I’ve been using Proton VPN for months on my iPhone - I downloaded it through that app store.
But it is not on the Mac app store. Now, I know I can download it directly, but my question is this: WHY is it not on the Mac app store?
Putting an app on App Store comes with certain benchmarks to meet. Including getting it notarized by Apple I believe. I’m sure there’s other fees associated w it. It was probably easier to spin up a dmg for download.
Would you mind letting us know what your use case would be in downloading the application from the Mac app store rather than directly from our website?
See if you can find Spotify on the Mac App Store. You can’t.
computers are not phones, they have been around for long before the smart phone industry and using software from different vendors has been normal for ages, in the case of a computer being the software open source, its ridiculous not only because of the costs but also for the support the vendor provides.
if you only trust stuff in the Mac App Store, you are limiting yourself from so many things.
Sure. But it is available on ios app store.
W have the same issue- on the web page there is an iOS link- but it opens the App Store and proton is not available for my device- if I go to the App Store itself- there is no download.
I’m under the impression that apps installed from the App Store can be more cleanly removed and I will always go for the App Store version if available (as I’ve done with Tailscale, for example). I read that one had to resort to the command line to remove the system extensions added by ProtonVPN and this alone made me hesitant to install the app. (An app distributed through the App Store can use the NetworkExtension framework instead for VPN functionalities.)
I’m not sure why I need to answer this? But if it comes from the app store it is at least nominally vetted.
I am old enough to have worked in MS Dos. I know this.
I just couldn’t get my head around why it was on the iOS app store, but not the Mac one.
Yes because up until recently (in eu) you could not download apps outside of App Store on iOS/ipados. You can on macOS.
It’s a simpler process to publish the app ourselves rather than go through Apple’s approval process for each version. That said, we have considered making the app available in the Mac App Store as well, and this might happen in the future, only we can’t confirm a timeline for this at the moment.
Have in mind that our apps are open-sourced and independently audited: https://protonvpn.com/blog/open-source
If you dobt trust proton you probably shouldn’t use their vpn
It is vetted, you’re right. But they’re open source so you can audit it, and it has been thoroughly vetted.
Because the only way to install an app on iOS is through the app store. Whereas with a Macbook you can install one from anywhere.
I have had a MacBook for 3 years and I don’t think I’ve ever installed an application through the app store.
It’s simple
There is no third party iOS options available for app install.
There is for Mac OS. User can install whatever software they want. If you don’t trust the app, don’t trust the VPN 
I just couldn’t get my head around why it was on the iOS app store, but not the Mac one.
… and you are using computer since MS-DOS. huh!
This is a great answer. Thank you.
Glad it got resolved. Sorry for awful community