Sure, you can technically run .app from most places. It becomes problematic in that you can't write to that directory or self update the app if it's still in the DMG. If you reboot you have to know to remount before launching. Not having it in /Applications also becomes a mess if you're in a multi-user environment.
> Also, some apps display a message asking to be moved to /Applications when launched from a DMG.
This is the kind of friction and extra dialog boxes I'm sure they were avoiding.
Personally, I hate pkg files. I wish macOS had a better flow for unsavvy users to deal with DMG and app files.
Sure, you can technically run .app from most places. It becomes problematic in that you can't write to that directory or self update the app if it's still in the DMG. If you reboot you have to know to remount before launching. Not having it in /Applications also becomes a mess if you're in a multi-user environment.
> Also, some apps display a message asking to be moved to /Applications when launched from a DMG.
This is the kind of friction and extra dialog boxes I'm sure they were avoiding.
Personally, I hate pkg files. I wish macOS had a better flow for unsavvy users to deal with DMG and app files.