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Yes: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/mac-help/mh40616/mac https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/mac-help/mh40616/mac > If you try to open an app that isn

by 100721 4y ago

Yes: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/mac-help/mh40616/mac https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/mac-help/mh40616/mac > If you try to open an app that isn’t registered with Apple by an identified developer, you get a warning dialog.

nexus7556 4y ago
A warning dialog is different than being "blocked" as OP suggested
- ketralnis 4y ago
  It is actually blocked. The program is prevented from launching. You can go into the security settings and approve it and then relaunch it (which last I saw, the error message didn't even tell you how to do anymore), but it's not just a "approve/deny?" skippable screen.
  - judge2020 4y ago
    By that same logic, non-hsts SSL certificate expiration warnings are browsers "blocking" you from visiting a website, despite the buttons that allow you to bypass it.
    - acchow 4y ago
      They are blocking you. In Chrome, it's even more complicated. You have to click the very small "More/Advanced Settings" text which doesn't even really look like a button. After that, a button allowing you to proceed appears, but upon clicking you are given a very scary warning.
      - dpkirchner 4y ago
        Sometimes you have to type "thisisunsafe" to bypass the block. Not in any field, just type it with the tab focused.
    - nighthawk454 4y ago
      It's not the same. In the SSL case the browser gives you a bypass button, which is fine (if hidden). Here, there is no bypass button unless you have the secret knowledge to open the app in a certain way. Otherwise the OS entirely refuses to open the app with no bypass button or hint as to how to get around it, while implying "security issues" and "untrustworthiness"
      - ziml77 4y ago
        For certain cert errors in Chrome, there is no button/link to ignore and continue. You actually have to type "thisisunsafe" into the tab. There is no feedback when you are typing this. It will just navigate to the page you were trying to reach as soon as you finish typing.
    - ketralnis 4y ago
      Yeah sure. It seems we're arguing about vocabulary, not functionality
  - nicky0 4y ago
    Pro tip, right click the app and click "Open" in the menu to get a version of the dialog with an approve button. No need to go into settings.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- nighthawk454 4y ago
  It's not really a "warning". It's an alert that says macOS will not open this app. You _have_ to open it via Finder and Control-click + Open or there's no way to get into the program. The first alert does not tell you how to do this, and other methods of launching (e.g. Launchpad) cannot be made to work. So unless you know Apple's secret knock, it's functionally blocked.
  - tpmoney 4y ago
    It's hardly a secret knock. Both the linked help article and the system help both tell you step by step what to do and I don't have an app handy to trigger the dialog, but last I looked the dialog while it didn't give you the steps there has a link directly to the system help with the instructions.
    - salawat 4y ago
      Which no non-techie user will check, which means you will not be able to write software for that platform. Unless, of course, you use a dowmload method that won't set the quarantine bit on MacOSX. wget, for instance. Gatekeeper can go sod itself.
    - daveidol 4y ago
      Trust me - outside of the HN technical crowd - people get very confused or scared by this and do not know how to proceed. It's a non-starter for most software aimed at the 'everyday user' crowd (I've seen the bug reports and customer complaints first hand).
  - alwillis 4y ago
    > So unless you know Apple's secret knock, it's functionally blocked. That's way over the top. All you have to do it right click on the app and select 'open' from the pop-up menu. And it's not like there aren't thousands of articles available via the google machine to explain how to do this. It's just a minor speed bump to prevent unaware but vulnerable users from shooting themselves in the foot.
- jcelerier 4y ago
  > A warning dialog is different than being "blocked" as OP suggested you'd see how many times I've seen users blocked with the "default" dialog you get on first download when things are correctly signed and notarized ... and let's not even talk about the one you get when notarization failed or it's not signed, elderly users really don't know that they have to right-click

by 100721 4y ago

nexus7556 4y ago

A warning dialog is different than being "blocked" as OP suggested

ketralnis 4y ago
It is actually blocked. The program is prevented from launching. You can go into the security settings and approve it and then relaunch it (which last I saw, the error message didn't even tell you how to do anymore), but it's not just a "approve/deny?" skippable screen.
- judge2020 4y ago
  By that same logic, non-hsts SSL certificate expiration warnings are browsers "blocking" you from visiting a website, despite the buttons that allow you to bypass it.
  - acchow 4y ago
    They are blocking you. In Chrome, it's even more complicated. You have to click the very small "More/Advanced Settings" text which doesn't even really look like a button. After that, a button allowing you to proceed appears, but upon clicking you are given a very scary warning.
    - dpkirchner 4y ago
      Sometimes you have to type "thisisunsafe" to bypass the block. Not in any field, just type it with the tab focused.
  - nighthawk454 4y ago
    It's not the same. In the SSL case the browser gives you a bypass button, which is fine (if hidden). Here, there is no bypass button unless you have the secret knowledge to open the app in a certain way. Otherwise the OS entirely refuses to open the app with no bypass button or hint as to how to get around it, while implying "security issues" and "untrustworthiness"
    - ziml77 4y ago
      For certain cert errors in Chrome, there is no button/link to ignore and continue. You actually have to type "thisisunsafe" into the tab. There is no feedback when you are typing this. It will just navigate to the page you were trying to reach as soon as you finish typing.
  - ketralnis 4y ago
    Yeah sure. It seems we're arguing about vocabulary, not functionality
- nicky0 4y ago
  Pro tip, right click the app and click "Open" in the menu to get a version of the dialog with an approve button. No need to go into settings.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
nighthawk454 4y ago
It's not really a "warning". It's an alert that says macOS will not open this app. You _have_ to open it via Finder and Control-click + Open or there's no way to get into the program. The first alert does not tell you how to do this, and other methods of launching (e.g. Launchpad) cannot be made to work. So unless you know Apple's secret knock, it's functionally blocked.
- tpmoney 4y ago
  It's hardly a secret knock. Both the linked help article and the system help both tell you step by step what to do and I don't have an app handy to trigger the dialog, but last I looked the dialog while it didn't give you the steps there has a link directly to the system help with the instructions.
  - salawat 4y ago
    Which no non-techie user will check, which means you will not be able to write software for that platform. Unless, of course, you use a dowmload method that won't set the quarantine bit on MacOSX. wget, for instance. Gatekeeper can go sod itself.
  - daveidol 4y ago
    Trust me - outside of the HN technical crowd - people get very confused or scared by this and do not know how to proceed. It's a non-starter for most software aimed at the 'everyday user' crowd (I've seen the bug reports and customer complaints first hand).
- alwillis 4y ago
  > So unless you know Apple's secret knock, it's functionally blocked. That's way over the top. All you have to do it right click on the app and select 'open' from the pop-up menu. And it's not like there aren't thousands of articles available via the google machine to explain how to do this. It's just a minor speed bump to prevent unaware but vulnerable users from shooting themselves in the foot.
jcelerier 4y ago
> A warning dialog is different than being "blocked" as OP suggested you'd see how many times I've seen users blocked with the "default" dialog you get on first download when things are correctly signed and notarized ... and let's not even talk about the one you get when notarization failed or it's not signed, elderly users really don't know that they have to right-click