About & Privacy

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 how to migrate away from each one.

As Apple removes Rosetta 2 in macOS 28 (late 2027) — knowing which apps need attention helps you plan ahead.

Rosetta Check is a single-developer project, built and maintained by Neil Johnson. The macOS app, the catalogue website, the blog posts and the data analysis behind them are all the work of one person in their own time. There is no team, no investors and no third-party SDKs.

The project exists because the Apple silicon transition is mostly described in headlines and rarely in numbers. Rosetta Check aggregates anonymous, opt-in scan data from thousands of Macs so the picture is grounded in what people are actually running, not what vendors say they support.

Find me on LinkedIn or X (@jonnokid).

The Rosetta Check macOS app is private by default. All scanning happens locally on your device. Community Sharing is off by default; scan results are not transmitted unless you or your administrator enable it.

What the app accesses on your Mac

• Application metadata (name, version, architecture) via Spotlight
• Mach-O headers and static code-signing metadata for apps, components, and command-line Tools
• File modification dates to show when apps were last updated
• App bundle sizes to show disk usage
• Folders you explicitly grant through the macOS read-only folder picker
• 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 execute discovered command-line Tools
• Does not include analytics, telemetry, or tracking frameworks
• Does not access contacts, photos, location, or other sensitive data
• Does not sell data or share it for advertising

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, components, and package-level Tool blockers — no personal information or file contents are included.

What is sent when you contribute

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
• Tool paths, usernames, symlink targets, folder grants, or file contents
• Apple system Tools or unmanaged unsigned/ad-hoc Tools
• Native software inventories; native matches are reported only for server-tracked keys
• Anything that could identify you as a person

• No cookies (except Cloudflare's security cookie, which we do not control)
• No user accounts or login required
• The server does not store IP addresses long-term

Website Analytics

We use Quick Web Analytics, a lightweight analytics tool made by bzwrd, the studio that makes Rosetta Check. It runs on bzwrd's own Cloudflare account and tells us which pages are useful and which links people follow, without tracking you.

• No cookies, and nothing stored in your browser
• Your IP address and browser details are never stored
• You can't be followed from one day to the next
• No cross-site tracking or advertising profiles
• We only look at totals, never at individual visitors

Migration Options

For each Intel-only app we generate a recommendation that explains what the app does and how to handle it before Apple removes Rosetta 2 in macOS 28 (late 2027) — whether that means downloading a native build, switching to a maintained alternative, or accepting that the app has been abandoned. How these are produced is set out on the methodology page. The directory also accepts community-submitted suggestions, which our team verifies with a checkmark after manual review.

When Community Sharing is enabled, Rosetta Check downloads the app/component bundle IDs and Tool product keys already tracked as Intel blockers. If the Mac has a native or Universal version matching one of those keys, the app explicitly reports a "sighting". It never uploads a general native-software inventory.

What is sent for a sighting report

• The app/component bundle ID or Tool product key
• The native version number detected
• The reported CPU architecture (e.g. Apple Silicon)
• Your device hash (the same random identifier used for contributions)

How your privacy is protected

• Sighting reports contain no personal information — only the tracked key and compatibility metadata
• The device hash is randomly generated and cannot be linked to you or your Mac
• Reports are rate limited per anonymous device to prevent spam
• Only devices that have previously contributed can report sightings
• The website only displays an aggregate count (e.g. "Spotted · 6") — individual reports are never shown

Get the macOS App

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