Rosetta Radar Manual

1Overview

Rosetta Radar is a free Mac utility that scans every application on your Mac and sorts each one by the type of processor it was built for. It shows you, at a glance, which of your apps are Intel-only — the apps that rely on Apple's Rosetta 2 translation layer and that will stop opening once Apple removes it.

Why it matters

Apple is winding down Rosetta 2, the technology that lets Intel-based apps run on Apple Silicon Macs. With the September 2026 macOS 27 release, Apple removed general-purpose Rosetta 2 from the operating system; when you launch an Intel-based app you are prompted to download a limited Rosetta component. With macOS 28, due in September 2027, Rosetta is cut back to a limited subset for certain older games only. When that happens, most apps built for Intel processors will no longer launch. Rosetta Radar gives you an early, clear inventory of your Intel-based apps so you have time to look for an Apple Silicon or Universal update — or a replacement — before anything stops working.

What it checks

For each app, Rosetta Radar inspects the app's primary program file with the built-in macOS file tool and reports one of five results:

• Intel-only — a 64-bit executable built for Intel processors; needs Rosetta 2 on an Apple Silicon Mac.
• Universal — built for both Intel and Apple Silicon; runs natively on either.
• Apple Silicon — built for Apple Silicon (arm64/arm64e); runs natively, no Rosetta needed.
• 32-bit Intel — a legacy 32-bit (i386) app. Modern macOS can no longer run these at all, with or without Rosetta 2. Shown in its own section only when any are found.
• Other — no standard Intel or Apple Silicon executable was found for the app's primary program (scripts, web apps, helper components).

Beyond an app's main program, Rosetta Radar also inspects the plug-ins, drivers, background items and helper programs bundled inside your apps, and reports any that are Intel-only in a dedicated “Plug-ins & helpers” section (see Understanding the Report). A native app can still rely on an Intel-only plug-in, and Rosetta Radar flags those cases.

The architecture reading corresponds to the information macOS itself reports under About This Mac ▸ More Info ▸ System Report ▸ Software ▸ Applications, read directly from each app's binary so results are accurate on every macOS version.

Rosetta Radar's key features

• A clean HTML report and a CSV spreadsheet, saved to your Desktop each time you run it — create both, or just the one you want.
• A fast, multi-core scan. Application inspection and plug-in classification run in parallel across all of your Mac's performance cores, so even a Mac with hundreds of apps and plug-ins scans in well under a minute.
• A Plug-ins & helpers check that finds Intel-only plug-ins, drivers, background items and helper programs inside your apps — and flags native apps that contain Intel-only components.
• A short plain-language description of what each app does — about 6,000 common apps are recognized offline from a built-in library (sourced from the Homebrew Cask project, BSD-2-Clause; see the included “Third-Party Notices”).
• Size and Signing columns: each app's on-disk size, and how it is code-signed (Developer ID, Mac App Store, Apple, Signed, or Not signed), read entirely offline.
• A Source column showing the app's signing developer when it is known, and underlined app names that link to the developer's website so you can check for an update.
• A comprehensive scan that combines the macOS application list with a Spotlight sweep, and can optionally include external drives — either whole drives or just specific folders you choose.
• Fully offline by default; an optional online lookup fills in missing descriptions and links.

2System Requirements

• A Mac running macOS (Apple Silicon or Intel). Rosetta Radar is most useful on Apple Silicon Macs, where Rosetta 2 matters.
• No additional software. Everything Rosetta Radar uses is built into macOS — there is nothing to install, and no Python, Homebrew, or other dependencies.
• The optional online lookup requires an internet connection; every other feature works with no network at all.

3Installation

Place Rosetta Radar anywhere you like on your computer — inside the system Applications folder, or any other location you prefer.

What's in the package

• Rosetta Radar.app — the application. Double-click to run.
• Rosetta Radar.command — the same scan as a Terminal script, for anyone who prefers not to use the app.
• Read Me First.txt — a short quick-start guide.
• Third-Party Notices.txt — Homebrew Cask project notice.
• Rosetta Radar Documentation — this guide.

Opening it the first time

Because Rosetta Radar is a free tool distributed outside the App Store, macOS asks you to confirm the first time you open it. This is normal and only happens once.

