I am not enrolled in the Apple developer program and need to create a small Safari app extension helper that will be shared with my colleagues within the company. Is it somehow possible for me to distribute the app in some way without forcing everyone to disable a gatekeeper?
The fact that you mentioned Gatekeeper suggest that you’re working on the Mac. Is that right?
If so, you have three options:
Ad hoc code signing [1]
Apple Development code signing with a Personal Team
Signing with a non-Apple code-signing identity
None of them are compatible with Gatekeeper. Your users will have bypass Gatekeeper to run your code. However, that doesn’t mean disabling Gatekeeper entirely. Users can control click on the app in the Finder, choose Open, and use that to bypass Gatekeeper on a case-by-case basis.
Finally, not all of these options are compatible with all deployment scenarios. For example:
Some subsystem may perform additional checks.
If your code claims restricted entitlements, you’ll need a provisioning profile to authorise their use, and only Apple Development signing can get you that. And even with that, many capabilities are unavailable to a Personal Team.
Oh, I guess there’s one more option: Distribute your app as source and have each user build it themselves using their own Personal Team.
Share and Enjoy
—
Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"
[1] This is different from Ad Hoc deployment on iOS.