OP said "these apps" in reply to an article that mostly talks about apps that aren't possible (or would become extremely clumsy to use) through the MAS (VLC[0],

OP said "these apps" in reply to an article that mostly talks about apps that aren't possible (or would become extremely clumsy to use) through the MAS (VLC[0], uTorrent[1], Hopper, Sequel Pro, Sketch[1]) A lot of apps violate the MAS limitations in ways people don't realise. There are people in this thread claiming that VLC would fit within the MAS model even though it can't (at least not without ditching a lot of features). Even if an app fits inside the limitations today, it may not in the future, and migrating away from the MAS is a huge hassle. It's also possible for the limitations to change so apps that are allowed now may not be in the future meaning those apps can't be updated at all, which is something that has already happened. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7039737 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7039737 [1] as far as I know torrent apps are banned from the store [2] http://blog.sketchapp.com/post/134322691555/leaving-the-mac-app-store http://blog.sketchapp.com/post/134322691555/leaving-the-mac-...