Why Should I Get My Mac Application Signed and Certified by Apple?

Why Should I Get My Mac Application Signed and Certified by Apple?

by Robert A Gendernalik

So, you've got your Mac App done and your ready to distribute?

Your countless long hours and endless nights of hard work in planning, developing and testing your new Mac App is finally done. With a great sigh of relief you are about to decide on a distribution method for your brand new app. But being in a mad rush to get to market with your new killer app you have not yet completed a crucial step on the path to distribution... getting your app digitally signed with a Developer ID issued by Apple.

Here's why you need your Mac app signed. Without first having gone through the extra pain an agony of getting your Developer ID from Apple, you are excluded from selling your app through the Apple Store AND thanks to Apple's Gatekeeper your customer will likely get an annoying if not unnerving message "Application not installed because it is not signed" when they installing from your MacDiskImage (DMG) file.

According to Apple, the safest place for your customers to download apps is Apple's Mac App Store. But hey, not all of us are willing to be confined by a single distribution channel and need a way to distribute applications to customers that assures them of a safe and malicious free download. So what's the solution? Get your app digitally signed and thereby guarantee your customer of a safe download and avoiding altogether the dreaded "Application not installed because it is not signed" message.

And how is that done? As a Mac Developer, you should get your unique Developer ID from Apple and use it to digitally sign your apps. The Developer ID allows Gatekeeper to block apps created by unscrupulous developers and to verify that apps haven't been tampered with. If an app that was developed by an unknown developer - one with no Developer ID - is downloaded by your customer, Gatekeeper can block the app from being installed thereby assuring your customer of a safe download. Of course the customer can override Gatekeeper by changing the settings on the General tab of the Security & Privacy panel in System Settings, but that is a whole other article for another time.

OK, so now you have your app AND it's digitally signed and certified by using your Developer ID, so now what? The final step is getting your DMG built, you need to get your app into a DMG file for distribution on CD or onto your website where your customer's can easily download and install. Congratulations, your killer app is now ready to hit the 'shelves' and turn your rags to riches dreams into reality!