Some 419 Mac developers responded to MacPaw’s Setapp Mac Developer Survey 2024, the annual initiative that helps better understand Mac software development trends.
Programmers responded from 32 countries, including the US, UK, Germany, Poland, France, Italy and Canada. These Mac application developers produce everything from productivity apps to coding tools to task management programs and more. The results, released just before the holidays, reveal only 20 percent distribute their apps exclusively through Apple’s App Store, with many choosing to use third-party distribution channels like Steam or their own websites.
If you’re curious what 2025 might have in store for Mac software development, know that only 20 percent of the Mac programmers responding to Setapp’s 2024 Mac Developer Survey are or plan to develop programs for visionOS, Apple’s virtual reality headset.
The survey surfaced other interesting results, too.
Versus the prior year, 13 percent fewer developers consider the advantages of distributing via Apple’s App Store worth the resulting revenue share. Intriguingly, essentially the same percentage (almost 90 percent) of responding developers feel revenue sharing is worth the advantages of distributing software via MacPaw’s Setapp subscription platform that offers not only a compelling collection of Mac apps but competitive pricing, too.
Setapp’s Mac developer survey also found the vast majority (some 75 percent) are producing cross-platform solutions. Among the operating systems they’re supporting are macOS, iPadOS, iOS, Android and Linux. By far the next most-popular platform for which they’re developing is iOS (59 percent), followed by iPadOS (37 percent).
If you were hoping for a swift uptick in visionOS development, however, the survey suggests you’re going to be disappointed. Consistent with sales that failed to live up to initial hype, only 3 percent are actively working to develop a completely new visionOS app, while 5 percent are working to adapt an already released program. Although 12 percent are planning to develop for visionOS, 45 percent haven’t decided whether they are going to and 35 percent have already determined they’re going to skip supporting Apple’s virtual headset accessory, which some are reporting may already have ceased production.
Just as expected, following all of the artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) hype the past couple years, some 19 percent of the developers responding to Setapp’s survey are already employing AI and ML within their products. Further, another 41 percent are planning to start using these technologies within their apps. The developers are relying upon AI and ML to personalize user experiences, automate logical reasoning, increase automation, reply automatically to queries, enable AI chatbot functionality and process images.
Just what trends are Mac developers expecting to have the biggest impact on their apps? AI and ML led the list at 40 percent. The results were up from 31 percent the previous year. At 24 percent, the next biggest trend Mac developers are watching is the push for personalization and custom experiences, down just one percent from the year before. Other popular trends the Mac developers say they are tracking include cloud integration capabilities and hardware advances, such as with Apple Silicon, 5G and wearable devices.
Erik Eckel 
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