About & Privacy — Rosetta Check

What is Rosetta Check?

Rosetta Check is a macOS app and companion website. The app scans your Mac to identify which installed applications are Intel-only, Universal, or native Apple Silicon. This website aggregates data contributed by Mac users who opt in, helping the community see which Intel apps are most common and discover native replacements.

As Apple transitions away from Rosetta 2 — expected to be discontinued around macOS 28 (autumn 2027) — knowing which apps need attention helps you plan ahead.

Privacy: The macOS App

The Rosetta Check macOS app is private by default. All scanning happens locally on your device. The app makes no network connections unless you explicitly choose to contribute your scan results.

What the app accesses on your Mac

Application metadata (name, version, architecture) via Spotlight
File modification dates to show when apps were last updated
App bundle sizes to show disk usage
UserDefaults to store your preferences (like scan on launch)

What the app does not do

Does not collect personal information of any kind
Does not make network connections unless you opt in
Does not include analytics, telemetry, or tracking frameworks
Does not access contacts, photos, location, or other sensitive data
Does not share data with any third party

The app runs inside the macOS App Sandbox with minimal entitlements. It is built entirely with Apple's native frameworks (SwiftUI, Foundation, AppKit) and contains zero third-party services or SDKs.

Privacy: Contributing Data

Contributing scan results is entirely optional and requires a deliberate action. When you choose to contribute, the app sends only a minimal summary of your Intel-only apps — no personal information is ever included.

What is sent when you contribute

Data	Example	Purpose
App name	Microsoft Word	Display in directory
Bundle ID	com.microsoft.Word	Unique identification
Version	16.82	Track updates
Category	Productivity	Filtering and grouping
Disk size	2.1 GB	Show storage impact
Impact score	73	Prioritise by relevance
Chip family	Apple M3 Pro	Hardware context
Device hash	a3f8...c912	Prevent duplicate counting

What is never sent

Your name, email, Apple ID, or any login credentials
Your IP address (the server does not store it)
Any files, documents, or personal data
Apps that are not Intel-only (native and universal apps are excluded)
Anything that could identify you as a person

The device hash is one-way. It is generated from your hardware identifiers using SHA-256. We use it only to avoid counting the same device twice. It cannot be reversed to identify your Mac or linked to any Apple account.

Privacy: This Website

No cookies (except Cloudflare's security cookie, which we do not control)
No user accounts or login required
Suggestion voting uses a locally generated hash stored in your browser
The server does not store IP addresses long-term

Website Analytics

We use Plausible Analytics — a lightweight, open-source, privacy-friendly analytics tool.

No cookies set by Plausible
No personal data collected or stored
No cross-site or cross-device tracking
All data is aggregated — individual visitors are never identified
Fully compliant with GDPR, CCPA, and PECR without a cookie banner

Plausible does not use cookies, fingerprinting, or persistent identifiers. Page views are counted using a hash of the visitor's IP and User-Agent, discarded every 24 hours. Plausible's data policy.

Suggesting Replacements

Anyone can suggest native Apple Silicon replacements for Intel-only apps. The community votes to surface the best alternatives — no account or login required. Verified suggestions are marked with a checkmark by our team. AI-generated suggestions are researched automatically and clearly labelled.

Get the macOS App

Download Rosetta Check for macOS to scan your system and optionally contribute to the community dataset.

API Access

The Rosetta Check API is publicly available for read access. See the API documentation for details on available endpoints.