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macosmacos-catalinanotarize

Is notarization necessary for Mac App store release?

Is it necessary to notarize app before uploading to Apple App Store? I come across some article says that notarization is needed for non-app store distribution, while apple will run notarization before approving an app store version. Anyone can confirm?

The reason I ask this question is because I notarized the app for outside Mac App Store distribution and it works fine. For the Mac app store build, I can upload and distribute it and it works fine on Mac, only have issue on Catalina(beta) when user try to open, see attached pic. Wonder if it's related to notarization.

enter image description here

Update: the issue was not due to notarization, but due to code signing. One of the node binary is not signed before uploading to MAS, maybe Catalina has a more strict rule checking it.

Solution

  • No, it's not required. Apps downloaded from the app store are not notarized. You can verify it using spctl command.

    spctl -a -v /Applications/Pages.app 
/Applications/Pages.app: accepted
source=Mac App Store

    Gatekeeper will check notarization only if the app is downloaded from outside the App Store.
    From Safely open apps on your Mac

    When you install Mac apps, plug-ins, and installer packages from outside the App Store, macOS checks the Developer ID signature and notarization status to verify that the software is from an identified developer and that it has not been altered.