How we check apps

1. The scan, for every app

When an app is submitted, a scan reads its link, its website and, for a Mac App Store or GitHub link, that record. It never downloads or runs the app, so it says nothing about what the app does on your Mac.

The scan holds an app for a person to look at when:

• the link is not valid, or is a link shortener
• the site answers with an error, sends back an empty page, cannot be reached, or looks parked or unfinished
• nothing on the site or the listing mentions a Mac (Mac App Store apps and GitHub releases aside)
• it is an iPhone or iPad app with no Mac version, or its Mac App Store record or GitHub project cannot be confirmed
• the listing or the site uses words we do not list, or the description is full of links
• another listing on the same site was turned down, or another live app from someone else uses the same site
• the listing disagrees with the site: it says there is a free version but the site reads as paid only, it names a different kind of Mac chip than the site, or it says open source but the site never says so or links to the code
• the buy link is a link shortener

It also writes down smaller things without holding the app: a site that blocks the scan, a buy link that looks dead, or an icon or screenshot that does not load.

A clean app goes live within minutes and says 待检查. A held app is not turned down by the scan alone. It waits for a person.

2. The blue tick, from a person

A blue tick needs a person to have:

1. downloaded the app from the link on its listing, or opened its Mac App Store page
2. installed it and opened it
3. tried it, and seen that it does what its listing says

Only then does the app get a blue tick, with the date. If a person could not open the app, or it does not match its listing, it does not get a tick.

When a downloaded copy is checked with Apple's own tools, the report can also show:

• Developer ID 签名, from codesign
• Gatekeeper and notarization, from spctl and stapler
• Apple silicon, from the app's own build, with lipo
• 运行于, the oldest macOS the app says it needs, from its Info.plist
• Version checked

The report shows the version of the app that was tried. It does not yet record which macOS version it was tried on.

3. What fails

We do not list web apps or iPhone-only apps. A listing that does not pass is turned down by a person, and the maker sees the reason on their status page, so they can fix it and send it again. An app that is listed but not tried stays Check pending, with no tick.

4. What the dated report holds

Each app page has a box called 我们检查了什么. It shows the date of the last check, the version, and only the lines that were really confirmed for that app: signature, notarization, Apple silicon, the macOS it needs, that it was opened and tried, and whether the screenshots come from the real app. A field nobody checked is left off, rather than guessed.

The listing's other facts, like price and what it is built with, come from the maker and its site, and say so.

5. What this is not

It is not a security audit. Nobody reads the app's source code, looks for malware, or watches what it sends over the network. A blue tick means a person tried the app on that date. An update after that date has not been tried unless the report shows a newer date.

For your own checks, read how to tell if a Mac app is safe.

6. Money

Paying never buys a blue tick, a pass on the scan or a place in the votes. A sponsor's app gets the same scan as everyone, and an app that fails it gets its money back. 我们的规则.

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