Apple Encourages Developers to Get Their Mac Apps Notarized

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.

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.

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.

Tag: Mac App Store

Top Rated Comments

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Spock

8 months ago

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.

Rating: 29 Votes

alex2792

8 months ago

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?

Rating: 27 Votes

Spock

8 months ago

You can install anything you want.

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.

Rating: 20 Votes

Kabeyun

8 months ago

You can install anything you want.

Rating: 17 Votes

bbeagle

8 months ago

Though I agree, 30% is an obscene figure for Apple to charge.

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.

Rating: 11 Votes

guzhogi

8 months ago

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?

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.

Rating: 7 Votes

oneMadRssn

8 months ago

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.

Rating: 7 Votes

Starfia

8 months ago

The Mac App Store is deader than a dead zombie.

So, dead zombies are at minimum alive and newly redesigned?

Rating: 6 Votes

mmcneil

8 months ago

Given the amount of malware and the many mechanisms being used to deliver it, I think this a good step for the vast majority of users. It doesn’t say Apple is going to approve of the content just scan it for malware and sign it.

Rating: 6 Votes

shareef777

8 months ago

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.

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).
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Because in the next few years it will be required.

That's one sure fire way to kill the Pro market beyond Apple's neglect of that segment.

Rating: 5 Votes

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