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zorinlynx

macrumors G3
Original poster
May 31, 2007
8,348
18,563
Florida, USA
I'm sure many of us have this question, so best get it asked early on:

- Does Catalina make it harder to run unsigned apps? There were rumors about this being possible, including requiring apps to be "notarized" to run at all.
- Are Catalyst apps going to be app-store only, or can they be distributed the same ways as regular apps?
 

loekf

macrumors 6502a
Mar 23, 2015
837
579
Nijmegen, The Netherlands
I'm sure many of us have this question, so best get it asked early on:

- Does Catalina make it harder to run unsigned apps? There were rumors about this being possible, including requiring apps to be "notarized" to run at all.
- Are Catalyst apps going to be app-store only, or can they be distributed the same ways as regular apps?

Looks like apps not going via the app store have to be notarized, so sent to Apple as well, otherwise gatekeeper will block them.

Pretty much PITA. At the moment you can self sign apps if needed.
 
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zorinlynx

macrumors G3
Original poster
May 31, 2007
8,348
18,563
Florida, USA
Looks like apps not going via the app store have to be notarized, so sent to Apple as well, otherwise gatekeeper will block them.

Pretty much PITA. At the moment you can self sign apps if needed.

But the real question is, can you still right-click to open an app, bypassing Gatekeeper?

There are a few open-source app developers out there that don't want to deal with all this, and just let users override Gatekeeper to run their software. I want to know that the Mac is still an open platform (unlike iOS) and isn't essentially requiring permission from Apple for launching apps.
 

fisherking

macrumors G4
Jul 16, 2010
11,252
5,562
ny somewhere
before anyone panics... can someone running catalina confirm? seems we would still have the option to bypass if we need to...
 

stiligFox

macrumors 68000
Apr 24, 2009
1,562
1,645
10.0.1.3
Okay, so it's not as nice as I'd like. You have to go into System Preferences and manually okay the application - you can no longer just right click it and force open it.

Screen Shot 2019-06-06 at 12.24.31 PM.png
Screen Shot 2019-06-06 at 12.25.19 PM.png
Screen Shot 2019-06-06 at 12.28.31 PM.png
Screen Shot 2019-06-06 at 12.28.44 PM.png
 
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StellarVixen

macrumors 68040
Mar 1, 2018
3,253
5,779
Somewhere between 0 and 1
Okay, so it's not as nice as I'd like. You have to go into System Preferences and manually okay the application - you can no longer just right click it and force open it.

View attachment 841315 View attachment 841316 View attachment 841317 View attachment 841318
Try to enable "from anywhere".


In Terminal, type following command:
Code:
sudo spctl --master-disable

...hit enter, type password, then hit enter again and see if it works.


If "Anywhere" option shows up, try to install and open unsigned app now.
 

stiligFox

macrumors 68000
Apr 24, 2009
1,562
1,645
10.0.1.3
Uh oh. On that note -
Try to enable "from anywhere".


In Terminal, type following command:
Code:
sudo spctl --master-disable

...hit enter, type password, then hit enter again and see if it works.


If "Anywhere" option shows up, try to install and open unsigned app now.
I can't find another unsigned app to test, but running that command did enable the "Anywhere" option!
Screen Shot 2019-06-06 at 3.46.06 PM.png
 
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stiligFox

macrumors 68000
Apr 24, 2009
1,562
1,645
10.0.1.3
Hm, good.


Now, I cannot remember some app that you can test out. Maybe others can help.
For what it’s worth - I downloaded the Pacifist and it did the classic “you downloaded this on [today’s date] are you sure you want to open it?”

I don’t know if that’s a signed app or not but it certainly is working fine!
 

StellarVixen

macrumors 68040
Mar 1, 2018
3,253
5,779
Somewhere between 0 and 1
For what it’s worth - I downloaded the Pacifist and it did the classic “you downloaded this on [today’s date] are you sure you want to open it?”

I don’t know if that’s a signed app or not but it certainly is working fine!
If it says:

“(app name) is from an unidentified developer. Are you sure you want to open it?”

...that means app is unsigned. If it just says: “is an app downloaded from Internet”, then it is just an app outside of App Store , but signed one.
 

stiligFox

macrumors 68000
Apr 24, 2009
1,562
1,645
10.0.1.3
If it says:

“(app name) is from an unidentified developer. Are you sure you want to open it?”

...that means app is unsigned. If it just says: “is an app downloaded from Internet”, then it is just an app outside of App Store , but signed one.

Ah, fair enough! Almost everything I have these days is signed. The one app I cared about that I know for sure is unsigned (Burn) is 32bit anyway :(

Oh well - that’s why I’ll have a Snow Leopard VM ready for 32bit stuff :p
 

Sarrasine

macrumors newbie
Jun 7, 2019
1
0
Uh oh. On that note -

I can't find another unsigned app to test, but running that command did enable the "Anywhere" option! View attachment 841382
Try AppZapper. It is from unknown developer, but it seems a little shady. Also, according to Apple control clicking the app should bring up the "Open Anyway" option, but that support article is dated May 14, 2019, so...
 

stiligFox

macrumors 68000
Apr 24, 2009
1,562
1,645
10.0.1.3
Try AppZapper. It is from unknown developer, but it seems a little shady. Also, according to Apple control clicking the app should bring up the "Open Anyway" option, but that support article is dated May 14, 2019, so...
Screen Shot 2019-06-07 at 4.49.32 PM.png

Ironically, after I opened it, macOS told me it wants access to my contacts. Shady indeed!
 
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