Installing software on a Mac can feel like a trip back to 2001. Download a DMG file, mount the virtual disk, drag the app into your Applications folder, then unmount and delete the leftover file. It is a ritual that has survived for over two decades, and one developer thinks it is time for a change.
Developer Jeff Schumann agrees that the old installation dance has long outlived its usefulness. So he built EasyDMG, a completely free app that automates the whole process. The tool has an adorable hamster mascot and the slogan “Created out of spite.” With EasyDMG, you can simply double click a DMG file to install software, the way it always should have worked.
Getting started requires a bit of irony: you download EasyDMG and install it using the very same drag and drop routine you are trying to avoid. But hopefully it is the last time you need to do that. After installation, you set EasyDMG as the default application for opening DMG files. There is a button right in the settings that does this for you.
Once that is done, the next DMG file you open will trigger EasyDMG instead of the virtual disk. A window with a progress bar shows the process from mounting the virtual disk to verifying the application to completing the installation. By default, EasyDMG automatically deletes the DMG file when it is done, then opens a Finder window showing your newly installed application in the Applications folder.
EasyDMG does not run in the background because it does not need to. It only launches when you open a DMG file and politely closes itself after the installation finishes. The app has no telemetry either; the only network request it makes is checking for updates.
There are a few settings you can tweak by launching EasyDMG directly. You can stop it from automatically deleting DMG files, toggle whether Finder opens after installation, or set EasyDMG to launch the app right after installing. You can also disable warnings about apps from unidentified developers, though that is probably not a good idea. And if you prefer not to see a progress bar, you can turn it off and simply get a notification when the installation is complete.
That short list of options is all a streamlined tool like this needs. You can configure EasyDMG once to work the way you want, then never open its settings again.