1. Right-click (or Control-click) Rosetta Radar.app.
2. Choose Open from the menu.
3. In the box that appears, click Open again.

If macOS still refuses with a “cannot be opened” message, open System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security, scroll down to the note about Rosetta Radar, and click Open Anyway. After the first time, the app opens with a normal double-click.

Running the Terminal version instead

If you prefer, double-click Rosetta Radar.command to run exactly the same scan in a Terminal window. It follows the same first-time confirmation steps described above.

4Using Rosetta Radar

When you launch Rosetta Radar, it asks a few quick questions, then shows a progress window while it works. When it finishes, the report opens automatically in your web browser (if you chose to create one).

Question 1 — External drives

Rosetta Radar first asks whether to also scan external and mounted drives. Including them finds apps on external or network drives — but the scan is slower, and those apps will not run when the drive is disconnected anyway. Most people can choose Skip and scan just the internal drive.

If you choose Include external, Rosetta Radar asks how you would like to scan them:

• Entire drives — scan every mounted drive from top to bottom. Thorough, but can take several minutes on large drives.
• Choose folders… — pick only the folders you care about (for example, a “Software Backup” folder). This is far faster than scanning whole drives.

When you choose specific folders, a standard macOS folder chooser opens. You can Command-click to select several folders on one drive at once. After you pick, Rosetta Radar asks “Add folders from another drive?” so you can keep adding folders from as many different drives as you like before the scan starts.

The startup drive is always scanned and is never re-scanned as an “external” drive, so nothing is listed twice.

Question 2 — Online lookup

Next, Rosetta Radar asks whether to look up descriptions and website links online for apps it does not already recognize. Rosetta Radar works fully offline by default. If you allow this, it sends only the names of unrecognized apps to Apple's App Store search and Wikipedia, to fill in what each one does and, where possible, a website link. Nothing else ever leaves your Mac, and results are cached for next time.

Tip: run it once offline first. If the report has many apps with no description or link, run Rosetta Radar again and choose Look up online to fill in the gaps.

Question 3 — Which files to create

Finally, Rosetta Radar asks which files you would like it to create: Both an HTML report and a CSV spreadsheet (the default), HTML only for just the readable report that opens in your browser, or CSV only for just the spreadsheet to open in Numbers or Excel. Whatever you choose is saved to your Desktop.

The progress window

A small window shows the scan's progress. The bar advances smoothly through each stage — reading your application list, locating every app bundle, inspecting each app across your Mac's cores, checking plug-ins and helpers, and finally building the report. It reaches its finished state, a green check mark, only when the report is actually ready and opening — so a full bar always means the scan is genuinely done.

When you scan external drives or folders, the progress window also shows exactly where it is — for example “Scanning: Travel Drive / Software Backup” — so you always know something is happening, even during a long scan.

Stopping a long scan

While Rosetta Radar is scanning external drives or folders, a Stop scan button is shown. Click it at any time to stop scanning and build the report from whatever has been found so far — nothing is lost. This is handy when a drive turns out to be larger than expected. (The button only ever stops the scan when you actually click it.)

When the scan finishes

Depending on your choice, one or both of these are saved to your Desktop:

• Rosetta-Radar-Report-<date>.html — a readable report that opens automatically in your browser.
• Rosetta-Radar-Report-<date>.csv — the same data as a spreadsheet you can open in Numbers or Excel.

A summary box also appears with the totals. Click Reveal Files to show your files in the Finder, or Done to close it. The files stay on your Desktop until you delete them.

5Understanding the Report

The report header

The top of the report identifies the Mac it was run on — the computer name, macOS version, chip and model — followed by which drives and folders were scanned (for example, “Scanned: Macintosh HD + folders: Travel Drive/Software Backup, Media/software backup”). The next line shows the date, the Rosetta Radar version, and whether the scan was offline or used the online lookup.

Summary tiles

Below the header, tiles show the count of Intel-only, Universal, Apple Silicon, Other and Total apps — plus a 32-bit Intel tile that appears only when any legacy 32-bit apps are found. Two more tiles appear when relevant: Intel plug-ins & helpers (the number of Intel-only components found inside your apps) and On other drives (apps found on external drives or chosen folders). Click any tile to show only that category; click it again, or the Total tile, to show everything.

