[macOS] Native Support for Apple Silicon

[saschaeggi]

UPDATE: Pre-release builds available for testing in the 4.0-daily builds:

• https://owncloud.com/beta-testing/#desktop-daily

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Expected behaviour

Recompile ownCloud client for native M1 support (either Universal/Apple binary).

Actual behaviour

Client currently only runs using the Rosetta 2 layer.

Steps to reproduce

1. Use an M1 Mac machine (MacBook Air, Pro, MacMini)
2. Run ownCloud client

Client configuration

Client version: 2.7.4
Operating system: MacOS 11 Big Sur
OS language: English

[michaelstingl]

ownCloud desktop client relies on the Qt framework, and Qt is targeting to support Apple Silicon in 6.1
https://bugreports.qt.io/browse/QTBUG-85279

[michaelstingl]

@SamuAlfageme @ChrisEdS FYI ⬆️

[michaelstingl]

BTW looks like Qt moved the ticket to 6.2 (Sept. 2021)

[saschaeggi]

This is bad news 😔

[TheOneRing]

This is bad news 😔

Why? The desktop client is that kind of software that will run the same way in roestta and natively.
You won't see a massive gain in performance nor be able to manage more memory as it was with 32->64 bit.

[saschaeggi]

I agree. The ARM natives are very efficient when it comes to memory handling and all tested apps use way less memory then their Intel counterparts – but with the small memory usage of ownCloud this is not at all an issue. But the native Apps have a smaller power draw than using it through Rosetta and that's why it would be cool to have it running natively 🙂

[michaelstingl]

Status update from Qt:
https://www.qt.io/blog/qt-on-apple-silicon

[scgf]

The Apple Silicon (ARM) version of Qt has been available since September.

https://www.qt.io/blog/qt-6.2-lts-released

[saschaeggi]

Yay, hopefully this can be moved forward now!

[TheOneRing]

Our 2.9 client is based on Qt 5.12.11.
Our dev branch now moved to Qt 5.15 which is an essential step in porting to Qt 6.
We will most likely have an release with Qt 5.15 and only after that start porting to Qt 6.

For everyone waiting this won't be an exciting change, nothing user facing will change and the expected performance gain is ~0.

[saschaeggi]

Any news on an Apple silicon native client?

[sstrecker]

Those who do not intend to install Rosetta 2 will appreciate a native client for Apple Silicon very much - me included ;-)

[saschaeggi]

Same here. Almost everything runs native by now.
Can we get an update on this? 🙂

[tismoj]

This is bad news 😔

Why? The desktop client is that kind of software that will run the same way in roestta and natively. You won't see a massive gain in performance nor be able to manage more memory as it was with 32->64 bit.

The main reason for the need to update Owncloud to native apple silicon is running it in rosetta 2 in the background depletes the battery life significantly. I had to quit owncloud daily after boot ups right after it has finished syncing or only turn it on to sync and quit it again. I usually run my MBP M1 Pro for 12 to 20 hrs on battery, but with owncloud or even just the own cloud extensions that keeps starting up on its own will bring it down significantly.

[Kooramah]

So are we going to see an M1 Compiled version of OwnCloud? It's been 17 months since this has been opened and we have yet to see an official update.

[TheOneRing]

Our 2.9 client is based on Qt 5.12.11. Our dev branch now moved to Qt 5.15 which is an essential step in porting to Qt 6. We will most likely have an release with Qt 5.15 and only after that start porting to Qt 6.

For everyone waiting this won't be an exciting change, nothing user facing will change and the expected performance gain is ~0.

[saschaeggi]

@TheOneRing performance wise, yes. But battery saving wise it is! 🙂

[CodeCooler]

@TheOneRing performance wise, yes. But battery saving wise it is! 🙂

Drastically, in fact. I uninstalled the desktop client (my last remaining Rosetta app) from my M1 MBP this week and was surprised by how much longer the battery held on without it. I've really liked OwnCloud, but looks like I may have to explore other options at home.

[rjungmann]

Is there a rough timeline for Apple Silicon release?

[tismoj]

I've really liked OwnCloud, but looks like I may have to explore other options at home.

Before seeking alternatives, If you bought a perpetual or subscribed to Parallels, I think owncloud should run much longer there than running it in Rosetta 2. Parallels had made running Windows 11 for ARM on Parallels 17 so efficient, that can still run most and I do mean most of your apps and games via parallels and would still have battery life to spare of course having owncloud natively is still best. Normally steam mac games as expected (though I was hoping would last longer) only last 1.5hrs to 2hrs because steam and sometimes the game itself is not entirely native. But running the same game (intel version) through parallals last about 2hrs to 3hrs, but for intel apps running in parallels it last between 5hrs to 9hrs, of course natively on M1 that would last much much longer. Looks like running Intel binaries for Win11 for ARM on Parallels is more batt efficient than using Rosetta 2 for Intel Binaries for Mac. and Looks like Win11 for Arm has their own version of Rosetta 2 for running Inter binaries for Win11

[tismoj]

I think owncloud should run much longer there than running it in Rosetta 2

If you're going to try this just make sure to create a virtual network drive mapping to your host machine's owncloud folder, so that you could access the files on both the VM and you host Mac machine. Just go to the VM's setting->Option->Sharing->Custom Folders and add a mapping there, you can select any folder you have access to and in the VM it will appear as a Network Drive (i.e drive X:)

[fxcoudert]

Our dev branch now moved to Qt 5.15 which is an essential step in porting to Qt 6.
We will most likely have an release with Qt 5.15 and only after that start porting to Qt 6.

Qt 5.15.6 and 5.15.7 support Apple Silicon. Does the upcoming 3.0 release build on Qt 5.15.x? If so, could it be tested for macOS ARM?

[TheOneRing]

We might consider addig an experimental preview.
Only after we switched to Qt6 we will offer Mac arm support.

[sstrecker]

I would indeed appreciate an experimental preview of a native macOS ARM version very much (and offer my feedback from testing it using Sciebo).

[TheOneRing]

We now provide mac arm64 builds.
https://download.owncloud.com/desktop/ownCloud/daily/4.0/mac/?sort=time&order=desc
https://download.owncloud.com/desktop/testpilotcloud/daily/4.0/mac/?sort=time&order=desc

The m1 support is currently considered a preview.

[saschaeggi]

@TheOneRing I'm glad to see some movement on this issue at last! 😊
YOLO. I just installed ownCloud-4.0.0-daily20230201.9969-arm64.pkg and can it seems to work 🥳 👏

[ndawod]

For posterity's sake, here's the right link in July 2023: https://attic.owncloud.com/desktop/ownCloud/stable/latest/mac/