Oct 07, 2019 If your Mac is set to allow apps from the App Store and identified developers, and you try to install an app that isn’t signed by an identified developer or—in macOS Catalina—notarized by Apple, you also see a warning that the app cannot be opened. These same accounts can be signed in or created on your Mac as well. Recently helped a friend reinstall from scratch all the apps on his desktop Mac (Remember your backups, people! Mar 01, 2015 The Mac App Store isn’t the only way to get apps. By default, Macs are configured to allow apps either from the app store or apps that have been signed by an approved developer. In fact, Apple’s choices around the Mac App Store have discouraged many developers from putting their apps on the Mac.
Learn how the Mac App Store beautifully showcases your apps and makes them even easier to find, and how Developer ID and notarization make it safer for users to install apps that you distribute yourself.
Mac App Store
The Mac App Store makes it simple for customers to discover, purchase, and download your apps, and easily keep them updated. The Mac App Store on macOS Mojave and later offers editorial content that inspires and informs. Organized around the specific things customers love to do on Mac, along with insightful stories, curated collections, and videos, the Mac App Store beautifully showcases your apps and makes them even easier to find.
Outside the Mac App Store
- Sep 03, 2019 Apps that are distributed outside of the Mac App Store must be notarized by Apple in order to run on the macOS Catalina operating system set to be released this fall.
- On Windows, I can right-click a file and see who code signed it on the 'Digital Signatures' tab of the Properties dialog. Is there a similar way to see which publisher signed an OS X app, or details.
While the Mac App Store is the safest place for users to get software for their Mac, you may choose to distribute your Mac apps in other ways. Gatekeeper on macOS helps protect users from downloading and installing malicious software by checking for a Developer ID certificate. Make sure to test your apps with the macOS 10.15 SDK and sign your apps, plug-ins, or installer packages to let Gatekeeper know they’re safe to install.
You can also give users even more confidence in your apps by submitting them to Apple to be notarized.
Mac Logo
Mac What Apps Are Signed Free
The Mac logo is designed to easily identify software products and hardware peripherals developed to run on macOS and take advantage of its advanced features.
| Mac App Store | Outside Mac App Store | |
|---|---|---|
| App Distribution | Hosted by Apple | Managed by developer (with Developer ID) |
| Software Updates | Hosted by Apple | Managed by developer |
| Worldwide Payment Processing | Managed by Apple | Managed by developer |
| Volume Purchasing and Education Pricing | Managed by Apple | Managed by developer |
| Advanced App Capabilities (iCloud Storage and Push Notifications) | Available | Available |
| App Store Services (In-App Purchase and Game Center) | Available | Not Available |
| 64-Bit | Required | Recommended |
| App Sandboxing | Required | Recommended |
If the developer plans to distribute an app directly to macOSusers, Apple recommends that they code-sign it with their Developer ID so that it can be installed on macOS systems with GateKeeper enabled. If the app has not been signed, GateKeeper will prevent users from installing with an alert message (they can bypass this restricting by holding down the Control key while launching).
Mac What Apps Are Signed Made
Read more about Developer ID and GateKeeper and Distributing Outside the Mac App Store on Apple’swebsite.
Code signing options
To build an app for deployment directly to users (NOT via the Mac AppStore) set the Signing Settings to use the Developer ID. Ensure to edit the Release configuration.
Build
Before building, ensure to selected the correct configuration and select to create an install package in the Mac Build settings:
When building the app, the developer will be prompted to use both certificates:
Mac What Apps Are Signed Mean
After the application has been built, the developer can right-click on the project and choose Open Containing Folder to find the package file (in the bin/Release directory). This package file includes aninstaller for the application, so it can be distributed to any macOS userfor installation.