Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Encourages Developers to Get Their Mac Apps Notarized

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
67,794
38,391



In macOS Mojave, Apple introduced a new notarization feature for apps distributed outside of the Mac App Store that's designed to further protect users from malicious Mac apps.

Apple is encouraging Mac app developers to submit their apps to Apple to be notarized. An Apple-notarized Mac app comes with a "more streamlined Gatekeeper dialog" to assure users that an app is not known malware.

macappstoregatekeeper-800x468.jpg

Apple already provides trusted non Mac App Store developers with Developer IDs that are necessary to let the Gatekeeper function on macOS install non Mac App Store apps without a hassle, but notarization takes it one step further and adds an extra layer of security.

Notarization automatically scans Developer ID-signed software and performs security checks for malicious code and code signing problems.

According to Apple, in a future version of macOS, notarization will be required for Developer ID-signed software.
macOS Mojave is here. Give Mac users even more confidence in your software distributed outside the Mac App Store by submitting it to Apple to be notarized. When users on macOS Mojave first open a notarized app, installer package, or disk image, they'll see a more streamlined Gatekeeper dialog and have confidence that it is not known malware.

Download Xcode 10 and submit your software today. In an upcoming release of macOS, Gatekeeper will require Developer ID-signed software to be notarized by Apple.
Click to expand...
The notarization process is designed for non Mac App Store apps and is not required for those that are submitted to the Mac App Store. More information on notarization can be found on Apple's developer site.

Article Link: Apple Encourages Developers to Get Their Mac Apps Notarized
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2018/10/19/apple-mac-app-notarization-reminder/
  • Like
Reactions: keysofanxiety
I don’t mind this level of control on my iPhone or my iPad but when it comes to the Mac I like to have full control of what I install on my computer, I don’t like the thought of not being able to install an application because Apple may not approve of the content, video game emulators or torrent clients for example.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Aloft085, V.K., AngerDanger and 26 others
alex2792 said:
The Mac App Store is deader than a dead zombie. Why would any developer pay Apple 30% when they can just have people buy a license from their website/store and keep all the money?
Click to expand...
They'd still have to pay for the cost of hosting the app on a server, marketing, etc. However, you're right; I doubt that it's worth 30% of the revenue.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Marekul, Aloft085, CarlJ and 4 others
alex2792 said:
The Mac App Store is deader than a dead zombie. Why would any developer pay Apple 30% when they can just have people buy a license from their website/store and keep all the money?
Click to expand...

There's no escaping the Apple Tax.
If you read the details on Apple's site that was linked, notorization will be required in future versions of MacOS.
The MacApp store may he dead but Apple will still require developers to pay a tax to play on their platform.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Val-kyrie and netdudeuk
Spock said:
I don’t mind this level of control on my iPhone or my iPad but when it comes to the Mac I like to have full control of what I install on my computer, I don’t like the thought of not being able to install an application because Apple may not approve of the content, video game emulators or torrent clients for example.
Click to expand...
You can install anything you want.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Aloft085, jonblatho, DaveN and 14 others
alex2792 said:
The Mac App Store is deader than a dead zombie. Why would any developer pay Apple 30% when they can just have people buy a license from their website/store and keep all the money?
Click to expand...

Figure it's for "advertising" their apps. Though I agree, 30% is an obscene figure for Apple to charge. The App Store is so dead right now, you'd of thought Apple would of dropped that fee long ago. I've literally only paid for ONE app since the Mac Store inception (Pixelmator).
[doublepost=1539968549][/doublepost]
Kabeyun said:
You can install anything you want.
Click to expand...

You can't. The App Store has restrictions on the type of apps and how it interacts with the system. iStat menus is a prime example. The App Store version isn't the same one as you'd get from their site.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Val-kyrie, WatchFromAfar, Mr. Retrofire and 1 other person
shareef777 said:
Though I agree, 30% is an obscene figure for Apple to charge.
Click to expand...

I still don't get this attitude. Sell your app at Best Buy and see how much they charge you to do that. Most retail items are priced at 50-100% of what they get them for.

Good luck opening your own store to sell you app, or creating your own website and getting anywhere near the same traffic and sales.

Owning a storefront is a BIG thing. There aren't that many. Nobody gives people free or near free access to their stores. It costs a lot of money. Spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and open an app store yourself, and charge people 1%. See how that works for you.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: mw360, Dj64Mk7, augustrushrox and 8 others
shareef777 said:
Figure it's for "advertising" their apps. Though I agree, 30% is an obscene figure for Apple to charge. The App Store is so dead right now, you'd of thought Apple would of dropped that fee long ago. I've literally only paid for ONE app since the Mac Store inception (Pixelmator).
[doublepost=1539968549][/doublepost]

You can't. The App Store has restrictions on the type of apps and how it interacts with the system. iStat menus is a prime example. The App Store version isn't the same one as you'd get from their site.
Click to expand...

