macOS Tahoe Brings Two iPhone Apps to Your Mac - MacRumors
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macOS Tahoe Brings Two iPhone Apps to Your Mac

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The upcoming macOS Tahoe update adds three pre-installed Apple apps to all compatible Macs: Phone, Journal, and Games.

macos tahoe design
Phone and Journal come from the iPhone, while Games is entirely new. Below, we provide an overview of each of these apps.

macOS Tahoe is currently available as a developer beta, and the update will likely be released to the general public in September.

Phone

macOS Tahoe Phone App
Macs could already answer iPhone calls thanks to Apple's cross-platform Continuity features, but macOS Tahoe goes a step further.

Apple has expanded the Phone app to the Mac, complete with all of the new features coming to the app with iOS 26, such as Hold Assist, Call Screening, Live Translation, and more. The app syncs with your iPhone, allowing you to view recent phone calls and expanded contact cards, listen to voicemail messages, and more directly on your Mac.

Here is how Apple describes the Phone app on Mac:

The Phone app on Mac has the familiar features of the Phone app on iPhone — including Recents, Favorites, and Voicemails — and the latest updates like Call Screening and Hold Assist. Call Screening automatically answers calls from unknown numbers and asks the caller for information so a user can decide whether or not to answer. And when a user is stuck on hold, Hold Assist allows them to keep their spot in line while they wait for a live agent, so users can continue working on their Mac.

Journal

ios 18 journal app
Apple introduced a Journal app on the iPhone with iOS 17, and it is now available on the Mac too. You can use this app to type out your daily thoughts, and you can include drawings, handwriting, photos, videos, audio recordings, and more.

On the Mac, users can take advantage of the Journal app's new features, including the options to create multiple journals and view the locations of journal entries on a map.

Games

macOS Tahoe Games App
The all-new Games app on the Mac, iPad, and iPhone is an all-in-one hub for your App Store and Apple Arcade games, and in-game events. There are also new single-player game challenges available for competing with friends and family.

Related Roundup: macOS Tahoe
Related Forum: macOS Tahoe

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Top Rated Comments

I
ignatius345
10 months ago
I'm glad they saw the light with Journal. Now I just want the rest of the Health app on my Mac. I have a growing trove of data (my data!) in there, but I can only view and interact with it on my phone, the second smallest screen I own. I don't understand the logic there at all.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Cristim74 Avatar
Cristim74
10 months ago
The two iPhone apps: Phone, Journal, and Games :)
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vegetassj4 Avatar
vegetassj4
10 months ago
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Apple Brings “Phone” and “Journal” to Mac, Continues Epic Quest to Avoid Putting macOS on iPad

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA — June 26, 2025 — Apple® today triumphantly announced the arrival of the Phone and Journal apps on Mac®, finally answering a prayer no one uttered. Because while the entire tech world begged for macOS on iPad, we thought: “What if... phone app on desktop?”

We know you’ve been dying to take awkward phone calls on your MacBook in public, and now, dreams you didn’t know you shouldn’t have are coming true.

[HEADING=2]Introducing Apps You Already Had, But Bigger:[/HEADING]

* Phone on Mac: Because fumbling with your iPhone for a spam call from “Potential Scam” was just too convenient. Now enjoy it in glorious 16-inch Retina™ while your AirPods refuse to switch properly.
* Journal on Mac: Document your gratitude and emotional growth directly between hate-scrolling Twitter and doom-refreshing Slack. It's the analog soul-soothing experience you wanted—on a device with 36 Chrome tabs open.

“These new apps represent our deep commitment to giving users features they didn’t ask for, while completely sidestepping the one thing they’ve been begging us to do for years,” said Craig Federighi, pausing only to stare wistfully at an iPad running Final Cut in a sandboxed nightmare. “macOS on iPad? Too obvious. Too useful. Too soon.”

This move is part of Apple’s long-term strategy of “Platform Confusion as a Service™,” keeping all your devices slightly inconsistent in the name of magical experiences™.

[HEADING=2]A Vision for the Future[/HEADING]
Instead of unifying platforms or admitting the iPad could just be a Mac with touch, we remain committed to bringing iPhone apps to Mac one at a time, very slowly, while reminding you the iPad is “a computer, but different,” except where it’s not, but kind of is, until it’s not again.

Availability
Phone and Journal will arrive with macOS Sequoia™ this fall. macOS on iPad will arrive right after hell freezes over or the butterfly keyboard makes a comeback—whichever happens first.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
russell_314 Avatar
russell_314
10 months ago

I do agree that they should make apps like these available on the App Store for free to download instead of a default part of the os.
User: I deleted the Phone app and now I can’t get phone calls on my Mac

Apple tech support: Sir you need to redownload it from the App Store.

User: What App Store? I don’t see that on my phone. You guys are just trying to scam me so I have to buy another MacBook!


Yeah that’s the reason some apps are part of the OS. Apple doesn’t want to deal with calls like this from angry users.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
snak-atak Avatar
snak-atak
10 months ago

Bloatware for $500 Alex!

In macOS Tahoe these 2 iphone apps are ...

What is JOurnal and GAmes?

Correct!

I'll take Bloatware for $400 ....
What’s bloatware for one is a treasure for another. I for one am looking forward to Journal for Mac and iPad as well as iPhone.

That’s not to say that the app itself isn’t bloated. It is, and it’ll probably get even more bloated before long. A journal should be lean and efficient. I don’t need state of mind suggestions and I don’t need to know how many words I’ve written.

I do agree that they should make apps like these available on the App Store for free to download instead of a default part of the os. If it’s not integral to the operating system, don’t force it on every Mac. If they do that, then that’s bloatware!
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheHeron Avatar
TheHeron
10 months ago
Good to see Phone. It's been silly that I could answer a call on my Mac, but unless I wanted FaceTime I couldn't make calls with it.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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