A new option in the latest macOS Sequoia developer beta lets users install Mac App Store downloads to an external drive and run the apps from there.
This is a seemingly small but important change to macOS Sequoia Developer Beta 3, and follows previous attempts to address apps and their storage requirements. Starting with the first beta of macOS Sequoia, Apple has revamped app installation so that apps no longer require twice as much storage space as the app itself during installation.
Once users have enabled the option in the Mac App Store, larger apps will automatically be downloaded to a designated location instead of directly into the regular Applications folder. Specifically, if the app is over 1GB, it will be downloaded to the external drive.
This brings the Mac App Store app into line with how third-party apps have worked in the past: they are first downloaded to the Mac user's Downloads folder and then run from there or via an installer.
Space saving
The biggest benefit of this new option is that by installing it on an external drive, the app will no longer take up space on the Mac's own internal storage, which is important because Apple charges exorbitant fees for additional SSD storage, and it's impossible to increase that amount later.
As a result, this is an immediate benefit for users of base Macs: the smallest storage capacity you can buy on a Mac today is 256GB, which is still low, with recent models only coming with 128GB.
Temporary Apps
However, it also allows you to try out an app without having to add it to your Applications folder, which is obviously beneficial for third-party developers testing multiple versions of their app, but can also be useful for general users.
For example, if you have an app that helps you perform a specific task that you know you'll never need again, you can temporarily add it to your Mac and then uninstall it.
This can be done by installing regular Mac App Store apps into the Applications folder, but only if the user has permission to install there.
The new option is currently only present in the latest developer beta of macOS Sequoia, and is expected to appear in the next public beta before the new OS's official release later this year.