App compatibility
Parall supports a wide range of macOS apps. Some apps are fully verified to work seamlessly, while others offer partial compatibility or are not yet supported.
| App | Status | Data storage mode | Multi-instance | Separate data | Menu bar new window | Menu bar icon | Full screen menu bar override |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AdsPower | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Android Studio | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Anki | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Any iOS/iPadOS Apps | Limited | Auto | No | No | No | No | No |
| Any Sandboxed App | Partial | Auto | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| Arduino IDE | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Asana | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Audacity | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Beeper Desktop | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Beyond Compare | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Blender | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Blocs | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Brave | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Capacities | Verified | Chrome Like | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Charles | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| ChatGPT | Partial | Auto | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| Chrome-based Apps | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Chrome-based Browsers | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Chromium | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Claude | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Close.io | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Compressor | Partial | Auto | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| Cursor | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| DBeaver | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Dia Browser | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Discord | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Dropbox | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Eagle.cool | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Eclipse | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Eclipse-based Apps | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Emacs | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Evernote | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| FileMaker Pro | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Firefox-based Apps | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| FlowFinder | Partial | Auto | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| Fork | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| FreeCAD | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Gemini | Verified | Default | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Ghostty | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Git Tower | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Google Antigravity | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Google Chrome | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| IPTVBoss | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| iTerm2 | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| JetBrains | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Kadeck Desktop | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Keynote | Partial | Auto | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| KiCad | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| LightBurn | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Lightkey | Partial | Auto | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Meru | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Microsoft Edge | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Microsoft Outlook | Partial | Auto | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Microsoft Teams | Partial | Auto | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| MikroTik WinBox | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Monday.com | Partial | Auto | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| Mozilla Firefox | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Notion | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Numbers | Partial | Auto | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| OBS | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| OpenAI Atlas | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| OpenAI Codex | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Opera | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| OrcaSlicer | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Pages | Partial | Auto | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| Perplexity Comet | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Philips Hue Sync | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Pixelmator Pro | Partial | Auto | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| Plex | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | |
| Qt Creator | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| RemNote | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Safari | Partial | Auto | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| SatDump | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Scapple | Partial | Auto | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| Signal | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Slack (App Store) | Partial | Auto | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| Slack (Website) | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Spark Desktop | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Spotify | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Sublime Merge | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Sublime Text | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Telegram Desktop | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Terminal | Partial | Auto | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| TeXstudio | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| ToDesktop-based Apps | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Tor Browser | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Viber | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Visual Studio Code | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Vivaldi | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Wechat Devtools | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Web Frame | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | |
| Windsurf | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Yuanbao (Website) | Partial | Auto | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Zed | Partial | Auto | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Zen Browser | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Zoom | Verified | Auto | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
WhatsApp Support
WhatsApp is a special case in Parall. Unlike most supported apps, it runs through a lightweight web frame and uses the web.whatsapp.com version of WhatsApp. That means Parall can support WhatsApp-specific macOS behavior such as notifications and unread badges, but any WhatsApp Web limitation still applies. If WhatsApp Web does not provide a feature, Parall cannot add it on top, this includes some export features.
Current WhatsApp support includes push notifications, Dock unread badges, an optional menu bar icon with unread count, background mode when the menu bar icon is enabled, custom data storage paths for separate WhatsApp shortcuts, and voice or video calls after enabling WhatsApp beta inside WhatsApp Web.
Parall does not use Electron or bundle Chrome for this. The WhatsApp frame uses the native Safari/WebKit engine provided by macOS, so engine updates come through macOS updates and stay aligned with the system.
If a future Parall update adds more WhatsApp web app features, you may need to recreate the WhatsApp shortcut to get those changes. You can point the new shortcut to the same WhatsApp data storage path so it should reuse the existing authorization and synced history.
Home/data redirection works for non-sandboxed macOS apps. Sandboxed macOS apps must use their system container. iOS and iPadOS apps downloaded to macOS on Apple silicon are supported only in a limited mode: Parall can launch them and pass arguments or environment variables, but it cannot separate their data or provide a dedicated Dock icon. The majority of other macOS apps work correctly, not just those listed above.
Parall automatically detects Eclipse, Chrome, Firefox and ToDesktop based apps, which work without any additional setup. These apps use data separation automatically.
More supported apps will be added over time. Check back later for updates as compatibility expands.
You can also experiment with unsupported macOS apps by overriding the HOME directory, adding custom command-line arguments, or setting environment variables to isolate app data and behavior. iOS/iPadOS apps installed on macOS are limited to launch + arguments/environment variables only, without data separation or a dedicated Dock icon. If your target app isn't listed and you'd like to verify that it works before purchasing, please contact support - I'll personally test it or fix compatibility if needed.
Launch Order Tips
- If you use a Parall shortcut together with the original app, start the original app first, then launch the shortcut.
- To avoid any launch-order dependency, create two shortcuts and use those exclusively - they can be started in any order.
Still Need Help?
If something doesn't work as expected - or if you're unsure whether a behavior is intended - contact support. The app is actively maintained, and I'll do my best to help.