# How to find Mac apps when you don't know the app's name > **TL;DR** Mac apps live in three places: the Mac App Store, makers' own websites, and Homebrew, which installs many of those website apps from the command line. The App Store's search only sees App Store apps, and Homebrew's `brew search` matches package names, so neither helps much when you know the job but not the app. To search by job across both, open Macapp.space, pick a topic such as Mac cleaners, and compare the price, macOS minimum and latest version on each app page before you install. Finding a Mac app is easy when you know its name and hard when you only know the job. Every place you can search sees only part of the Mac software that exists, and most of them match the words you type against app names. This guide shows where Mac apps live, how to search each place, and how to search by job instead. ## Where do Mac apps come from? Mac apps come from three places. The first is the Mac App Store, Apple's store app on every Mac. The second is the maker's own website, where you download a DMG or ZIP file and drag the app into Applications. The third is Homebrew, a package manager that installs many of those website apps from Terminal with one command. These overlap but are not the same set. An app can be on the App Store only, on its maker's site only, or on both. Cacheless, a disk cleaner, is an example of both: its catalog page notes a sandboxed App Store version and a direct download that asks for full disk access. If you search only one place, you miss the apps that live only in the others. ## How do you search the Mac App Store? Open the App Store app, type one or more words in the search field at the top-left corner of the window, and press Return. Apple's guide also lists the sidebar sections you can browse instead: Discover, Create, Work, Play, Develop and Categories. Click an app's name or icon to open its page. Apple's guide says the page shows screenshots, ratings and reviews, developer information, file size, compatibility, languages, age rating and privacy information. To download, click Get or the button that shows the price. The App Store is the safest default because every app in it passes Apple's App Review. Its limit is coverage: it shows only apps whose makers chose to sell through Apple. Many developer tools, system utilities and open-source apps are distributed only from their makers' sites, and the App Store search never returns them. ## How do you search for Mac apps that aren't on the App Store? Homebrew is the closest thing to a search box for apps outside the App Store. After you install Homebrew from brew.sh, run: ```sh brew search clipboard brew desc --search --cask clipboard ``` According to Homebrew's manual, `brew search` does a substring search of cask tokens and formula names, so it finds `clipboard` only when the word is in a package's name. `brew desc --search` also searches the one-line descriptions, which helps when the app's name says nothing about what it does. The [Homebrew Formulae](https://formulae.brew.sh/) site lets you look up the same packages in a browser. Homebrew's limits are that it needs Terminal, that a cask's description is one line, and that it lists only apps someone has packaged as a cask. It tells you an app exists, not whether it is any good, what it costs or whether it still gets updates. ## Why is it hard to find a Mac app by what it does? It is hard because most search boxes match words, not meaning. You type the job, such as "clean my disk", and the tool looks for those exact words in app names and short descriptions. An app called Pearcleaner never mentions "disk" in its name, so a name search for "disk" misses it. Macapp.space has the same limit, and it is better to know it up front. Its search code requires every word you type to appear somewhere in an app's name, tagline or description; a match in the name counts most. That means extra words hurt. On 31 October 2026, a search for "disk cleaner" returned Data Sweeper, Cacheless, Macdisk, Tencent Lemon Cleaner, FreeMacSoft AppCleaner and DevCleaner first, while "clean my disk" returned two apps, because "my" had to appear too. ![Macapp.space search results for disk cleaner, showing Data Sweeper, Cacheless, Macdisk, Tencent Lemon Cleaner, FreeMacSoft AppCleaner and DevCleaner with their price and category](/content/find-mac-apps/search-disk-cleaner.webp) The fix is to search with two or three nouns that describe the job, or to skip search and browse by job. ## How do you find a Mac app by the job it does? Browse a page that groups apps by job instead of by name. On Macapp.space these are topic pages: 97 of them on 31 October 2026, across 14 categories. The [Mac cleaners](/topics/mac-cleaners) topic held 41 apps that day, including FreeMacSoft AppCleaner, OnyX, Pearcleaner, Mole and PureMac. Apps from the App Store, makers' sites and Homebrew sit side by side, so you are not limited to one source. Each topic page has filters across the top. Any, Menu bar, Notch and Dock show where an app lives on screen, and Open source keeps only apps with public source code. If you want a cleaner that sits in the menu bar, that is one click instead of reading every listing. ![The Macapp.space Mac cleaners topic page with 41 apps and the Any, Menu bar, Notch, Dock and Open source filters](/content/find-mac-apps/topic-mac-cleaners.webp) ## How do you find and check a Mac app on Macapp.space? 1. Open [Macapp.space](/) and press ⌘K, or open [Search](/search). 2. Type two or three words for the job, such as `menu bar calendar`. 3. If the results miss, open [Categories](/categories) and pick the topic closest to the job. 4. Use the Menu bar, Notch, Dock or Open source filter if where the app lives matters to you. 5. Open an app page and read its Price, Requires (the macOS minimum) and Version lines. An Apple silicon: Native line appears only for apps that run natively. 6. Open its release notes to see when it last shipped an update. 7. Follow the app's Get link to its App Store listing or the maker's site, and install from there. Macapp.space does not install anything itself. It sends you to the App Store or the maker's site, so the usual macOS checks still apply. ## What should you check before you install a Mac app? Check four things: price, macOS minimum, whether it runs natively on Apple silicon, and when it was last updated. A free download can still sell a subscription inside the app, and a well-reviewed app may not have shipped an update in years. On Macapp.space the price and macOS minimum are on the app page, Apple silicon support shows as a Native line when the catalog records it, and the release notes page shows the update history. For an app from outside the App Store, macOS adds one more check for you. Apple's Gatekeeper verifies that the app is signed by an identified developer and, from macOS Catalina on, notarized by Apple, which means Apple scanned it for known malware. The first time you open it, your Mac asks if you are sure. ## Which way of finding Mac apps should you use? Use the App Store when you know the app's name and it sells there. Use Homebrew when you are comfortable in Terminal and know roughly what the package is called. When you know the job but not the app, open a Macapp.space topic page for that job: it puts App Store and direct-download apps in one list with price, macOS minimum and latest version, so you compare them on one page instead of searching three places. ## Frequently asked questions ### How do I search for apps on a Mac? Open the App Store app, type one or more words in the search field at the top-left corner of the window and press Return. That finds apps sold through the Mac App Store. Apps sold on a maker's own website don't appear there; for those, use Homebrew's `brew search` or a directory such as Macapp.space. ### Where can I download Mac apps besides the App Store? From the maker's own website, usually as a DMG or ZIP file, or with Homebrew using `brew install --cask` and the app's cask name. macOS checks the developer's signature on apps from outside the App Store before it opens them. ### How do I find a Mac app when I don't know its name? Search for the job in two or three plain words, such as disk cleaner or clipboard manager, or browse a topic page that groups apps by job. On Macapp.space every search word must appear in an app's name, tagline or description, so short, specific words match best. ### How many apps are on Macapp.space? Its sitemap listed 2,810 app pages from 908 developers on 31 October 2026, grouped into 14 categories and 97 topics. Apps come from Homebrew casks, Mac App Store listings and indie app catalogs.