Just to be clear: iMazing can access the iPhone/iPad App Store but not the Mac App Store. Also, you cannot browse the App Store or make purchases through iMazing. Purchases still need to be done through the device.
Rather than download updated apps to each of our devices (2 phones, 2 iPads), I use iMazing to download once – then install the update to the devices. Downloading the updates means I can have multiple versions of an app saved in iMazing’s library in case I need to revert to an earlier version. Reverting is something I’ve done a time or two…or three.
Yes, I backup our devices using iMazing – but I also use Apple’s backup in Finder.
Good news – just downloaded the new version of iMazing (3.5.5), and can now download iOS apps to the Mac.
The release notes for v3.5.5:
3.5.5
Wed, 10 Jun 2026 15:59:16 +0200
Manage Apps: fixed a new authentication issue caused by another change on Apple's side
Early support for iOS 27 beta:
Known issue: photos might take a long time to load
I too download apps in iMazing to have a backup. But I do the update on the device, not from iMazing.
The reason is that, as far as I know, installing apps from iTunes (in its glory days), Apple Configurator, or iMazing will use up more space on your iDevice than doing an on-device update.
This is because of app thinning. When you download an app in iMazing the .ipa contains all of the assets for supporting all iDevices. For example, it will contain image files for iPads even though you have an iPhone. How could it not? It needs to be a fat .ipa because you could install it on any device.
But when you download from the device, it only downloads the assets that are for that particular device.
The question is, when you install an .ipa from iMazing, does it install the fat .ipa to the device, with no thinning? I think it does.
I agree. It would be interesting to know how much space is saved for most apps. If it’s only 5-10%, it’s not a big deal. But if it was 20% or more it could result in big space savings on a device.
I installed it about a week ago and updated my correspondence with the developers to let them know that this version worked. I should have updated my comments on this thread, too!