Notarisation would only focus on absence of malware. It's not a functional approval process by Apple - and also doesn't mean your software must go through the Mac App Store. They specifically stated that during WWDC.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 4509968
bbeagle said:
I still don't get this attitude. Sell your app at Best Buy and see how much they charge you to do that.

Good luck opening your own store to sell you app, or creating your own website and getting anywhere near the same traffic and sales.

Owning a storefront is a BIG thing. There aren't that many. Nobody gives people free or near free access to their stores. It costs a lot of money. Spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and open an app store yourself, and charge people 1%. See how that works for you.
Click to expand...

Amazon, eBay, Newegg, they all allow 3rd party sales for significantly less then what Apple charges. Also, Apple's App Store doesn't give sellers anywhere near as much traffic as you think it does. We're talking about the Mac App Store, not iOS. If it had even HALF of what the iOS store traffic gives, then it wouldn't be as dead as it is today. (this is just my personal opinion of course).
[doublepost=1539969899][/doublepost]
JosephAW said:
Because in the next few years it will be required.
Click to expand...

That's one sure fire way to kill the Pro market beyond Apple's neglect of that segment.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Marekul, Aloft085, !!! and 2 others
bbeagle said:
I still don't get this attitude. Sell your app at Best Buy and see how much they charge you to do that. Most retail items are priced at 50-100% of what they get them for.

Good luck opening your own store to sell you app, or creating your own website and getting anywhere near the same traffic and sales.

Owning a storefront is a BIG thing. There aren't that many. Nobody gives people free or near free access to their stores. It costs a lot of money. Spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and open an app store yourself, and charge people 1%. See how that works for you.
Click to expand...
No one sells apps at Best Buy anymore. People sell apps through a handful of payment processors that can handle the EU VAT. They typically charge about 10% instead of Apple's 30%. In terms of internet sales, Apple's 30% does give the developer a premium experience. That comes at a cost of a horrible App Review experience.

However, I haven't found that the App Store translates to a huge bump in sales. I sell both direct and through the App Store. 70% of my sales are still direct. That comes with a cost of customer confusion over which version to buy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mariogt, SyneRyder and Marekul
shareef777 said:
Figure it's for "advertising" their apps. Though I agree, 30% is an obscene figure for Apple to charge. The App Store is so dead right now, you'd of thought Apple would of dropped that fee long ago. I've literally only paid for ONE app since the Mac Store inception (Pixelmator).
[doublepost=1539968549][/doublepost]

You can't. The App Store has restrictions on the type of apps and how it interacts with the system. iStat menus is a prime example. The App Store version isn't the same one as you'd get from their site.
Click to expand...
You can install anything you want, meaning devs can choose the App Store and everything it entails, or direct downloads. Is there any Mac app you want that you can’t install?
 
Spock said:
I was not as specific as I should have been, if future versions of MacOS do not allow applications to be installed on my Mac at all unless they are signed by Apple, it will not make me a happy Mac user.
Click to expand...
Agreed more or less. I prefer the curated model of Apple over the free-for-all, Wild West model of Google Play. Sometimes that means I can’t get an app (I might never know). If that screening process weeds out dubious actors, perfect. If it weed out devs who are being charged too much, not good.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 88Keys and martyjmclean
Kabeyun said:
You can install anything you want, meaning devs can choose the App Store and everything it entails, or direct downloads. Is there any Mac app you want that you can’t install?
Click to expand...

I meant developers can't add any app they want to the App Store. As I mentioned, the iStats app in the App Store is limited compared to the full version they sell on their own site.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Marekul
Unfortunately Apple seems to be a slow match to totally locking down macOS like iOS is locked down. This is my primary fear of the Mac line switching to ARM-based CPUs. I bet that change would come bundled with a version of macOS that can only run apps downloaded through the app store and no web downloads period.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Val-kyrie, Marekul, audiophilosophy and 4 others
Spock said:
I was not as specific as I should have been, if future versions of MacOS do not allow applications to be installed on my Mac at all unless they are signed by Apple, it will not make me a happy Mac user.
Click to expand...
You misread the article. Currently you can have a signed ID or not. Now there is an option for signed ID developers which is notarization. In future, these signed ID developers will have to notarize their apps. It doesn’t affect non-signed apps.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Aloft085 and MichaelJohnston
alex2792 said:
The Mac App Store is deader than a dead zombie. Why would any developer pay Apple 30% when they can just have people buy a license from their website/store and keep all the money?
Click to expand...

Why? For the same reason retaiers will pay $200 per square foot for pace in a shopping mall. The are buying customers they would otherwise never get.

If you owned shoe store you could save a lot of money by renting space some place cheaper but then how many peoplr would walk in from of your store. At the Mall you have customers who did not even know about your company and foubd out about you because there were there for some other reason. The App Store is very much like that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dj64Mk7 and lec0rsaire
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back