I built App Archiver after working on Parall, where I had to install and test many macOS apps. My disk filled up quickly, but I did not want to delete rarely used apps because I knew I would forget they existed.
App Archiver compresses apps while keeping them visible in Applications, Spotlight, Alfred, and Raycast. An archived app remains available in one click, so you can restore it when needed instead of searching for and downloading it again.
Unlike cleaner tools that remove caches which quickly return, App Archiver saves space by working with the app bundles themselves. It can archive apps, optimize installed apps, show potential savings, verify every archive before removing the original data, and restore apps later.
The app is intentionally built without Internet access. It does not collect data, use analytics, or connect anywhere.
Hi HN,
I built App Archiver after working on Parall, where I had to install and test many macOS apps. My disk filled up quickly, but I did not want to delete rarely used apps because I knew I would forget they existed.
App Archiver compresses apps while keeping them visible in Applications, Spotlight, Alfred, and Raycast. An archived app remains available in one click, so you can restore it when needed instead of searching for and downloading it again.
Unlike cleaner tools that remove caches which quickly return, App Archiver saves space by working with the app bundles themselves. It can archive apps, optimize installed apps, show potential savings, verify every archive before removing the original data, and restore apps later.
The app is intentionally built without Internet access. It does not collect data, use analytics, or connect anywhere.
App Archiver is $4.99 on the Mac App Store.
Website https://apparchiver.com
Mac App Store https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id6794885091
It also contains an MIT-licensed open source component available here https://github.com/julyighor/apparchiver
I would appreciate feedback on the workflow, compression results, and which features would make it more useful for managing large app collections.