What the Compatibility Percentages on Does It ARM? Mean

Updated

The percentages on Does It ARM? are a snapshot of how all listed apps and games are reported to run on Apple Silicon. On the site's current listing page, 3,688 titles are tracked: 57.6% are reported as native Apple Silicon support, 7% run through Rosetta, 34% still need information, and 1.4% are reported as unsupported. These figures describe the whole database, not your specific Mac or a single app, and they come from user-submitted reports rather than an official audit.

How the four percentages are calculated

Each app in the database carries one status, and the percentages are the share of all listed titles in each status. The site's legend maps them as follows:

Label Meaning Share of 3,688 listed
✅ Native Support Reported to run natively on Apple Silicon, often with the version where support began 57.6%
✳️ Rosetta Runs on Apple Silicon through Rosetta translation rather than natively 7%
🔶 Unreported / need info No compatibility report has been submitted yet 34%
🚫 Unsupported Reported not working on Apple Silicon, sometimes because the app was discontinued 1.4%

The page also shows an "In Progress" status (⏹) in its filter legend, but it is not broken out in the headline percentages.

What the numbers tell you — and what they don't

The headline figure is best read as a measure of reporting coverage, not of the Mac software ecosystem as a whole. Two things follow from that:

  • The 34% unreported share is the largest caveat. A third of listed titles simply have no report, so the native share could rise or fall as those entries are filled in. An app sitting in "Unreported" is not evidence that it fails on Apple Silicon.
  • The 1.4% unsupported share is small but specific. Entries like True-Fi are marked as reported not working and discontinued, which is a different situation from an app that is actively maintained but not yet updated.
  • The 7% Rosetta share reflects translated apps, not broken ones. Rosetta apps generally still run; the label tells you they are not native, which matters if you care about performance or long-term support.

Because every status is user-reported, a single percentage can shift as new reports arrive. The listing shows recent activity — for example, SSH Config Editor was reported native as of v2.6.12 seven days before the snapshot, while Epson FastFoto was still unreported nine days before it. Treat the percentages as a current estimate, not a fixed rating.

How to use the percentages when deciding on an app

Use the aggregate figures to set expectations, then check the individual entry before you install anything:

  1. Find the app's own status. The database entry gives the specific label and, for native apps, the version where support was reported (e.g., MacPass at v0.8.2, AusweisApp at v2.6.0).
  2. Check the report date. A recent report is stronger evidence than an old one, especially for apps that update frequently.
  3. Read "Unreported" as unknown, not as a warning. If your app is in the 34%, look for the developer's own release notes or submit a report after testing.
  4. Weigh Rosetta against your workload. For occasional or lightweight use, a Rosetta app may be fine; for sustained performance work, prefer a native build where one exists.

The percentages answer "how much of this list has been classified, and how" — the per-app entry answers "will this specific app work on my machine."