macOS protecting mac software from being copied

[Nikh]

Mac App Store has one other advantage - it allows huge auditory to see and access your application. Without that you'll have hard time on advertising your application to customers.

Spending a lot of time on protecting your app from stealing also isn't a good idea - people who don't like to pay for apps will not buy it anyway.
I checked some not cheap successful apps, and they protect their apps just by creating file with somehow encoded trial start date - removing that file resets trial period. However, they have successful business.

Also, MAS protection is not ideal too, and apps from MAS can be copied to other computers after some tweaks.

 

[maflynn]

Also, MAS protection is not ideal too, and apps from MAS can be copied to other computers after some tweaks.

No copy protection is fool-proof and I think that's the gist of the thread.

How locked down does a developer want to impose on his apps, which could actually affect sales as people wouldn't want to be bothered.

I'd like to see the OP chime in again. There's been a lot of talk from others that's really useful, but to get a clearer picture of his needs and why he doesn't want to use the MAS, we need further input from him.

 

[xStep]

No copy protection is fool-proof and I think that's the gist of the thread.

True, but the OP wanted to know about what options are available, not opinions about copy protection.

How locked down does a developer want to impose on his apps, which could actually affect sales as people wouldn't want to be bothered.

I'd like to see the OP chime in again. There's been a lot of talk from others that's really useful, but to get a clearer picture of his needs and why he doesn't want to use the MAS, we need further input from him.

Little of the talk has been useful to the question at hand. A clearer picture is only helpful if people stay on-topic; What are the available copy protection options for OS X apps?

 

[Consultant]

Not possible, even if you are billion dollar company such as Microsoft or Adobe.

Even Steam games or subscription based game such as WOW are pirated.

But if you price it right and have it easy to buy (such as the Mac App Store), you'll likely to get a larger audience.

 

[joshua.segall]

search drm or software license manager

I think there are a bunch of options out there for this. Search digital rights management software or software licence management, maybe keygen or license key software and I think you'll find what you need.