Gatekeeper on macOS helps protect users from downloading and installing malicious software by checking for a Developer ID certificate from apps distributed outside the Mac App Store. Make sure to sign any apps, plug-ins, or installer packages that you distribute to let Gatekeeper know they’re safe to install. And now, you can give users even more confidence in your apps running on macOS Mojave by submitting them to Apple to be notarized.
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Dec 12, 2016 However, there are a lot of great apps out there, particularly open source apps, that for numerous reasons are not available via the mac app store. Many of these third-party apps are thoroughly tested and have worked on macs and other computers for ages. Apple.appstore folder will open in Finder. Delete the contents of this folder. Relaunch the Mac App Store. Note that this is a system cache.
Prepare for Distribution
A Developer ID certificate lets Gatekeeper verify that you’re a trusted developer when a user opens your app, plug-in, or installer package downloaded from outside the Mac App Store. Software signed with a Developer ID certificate can also take advantage of advanced capabilities such as CloudKit and Apple Push Notifications.
Generate your Developer ID certificate.
You can generate your Developer ID certificate in Xcode or in the Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles section of your developer account. Please note that you must be the Account Holder of your development team in the Apple Developer Program.
Sign and test your app.
Enable the hardened runtime capability and declare entitlements for the functions your app requires in Xcode. Archive your app and test the end-user experience of launching your Developer ID-signed app using a Gatekeeper-enabled Mac.
Xcode
To build your apps for macOS and submit them to be notarized by Apple, use Xcode 10 or later, available from the Mac App Store.
Get Your Software Notarized![]()
Give users even more confidence in your software by submitting it to Apple to be notarized. The service automatically scans your Developer ID-signed software and performs security checks. When it’s ready to export for distribution, a ticket is attached to your software to let Gatekeeper know it’s been notarized.
For step-by-step details on uploading your Mac software to be notarized, read Notarizing Your App Before Distribution and the Xcode Help Guide.
Submitting with Xcode
Unpublished Software. It’s easy to get unpublished software notarized with the Export process or xcodebuild. Custom build workflows are supported by the xcrun altool command line tool for uploading, and you can use xcrun stapler to attach the ticket to the package.
Published Software. To submit software you’ve already published, upload it using the xcrun altool command line tool. Several file types are supported, including .zip, .pkg, and .dmg, so you can upload the same package you already distribute to users.
Viewing Upload Logs![]()
In addition to checking for malicious software, the notary service catches common code signing problems that can prevent your software from installing properly. If notarization fails for your upload, check the status log for details.
Upcoming Requirements
When users on macOS Mojave 10.14 or later 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.
Mac apps, installer packages, and kernel extensions that are signed with Developer ID must also be notarized by Apple in order to run by default on macOS Catalina.
Newly upgraded to Latest released OS X - El Capitan (10.11.5). Now when I open App Store app, the spinning wheel to right of buttons on upper left side continues to spin with no content visible below on any tab button. Originally, I saw that 1-update was available. I read an earlier note to use Activity Monitor and kill processes related to App Store. Saw 2 that had long process times (storeassetd, storedownloadd).
Plus now see App Store Web Content in '(not responding state). How do I fix this??? After hours of trying different ways of re-installing an app from the App Store (deleting the app in Launchpad, enabling app store debug menu and resetting application, rebooting, etc) the only thing that worked for me was deleting the following folders and rebooting: /Library/Caches/storeaccount/Library/Caches/storeassets/Library/Caches/storedownload/Library/Caches/storeinappdAfter this I was finally able to see an 'Install' button next to the app I deleted rather than an 'Open' button. In addition, 5 other apps I had deleted were originally showing under the Updates tab as having updates. After deleting the above 4 folders, those apps were no longer showing up under the Updates tab.I think it's absolutely ridiculous that there isn't an easier way to re-download/re-install an app from the App Store.
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