📦 AppPorts

External drives save the world!

An application migration and linking tool designed specifically for macOS. Easily migrate large applications to external storage while maintaining seamless system functionality.

简体中文

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✨ Introduction

Mac's built-in storage space is extremely precious. AppPorts allows you to move applications from your /Applications directory to an external drive (SSD, SD Card, or NAS) with a single click, while keeping a valid App Portal in the original location.

To macOS, the app still "exists" locally, allowing you to launch it as usual, but the storage occupied is on inexpensive external media.

⚠️ "AppPorts" is damaged and can't be opened

If you encounter this error (and macOS suggests moving it to the Trash) when opening the app, it is because the application is not signed with an Apple Developer ID. (Note: The command below assumes you have moved AppPorts to the /Applications folder) To fix this, please run the following command in Terminal to remove the quarantine attribute:

xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine /Applications/AppPorts.app

🚀 Key Features

• 📦 App Slimming: One-click migration of multi-gigabyte applications (e.g., Logic Pro, Xcode, games) to an external drive.
• 🔗 Contents Linking: A linking strategy optimized for macOS structure.
  • Mechanism: Retains the .app directory structure locally and symlinks only the internal Contents data directory to the external drive.
  • Storage Usage: Locally occupies only the filesystem metadata for the directory (negligible size).
  • Compatibility: Displays no arrow icon in Finder and supports the "App Menu" in macOS 26.
• 🛡️ Safety First:
  • Automatically identifies and locks System Apps to prevent accidental system corruption.
  • Checks the Running Status before migration to avoid corrupting active applications.
• ↩️ Restore Anytime: Simply click "Restore" to move the application back to the local disk, automatically removing the symbolic link.
• 🎨 Modern UI:
  • Developed natively with SwiftUI for a smooth, fluid experience.
  • Perfect compatibility with Dark Mode.
  • Supports Bi-lingual (English/Chinese), switchable via system or in-app menu.
• ♿️ Accessibility Plus:
  • VoiceOver Optimization: Smart row announcements and custom Rotor actions.
  • Semantic UI: Hides decorative icons and ensures status badges are read clearly.
  • Braille Support: Added Braille language option, displaying UI text directly in Braille dots.
• 🌍 Global Ready:
  • 20+ Languages Supported: 🇺🇸 English, 🇨🇳 Simplified Chinese, 🇭🇰 Traditional Chinese, 🇯🇵 Japanese, 🇰🇷 Korean, 🇩🇪 German, 🇫🇷 French, 🇪🇸 Spanish, 🇮🇹 Italian, 🇵🇹 Portuguese, 🇷🇺 Russian, 🇸🇦 Arabic, 🇮🇳 Hindi, 🇻🇳 Vietnamese, 🇹🇭 Thai, 🇹🇷 Turkish, 🇳🇱 Dutch, 🇵🇱 Polish, 🇮🇩 Indonesian, 🏁 Esperanto, ⠃⠗ Braille
  • Localized Formatting: File sizes automatically respect regional formatting.
• 🔍 Quick Search: Built-in search bar to quickly locate local or external applications.

🏆 Why AppPorts?

Compared to other solutions, AppPorts uses the unique Contents Linking technology, balancing aesthetics, compatibility, and system cleanliness.

Strategy	AppPorts	Traditional Symlink
Finder Icon	✅ Native (No Arrow)	❌ Arrow Overlay
Launchpad	✅ Perfect	⚠️ Unreliable
App Menu (macOS 26)	✅ Perfect	❌ Unsupported
FS Cleanliness	✅ Clean (1 Link)	✅ Clean (1 Link)
Maintenance	✅ Instant	✅ Instant

📸 Screenshots

Welcome Screen	Main Interface

Dark Mode	Language Switching

🛠️ Installation

System Requirements

• macOS 14.0 (Sonoma) or newer.

Download and Installation

Please visit the Releases page to download the latest AppPorts.dmg.

⚠️ Permissions

Upon first run, AppPorts requires Full Disk Access to read and modify the /Applications directory.

1. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security.
2. Select Full Disk Access.
3. Click the + button, add AppPorts, and turn on the toggle.
4. Relaunch AppPorts.

(The application includes an in-app guide for direct navigation to settings)

🧑‍💻 Development

If you are a developer and wish to build the project yourself:

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/wzh4869/AppPorts.git

2. Open the project with Xcode.
3. Compile and Run.

🤝 Contributing

We welcome Issues and Pull Requests! If you find translation errors or have suggestions for new features, please let us know.

Advanced Storage Management

• LazyMount-Mac: Easily expand Mac storage space — Automatically mount SMB shares and cloud storage at startup, no manual operation required.

  The perfect companion for AppPorts. LazyMount connects the storage, AppPorts handles the applications.

  • 🎮 Game Libraries — Store Steam/Epic games on a NAS, play them like local installs
  • 💾 Time Machine Backups — Back up to a remote server automatically
  • 🎬 Media Libraries — Access your movie/music collection stored on a home server
  • 📁 Project Archives — Keep large files on cheaper storage, access them on-demand
  • ☁️ Cloud Storage — Mount Google Drive, Dropbox, or any rclone-supported service as a local folder

📄 License

This project is open-source under the MIT License.

Created by Wzh4869

Personal Website • GitHub