I have a strange issue with Notarization or Gatekeeper under macOS 10.15.6.
After signing and exporting my App from the Xcode Organizer, I'm using atool to notarize my App (*). This works fine and when everything is finished, I also check with…
I get the status…
So everything is fine.
I create a ZIP archive with the App and some read.me files and put it on my web page so users can download the App.
So now the weird which I don't understand:
If I download the ZIP archive with Safari, extract the archive, I can launch the App and get a notification from gatekeeper that the App was downloaded from the internet, it was checked for malware, none were found and I can launch the App and cancel. The App works fine from now on (why do I get this warning in the first place? Shouldn't the Notarization and signing of the App prevent these kinds of warnings?)
For the App from the ZIP spclt reports:
If I download the archive with the old version of my App using its "search for Update" feature (the App was originally developed and notarised under macOS 10.14, written in Objective C), and extract the ZIP archive and launch the App, it launches without any Gatekeeper warning (which is what I would have expected).
For the App from the ZIP spclt reports:
If I launch the App with the new(!) version of my App (a complete rewrite in Swift, so this is a new Code project, but with the same bundle ID as the old App), extract the Archive and try to launch the downloaded App, the finder gives me an Error message "The App 'App' can not be opened" (no further description). Launching the App fails!!!
For the App from the ZIP spclt reports:
So somehow the Finder seems to treat the ZIP file different, depending of the App which has downloaded the file. This makes no real sense to me. The App is signed and notarized correctly, shouldn't this be enough to let the Finder check that the App is not modified and can be launched without error or warning?
So my question is, why does it behave in three different ways with exactly the same ZIP archive, depending of the App which has downloaded the ZIP archive.
And the most important question is: What do I need to do so that my new version of may App can download the ZIP archive (for the search for Updates" feature) so that when extracting the ZIP the App can be opened successfully without error?
Notes:
(*) Xcode is unable to notarize my App. It always fails with the error, that I had to accept certain contracts first. This seems to be an old of Xcode. This issue seems to occur when a developer is a member of other developer teams. Xcode seems to check the wrong contracts (from the other teams), not your own. Fortunately "atool" works.
After signing and exporting my App from the Xcode Organizer, I'm using atool to notarize my App (*). This works fine and when everything is finished, I also check with…
Code Block spctl -a -vv App
I get the status…
Code Block App: accepted source=Notarized Developer ID origin=Developer ID Application: xxxx
So everything is fine.
I create a ZIP archive with the App and some read.me files and put it on my web page so users can download the App.
So now the weird which I don't understand:
If I download the ZIP archive with Safari, extract the archive, I can launch the App and get a notification from gatekeeper that the App was downloaded from the internet, it was checked for malware, none were found and I can launch the App and cancel. The App works fine from now on (why do I get this warning in the first place? Shouldn't the Notarization and signing of the App prevent these kinds of warnings?)
For the App from the ZIP spclt reports:
Code Block App: accepted source=Notarized Developer ID origin=Developer ID Application: xxxx
If I download the archive with the old version of my App using its "search for Update" feature (the App was originally developed and notarised under macOS 10.14, written in Objective C), and extract the ZIP archive and launch the App, it launches without any Gatekeeper warning (which is what I would have expected).
For the App from the ZIP spclt reports:
Code Block App: accepted source=Notarized Developer ID origin=Developer ID Application: xxxx
If I launch the App with the new(!) version of my App (a complete rewrite in Swift, so this is a new Code project, but with the same bundle ID as the old App), extract the Archive and try to launch the downloaded App, the finder gives me an Error message "The App 'App' can not be opened" (no further description). Launching the App fails!!!
For the App from the ZIP spclt reports:
Code Block App.app: File created by an AppSandbox, exec/open not allowed
So somehow the Finder seems to treat the ZIP file different, depending of the App which has downloaded the file. This makes no real sense to me. The App is signed and notarized correctly, shouldn't this be enough to let the Finder check that the App is not modified and can be launched without error or warning?
So my question is, why does it behave in three different ways with exactly the same ZIP archive, depending of the App which has downloaded the ZIP archive.
And the most important question is: What do I need to do so that my new version of may App can download the ZIP archive (for the search for Updates" feature) so that when extracting the ZIP the App can be opened successfully without error?
Notes:
(*) Xcode is unable to notarize my App. It always fails with the error, that I had to accept certain contracts first. This seems to be an old of Xcode. This issue seems to occur when a developer is a member of other developer teams. Xcode seems to check the wrong contracts (from the other teams), not your own. Fortunately "atool" works.