Apps found on other drives are counted only in the “On other drives” tile and listed in their own section — they are not added to the Intel-only, Universal, Total or other tiles, because they are usually backup or installer copies rather than apps installed on this Mac.

The results banner

Beneath the tiles, a banner summarizes the finding: either that no Intel-only apps were found, or how many Intel-only apps need attention before Rosetta 2 is gone. It also notes how many of those are apps you open directly versus components installed by another app, and how many Intel-only plug-ins or helpers were found. If any 32-bit Intel (legacy) apps were found, the banner calls those out separately.

Scan type — offline or online

Every report states plainly whether it was produced offline or with the online lookup turned on. It appears next to the version under the title, and as a labeled Scan type badge beneath the banner. An offline report reads “Offline — no internet lookup used”; an online one reads “Online lookup used (App Store + Wikipedia).” The footer repeats the detail. This lets you tell at a glance whether a report's descriptions and links came entirely from the built-in library or were supplemented from the web.

The application list

Below the scan type you'll find the list of applications. You can see the name, version, size, signing, source, modified and last opened of all of the apps on your computer. Clicking on a column header will sort that column in ascending order. Clicking on it again will sort in descending order.

The app table: Size and Signing

Each architecture section lists its apps in a sortable table. Alongside Name, Version, Source, Modified, Last Opened and Location, two columns describe each app:

• Size — the app's total size on disk.
• Signing — how the app is code-signed, read entirely offline from its own signature: Developer ID, Mac App Store, Apple, Signed (a valid but otherwise unclassified signature), or Not signed. This is not the same as Apple's online notarization check, which Rosetta Radar does not perform.

Both columns can be sorted like any other, so clicking Size finds your biggest apps at a glance. Signing is read entirely from the app's own code signature — this is not the same as Apple's online notarization check, which Rosetta Radar does not perform, since it would need to contact Apple.

The Source column

The Source column shows who signed each app — the developer's name when the app carries a Developer ID signature, or Apple, Mac App Store, or Unidentified when there is no developer signature to read.

App name links

When Rosetta Radar knows an app's website, the app's name is underlined. Click it to open the developer's page in a new browser tab, where you can check whether an Apple Silicon or Universal version is available. Apps with no known website simply appear without a link.

Plug-ins & helpers

A native (Universal or Apple Silicon) app can still install Intel-only pieces inside it — audio or video plug-ins, drivers, background items, app extensions and helper programs. The Plug-ins & helpers section lists the Intel-only ones it finds, with the kind of component, the app it belongs to, and its location. An app that relies on one may lose that feature, or fail to load it, once Rosetta 2 is gone.

When a native app contains Intel-only components, its own row (in the Intel, Universal or other sections) is marked with a “⚠ Intel component” tag that links down to those entries. A checkbox lets you also show the native plug-ins, not just the Intel-only ones. Rosetta Radar also checks these and lists them in a separate Plug-ins & helpers section, with its own purple tile at the top of the report:

• Audio plug-ins and drivers — Audio Unit, VST, VST3, CLAP and Pro Tools (AAX) plug-ins, plus audio (HAL) and MIDI drivers.
• Video and Adobe plug-ins — Final Cut Pro and Motion (FxPlug) plug-ins and plug-ins inside Adobe apps such as Photoshop.
• System add-ons — Quick Look and Spotlight plug-ins, color pickers, screen savers, settings panes, printer and scanner drivers, and kernel extensions.
• Background items — programs set to start automatically at login or at startup.
• Helpers inside apps — login items, background services, app extensions, bundled plug-ins and command-line helpers inside apps whose main program is already native.

Each item shows its kind, what it belongs to, its version and its location. Only the Intel-only ones are listed at first; tick Also show the native ones to see everything that was checked. For a helper inside an app, the fix is usually an update to that app, and the report offers a search for it. An Intel-only kernel extension cannot use Rosetta at all, so it already does not load on an Apple Silicon Mac.

