Apple recently announced that the developers offering Mac apps outside of the Mac App store would already need to submit them for the notarization process effective February 3, 2020. The notarization process provides the users with more confidence that the distributed software has gone through a thorough inspection by Apple for possible malicious components. In the middle of this year, the company also announced that all software of Mac, which, according to online tech reports, is distributed outside of the Mac App Store should go through notarization process by Apple to run by default on macOS Catalina.
Earlier on, Apple temporarily made an adjustment with its notarization requirements to make the transition simpler, not to mention, to protect the MacOS Catalina users, who continuously use the older version of the software. Currently, the new policies are requiring the developers to have their apps submitted to Apple so they'd undergo notarizing security procedures, or they won't run on macOS Catalina easily. For those who have not yet done so, Apple advises having their software uploaded to the company's notary service and "review the developer log for warnings."
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What Happens After February 3, 2020?
As earlier mentioned, the developers need to upload their software to Apple's notary service, from which the former need to review the developer log for warnings. After February 3, 2020, these particular warnings will turn into errors and need to be fixed to have the software notarized. Essentially, software notarized prior to the given February 3 date will keep on running by default on macOS Catalina.
This was stated by MacRumors on its website adding, "Apple has required new software distributed with an assigned Developer ID outside of the Mac App Store, which needs to undergo notarization so it can run since macOS Mojave 10.14.5, along with the notarizing process designed for the protection of Mac users from harmful and malicious apps.
Signing Apps for the Apple Gatekeeper
Gatekeeper on macOS can help protect the users from downloading and installing software that is malicious through the checking of Developer ID certificate from applications disseminated outside the Mac App Store. For this to happen, the user must sign up any app, installer package, or plug-in that he distributes to allow a Gatekeeper to know he is safe to download and install.
As a result, the users can have more confidence in the apps that run on macOS Mojave by submitting them to Apple to be notarized. Meanwhile, a Developer ID certificate allows the Gatekeeper to verify that the user is a trusted developer when he opens his plug-in, installer package, or an app downloaded from a non-Mac App Store. Additionally, software signed with a Developer ID certificate can take advantage too, of the advanced capabilities like the Apple Push Notifications and CloudKit.can also take advantage of advanced capabilities such as CloudKit and Apple Push Notifications
With the information gathered, a user must generate his Developer ID certificate. He can do so in Xcode or the Identifiers & Profiles section of his developer account. It is important to note that one needs to be the account holder of his development team in the Apple Developer Program to generate a Developer ID certificate.
