[Bug] App fails to launch - damaged and cant be opened on macos 15.6

[LaughingBubba]

Description

App fails to launch. See screen grab.

Environment

• OS: macOS 15.6
• Ferrite version: 0.2.9
• Installation method: pre-built binary

Steps to Reproduce

1. Download DMG arm64
2. Open and drag app to Applications
3. launch

-- OR --

1. Download tar for arm64
2. unzip
3. copy to applications
4. launch

Both methods resulting the same error.

Expected Behavior

Application launches.

Actual Behavior

Crashes complaining the app is damaged and cant be opened.

Screenshots

Log Output

• None

Additional Context

• Nope

Regression

This is my first time installing this app.

[OlaProeis]

@LaughingBubba
Sorry this blocked your install, and thank you for the clear steps and version.

macOS 15 is strict about apps from the internet. Our release .app is built in CI, but we do not yet ship a Developer ID signed and notarized build, so the system may refuse to run it and show a generic "damaged" message.

Things that often help for a one-off test: Right-click the app, Open, and confirm, or clear the quarantine flag in Terminal, for example:
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /path/to/Ferrite.app
If that does not help, say what you see after that and we can narrow it down.

Long term, real fixes are signing and notarization on our side, which we want to do; I will link this issue when we have a concrete plan or a signed channel.

[timburlowski]

Eager to try once you resolve this one

[axelgenus]

Using xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Ferrite.app does indeed work but the notarization would help a lot Ferrite adoption.

PS: I am on MacOS 26.5.1.

[OlaProeis]

Thanks @axelgenus for confirming the workaround, that matches what we see on macOS 15.x as well.

This isn’t a corrupted download. GitHub release builds are packaged as a proper Ferrite.app, but they are not Developer ID signed or notarized. On macOS 15.x (including 15.6), Gatekeeper often blocks first launch and shows a generic “damaged” message for quarantined, unsigned apps.

To install today (pick one):

Terminal (most reliable on 15.x):

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Ferrite.app
Adjust the path if the app isn’t under /Applications.

Homebrew (often smoother):

brew tap olaproeis/ferrite
brew install --cask ferrite
Finder: Control-click → Open → Open again, and/or System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway after a blocked attempt.

We’ve added a dedicated install/troubleshooting page for this in v0.3.1:
https://github.com/OlaProeis/Ferrite/blob/0.3.1-experimental/docs/install/macos.md
(It will be on the release page once 0.3.1 ships.)

About notarization: we’d like macOS installs to be friction-free, but 0.3.1 does not add Apple notarization, GitHub CI macOS artifacts remain unsigned for now. The workarounds above are the supported path for direct downloads. We’ll keep this issue open and update it if we add signed/notarized macOS releases in the future.

If xattr still fails after that, please reply with your exact macOS version, install method (DMG vs tar), and whether xattr -l /Applications/Ferrite.app shows com.apple.quarantine.