An app whose own row is Universal or Apple Silicon but that has Intel-only plug-ins or helpers installed inside it is marked with an “⚠ Intel component” tag — click it to jump straight to those entries. Each Intel-only app, plug-in, or component also gets a Check for Apple Silicon version link that opens a web search, and a new Only show apps with Intel-only components checkbox narrows the list to just those apps.

Found on other drives

When you scan external drives or folders, any apps found there are listed in a separate “Found on other drives” section — with each app's architecture, the drive it was found on, and its full location. These are kept out of the main tiles and totals, because copies on a backup or installer drive are not installed on this Mac. Rosetta Radar counts actual .app application bundles here; it does not open or count .dmg, .zip or .rar installer files.

Filtering and collapsing

Use the filter box to narrow the list by app name, description, or location. Click any section heading (Intel, Universal, Apple Silicon, Other) to collapse or expand that section. Two optional checkboxes let you show built-in macOS components (hidden by default) and show only the apps that contain Intel-only components.

Locating an app in Finder

Click an app's location to copy that folder's path to the clipboard. Then, in Finder, press ⌘⇧G (Command-Shift-G), paste, and press Return to jump straight to the app.

The CSV file

The CSV contains the same information as columns you can sort and filter in a spreadsheet, including Name, Architecture, Version, Size, Signing, Location, Source, Last Modified, Last Opened, Description, and Website. Apps are sorted with Intel-only first, then Universal, Apple Silicon, and Other.

Print / Save as PDF

The Print / Save as PDF button in the upper-right corner prints or saves as a PDF only the applications currently displayed in the list — respecting any filter, isolated tile, or collapsed section.

For example, if you want to focus only on Intel apps, click the Intel status card first. The list will then show only your Intel apps, and Print / Save as PDF will print or save that filtered list.

You can also sort the list by Intel and then by Last Opened. This makes it easier to identify the Intel apps you use most often and should consider updating to Apple Silicon or Universal versions.

Save as CSV

Just like the Print / Save as PDF button, the Save as CSV button in the upper-right corner exports a CSV file of the applications currently displayed in the list — respecting any filter, isolated tile, or collapsed section. The CSV file created under “Which files to create” includes every scanned application, while the one saved from within the report lets you narrow the list down to the apps you need to focus on.

Last Opened & sorting

Each app also shows a Last Opened date — when you last launched it — read from Spotlight (blank if the app has never been opened or isn't indexed). Click any column heading to sort by it, and click again to reverse. Your filter stays applied while you sort, so you can type a maker's name, then sort those apps by Last Opened and handle them together.

6Your Privacy

Offline by default

Rosetta Radar runs fully offline by default. It makes no network connections and sends nothing anywhere. The reports it creates stay on your Desktop until you choose to delete them.

The optional online lookup

The online lookup is off by default and is offered only at launch. If you turn it on, only the names of apps Rosetta Radar does not already recognize are sent to Apple's App Store search and Wikipedia, purely to fetch a description and a website link. No other information about you, your Mac, or your other apps ever leaves your computer, and results are cached locally so future runs stay fast.

7Troubleshooting

The app won't open

This is the normal first-run behavior for a free, unsigned app. Follow the “Opening it the first time” steps in section 3: right-click the app, choose Open, then click Open again. If macOS still refuses, use System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security ▸ Open Anyway.

The report didn't appear

Your report is saved to your Desktop, named with the date and time. If your browser did not bring it to the front, look on the Desktop for the most recent Rosetta-Radar-Report file and double-click it. You can also click Reveal Files in the summary box to show your files in the Finder.

An external scan is taking a long time

Whole-drive scans of large external drives — especially drives full of installers or backups — can take several minutes, because every folder must be examined. Watch the progress window to see which folder is being scanned, and click Stop scan at any time to finish with what has been found so far. To keep future scans fast, choose Choose folders… and pick only the folders you care about.

An app has no description or link

Every Mac has a different mix of apps, so the built-in list cannot cover them all. Run Rosetta Radar again and choose Look up online to fill in missing descriptions and website links from Apple's App Store and Wikipedia.

