How to publish macOS applications?

[stem]

Hi,

first of all I must admit that I'm completely new to macOS.

I have a stand-alone application which works without installation. I'm
publishing the application for Windows resp. Linux by creating a zip
file for each operating system with the executable and some additional files
that are necessary.

Now I've built the application with macOS (64 bits, Cocoa). What is the
best way to publish an application on macOS? Also creating a zip file?

P.S. I've built it with macOS Catalina 10.15.7. On which previous versions
of macOS is my application about to be working?


Thank you! 

stem

[ChrisR]

The standard way to distribute applications is via disk images (dmg), packages (pkg) or via the App Store. You will want to notarize your application or executable, which requires an Apple account. Here are my notes:

https://github.com/neurolabusc/NotarizeFPC

[trev]

A summary of how to deploy a macOS application in the normal way for that operating system may be found in the Wiki here.

The  Wiki's Mac Portal is a good place to start when looking for macOS related information.

Will you be code signing and notarizing your application? Whether or not you do, you should read the Wiki articles Code Signing for macOS and Notarization for macOS 10.14.5+.

P.S. I've built it with macOS Catalina 10.15.7. On which previous versions
of macOS is my application about to be working?

It will depend on a number of things. As an example, whether an Apple API or library which you have used exists in earlier versions of the operating system. You can check the documentation at the Apple Developer site for these details. If you have only used the LCL, then your application should probably work on earlier operating system versions.

[apeoperaio]

In order to prepare dmg I use the dropdmg tool:
https://c-command.com/dropdmg/
Not free, but cheap and easy to use.
Anyway, it has not notarization tools as far as I know. I notarize the dmg using the command line.

[dbannon]

I use https://github.com/andreyvit/create-dmg

It is free and pretty easy to use. Does not sign anything.

I am not paying Apple a fee to allow free software to run. I still see a number of downloads for the MacOS version of my app, so some people manage to cope with holding down a key while opening it for the first time.

Davo

[Igor Kokarev]

I also use this free script to build a DMG:
https://github.com/andreyvit/create-dmg