Ahead of the launch of macOS Catalina, which Apple says will "soon be available," Apple is asking developers to submit Mac apps compatible with Catalina to the Mac App Store.

Apple encourages developers to take advantage of macOS Catalina technologies like Sign in with Apple, Sidecar, Core ML 3, and Metal. Apple also highlights Mac Catalyst, designed to bring iPad apps to the Mac.

macos catalina wallpaper

macOS Catalina will soon be available to hundreds of millions of users around the world. With macOS Catalina, your Mac apps can take advantage of Sign in with Apple, Sidecar, and the latest advances in Core ML 3, and Metal. And with Mac Catalyst, you can bring your iPad apps to Mac. Build your apps using Xcode 11, test them on a Mac computer running the macOS Catalina GM seed, and submit them for review.

Separately, for apps that are designed to be distributed outside of the ‌Mac App Store‌, Apple has reminded developers of a new notarization requirement.

Apple is requiring apps that are distributed outside of the ‌Mac App Store‌ to be notarized by Apple to run on macOS Catalina. First introduced in macOS Mojave, the notarization process is aimed at protecting Mac users from malicious and harmful apps.

To further protect users on macOS Catalina, we're working with developers to make sure all software, whether distributed on the App Store or outside of it, is signed or notarized by Apple. This will give users more confidence that the software they download and run, no matter where they get it from, has been checked for known security issues.

In June, we announced that all Mac software distributed outside the Mac App Store must be notarized by Apple in order to run by default on macOS Catalina. Make sure to test all versions of your software on the macOS Catalina GM seed and submit it to Apple to be notarized.

For notarization, Apple offers trusted non ‌Mac App Store‌ developers Developer IDs that are required to allow the Gatekeeper function on macOS to install non ‌Mac App Store‌ apps.

Notarization is not required for apps that are distributed through the ‌Mac App Store‌, and Apple recently relaxed its notarization rules, giving developers until January 2020 to comply.

Apple today released the golden master version of macOS Catalina to developers, which represents the final version of the software that will be provided to the public.

It's still not known when macOS Catalina will launch, but it could be as early as tomorrow based on previously leaked info from Apple's Danish site.

Tag: Mac App Store

Top Rated Comments

Starfia Avatar
Starfia
59 months ago
Apple is requiring apps that are distributed outside of the Mac App Store to be notarized by Apple to run on macOS Catalina.
To be clear, that is "to run by default," yes? Users can still bypass Gatekeeper and run Mac apps from any source they like?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jinnj Avatar
jinnj
59 months ago

I’ve already purchased a laptop and run exclusively Linux on it in anticipation of MacOS jumping the shark soon.

I was exclusively Linux from 2007-2011, when I picked up a MacBook Air and switched to mostly MacOS.

the switchover made sense then. Apple was becoming very developer and geek friendly then.

it’s making a lot less sense lately. They’re way to full of themselves now. Worse than Microsoft ever was
Dude you're full of it. You are not affected by the App signing, if you can easily move to Linux that means your app was never meant OS X. For developers nothing has changed in the MacOS environment. You can still release unsigned apps (like many do). All of the dev tools have gotten better over time.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bwillwall Avatar
bwillwall
59 months ago
I have a feeling Apple won't be bragging about the adoption rate of this release in WWDC 2020. Sure it will eventually catch on, but me and many others are not ready to give up unsigned and 32 bit apps with our current use cases.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
StellarVixen Avatar
StellarVixen
59 months ago
sudo spctl --master-disable


Sorry, Apple. I am not gonna accept you turning Mac OS into walled garden like iOS. The day that happens, I am moving to some Linux distro, regardless of how much I love the Mac. Enough is enough.


And, another thing. Many developers are not happy with you taking 30 percent of their earnings, plus paying 99 per year to be "registered". Stop milking us like cows! When is it enough for you, if ever???
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ritsuka Avatar
Ritsuka
59 months ago
Yes, notarization is required only if the app is signed with a Developer ID certificate. Unsigned app will still run like in 10.14.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Spock Avatar
Spock
59 months ago

Yes, notarization is required only if the app is signed with a Developer ID certificate. Unsigned app will still run like in 10.14.
That a good thing, I don’t mind Apple gatekeeping my iOS devices but I like to have full control over what I install on my Mac. I like to have emulators and torrent software on my Mac and I’m sure they won’t sign those kinds of apps.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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