An app looks mislabeled

Architecture is read directly from each app's program file, which is authoritative. If a description or link looks wrong for an app whose name is shared by something else, it is usually a name collision; you can always confirm on the developer's own page. Feedback is welcome at info@ast-warearts.com.

8Notes for Distributors

This section is for anyone redistributing Rosetta Radar under the Ast-Ware Arts brand.

How it works

Rosetta Radar.app is a small bundle whose executable is a shell script (Contents/MacOS/RosettaRadar). It enumerates installed apps with system_profiler, locates additional app bundles with a Spotlight query, then determines each app's architecture by inspecting its program file with the built-in file tool. The per-app inspection and the plug-in classification run in parallel across the Mac's performance cores. The reports are assembled with JavaScript for Automation (JXA). Everything used is built into macOS, so there are no external dependencies. The .command file is that same script, standalone.

Rebranding

To rebrand, edit the lines near the top of the script (BRAND, CONTACT and SITE); these appear in the report's footer. To change the app icon, replace Contents/Resources/AppIcon.icns. Right-click the app and choose Show Package Contents to get inside. While rebranding is acceptable, Ast-Ware Arts is required to be shown as the developer.

Removing the first-run warning

The right-click-to-open step exists because the app is unsigned. To let recipients open it with a plain double-click and no warning, sign and notarize it with an Apple Developer ID ($99/year) before distributing. A helper script, Notarize this app.command, is provided separately to the distributor and is not part of the end-user package. Contact Ast-Ware Arts if you need a copy.

App coverage

The scan is comprehensive: it merges the apps macOS reports with the app bundles Spotlight has indexed, de-duplicated, so helpers, apps in ~/Applications, and apps in unusual locations are included. At launch it also offers to scan external drives — whole drives or specific folders. Because Spotlight indexing and the external search depth are not guaranteed to reach every last bundle, this is a thorough scan rather than a mathematical guarantee of completeness.

9Version History

• 1.40 — Fixed clipped columns in the Universal view. Added a Save as CSV button to export the currently displayed list. Various other bug fixes and speed improvements.
• 1.37 — Report layout: the architecture tables now fit the page and the Location column is no longer clipped; the report content area is wider and its columns are tighter.
• 1.36 — Added an “On other drives” summary tile, and the report header now lists the actual drives and folder paths that were scanned.
• 1.34 — External scanning reworked: choose whole drives or specific folders, and add folders from more than one drive; a Stop scan button ends a long scan and still builds the report from what was found; apps found on other drives are listed in their own “Found on other drives” section and kept out of the main tiles; the per-app size measurement is time-capped so one very large file cannot stall the scan; the progress window shows the current drive and folder.
• 1.32 — Much faster scanning: application inspection and plug-in classification now run in parallel across all CPU cores. The progress window advances through each phase, never blanks (including during the online lookup), and shows its finished state only when the report is ready.
• 1.28 — Added Size and Signing columns: each app's on-disk size and its offline code-signature category (Developer ID, Mac App Store, Apple, Signed, or Not signed).
• 1.27 — Added the Plug-ins & helpers section: detects Intel-only plug-ins, drivers, background items and helper programs inside apps, and flags native apps that contain Intel-only components.
• 1.24 — Added a choice at launch of which files to create — an HTML report, a CSV spreadsheet, or both.
• 1.23 — Updated the Rosetta timeline to Apple's plan; whole-word description matching to avoid look-alike mismatches; carriage-return case in CSV quoting; Homebrew Cask license notice.
• 1.22 — Added a built-in library of about 6,000 Mac-app descriptions and website links (from the Homebrew Cask project).
• 1.15–1.21 — Source column with signing developer; app-name website links; 32-bit Intel category; Last Opened column and sortable headings; scan-type badge; robustness and performance fixes.
• 1.11 and earlier — Core scanning, HTML and CSV reports, progress window, Spotlight sweep, external-volume option, offline description library, and the optional online lookup.

10Copyright & Contact

Rosetta Radar is created and distributed by Ast-Ware Arts.

© 2026 Ast-Ware Arts. All rights reserved.

Contact: info@ast-warearts.com

Web: https://ast-warearts.com/rosetta-radar/

Rosetta Radar is free to use and share.