Notarize with Xcode and command-line tools

You must notarize your application to distribute it outside of the Mac App Store. The process verifies your application, ensuring it has a Developer ID code signature and doesn’t contain malicious content. You can notarize your application with Xcode, Xcode command-line tools, or Unity Build AutomationA continuous integration service for Unity projects that automates the process of creating builds on Unity’s servers. More info
See in Glossary.

Unity can create an Xcode project that represents your Unity project during the build process. You can use this Xcode project to notarize your application. Follow the macOS application build steps to create an Xcode project from your Unity project. For information on notarizing the Xcode project, refer to Notarizing macOS Software Before Distribution.

Note: Notarization isn’t required to distribute your application through the Mac App Store. The Mac App Store’s upload process includes content validation similar to notarization. Refer to Delivering to the Mac App Store for more information.

Use Xcode command-line tools

If you can’t notarize your application in the Xcode environment or want to control notarization manually, you can use Xcode’s command-line tools.

To do this, you need the following:

• An Apple ID.
• An Apple device that runs macOS 10.15 Catalina or later.
• Xcode 11 or later. This installs the required command-line tools.
• An Apple Developer Program membership. If you don’t have an Apple Developer membership, sign up at Apple Developer.

Compress the application

Apple requires that you compress your application before you upload it for notarization. To do this, use the following steps:

1. Open Terminal and navigate to the directory the application is in.

2. Run the following command where:
   • "application_name.app" is your built application.
   • "application_name.zip" is the name of the compressed file to generate.

ditto -c -k 
    --sequesterRsrc 
    --keepParent "application_name.app" "application_name.zip" 

This compresses your application and outputs the compressed file to the same directory as your application.

Generate an application password

To notarize an application, Apple requires a unique password in a particular format. For information on how to generate an application password, refer to How to generate an app-specific password. The password you generate uses the following format: xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx.

Notarize your application

If you are using Xcode 13 or later, use Apple’s notarytool to upload and notarize your application. For more information, refer to Customizing the Notarization Workflow and Enable notarization on an older version of macOS.

Note: As of November 1st 2023, Apple have deprecated the use of altool for notarization. You must update your workflow to use notarytool to notarize your macOS applications. For more information, refer to Migrating to the latest notarization tool.

Staple the application

After notarizing your application, any device that runs it can verify that it has a code signature and has no malicious content. However, the device can only perform this verification online. To let a device verify your application without an internet connection, you must staple the application. For information about stapling, refer to Staple the Ticket to Your Distribution.

To staple your application,

1. Open Terminal and navigate to the directory the application is in.
2. Run the following command where "ApplicationName.app" is the name of your application:

xcrun stapler staple "ApplicationName.app"

Additional resources

• Code sign your application