The Mac app is signed and notarized

Update, August 17, 2026: This post originally ran as “The app is signed by Apple”, which gets the roles backwards. Apple doesn’t sign your app for you — it issues the certificate, you sign with it, and Apple notarizes what you submit. Title and wording corrected below. Nothing about the release changed.

Good news for Mac users. The app is now signed with an Apple-issued Developer ID certificate and notarized by Apple. That’s the pair of things macOS looks for, so the download avoids the standard “unidentified developer” warning — Gatekeeper checks the signature and the stapled notarization ticket and lets the app through.

Worth being precise about who does what, because the shorthand everyone uses isn’t how it works. Apple issues you a Developer ID certificate. You sign with it. Then Apple notarizes what you submit. Two steps, two parties.

This took some work to set up, but it was worth it.