Intel-only and we have no report of a native build yet. It usually still runs under Rosetta 2 translation with performance close to an Intel Mac, but the scan can’t confirm that on its own.

A binary check is architecture only. It can’t tell you whether an Intel app runs well under Rosetta 2 (that needs a real Apple Silicon device), and it can’t see runtime issues like a legacy kernel extension. For the fuller picture — confidence, freshness, caveats — look up the title’s verdict or request a review.

Supported files

You have	Do this
A Mac .app bundle	Scan it directly
A .zip of a Mac app	Scan it directly
A .dmg or .pkg	Extract the .app first, then scan
A Windows .exe	Not scannable — download the Mac version of the app and scan that file instead

Common results

• Non-native (🔶) — Intel-only with no native build on record. Try the latest version from the developer, or request a review for its Rosetta 2 status.
• Decompression error (❔) — the tool couldn’t extract an app binary from the file. Make sure you’re scanning a .app (or a .zip of one), not a .dmg/.pkg/.exe.
• The scan never finishes — some apps hang the scanner. Scan one app at a time and skip the one that stalls.

Privacy

The app file stays on your device — the scan reads the binary locally in your browser and never uploads the file itself.

Related

• How verdicts work — what the architecture means alongside the other evidence behind a verdict.
• Submit an app — turn a scan result into a report so the title gets (or updates) its verdict.
• The consumer site — search a title instead of scanning a file.