It’s so simple it confuses some people-surely there must be more to it than that? There isn’t: dragging the application to your Applications folder is the entire process. Simply drag the application’s icon to your Applications folder and you’re done: the software is now installed. Often these will include the application itself, some form of arrow, and a shortcut to the Applications folder. Most macOS applications downloaded from outside the store come inside a DMG file. Double-click the DMG file to open it, and you’ll see a Finder window. DMGs and Other Archives: Just Drag and Drop

We could go on, but needless to say not everything you want will be in the App Store. Even some smaller companies avoid the Mac App Store for this reason. Apple gets a cut of all sales in the Mac App Store, and companies like Microsoft and Adobe don’t like that, which is why Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite won’t be in the Store anytime soon. Pretty much any application that customizes macOS can’t run in a sandbox, which is why you’ll have to look elsewhere for tools like Dropbox, which by definition need to work outside the sandbox in order to function properly. First: apps from the Store are sandboxed, which is great for security, but limits what applications can do. Still, you probably won’t install all of your software this way, because the App Store doesn’t have all the applications you want. RELATED: Why the Mac App Store Doesn’t Have the Applications You Want Updates are all handled by the store, which is convenient, and any application you purchase on one Mac will work on another. Your application will download and show up in your “Applications” folder. Open the store, search for the app you want, and click “Get” then “Download.”

Still, the Mac App Store is a decent first place to check.

We’re all used to app stores on our phones, but on the desktop they remain an oddity. Mac App Store: Click a Button to Install an App

Snag it like app for mac