Why does the Finder warn that my files are from an unidentified developer?

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martin
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Why does the Finder warn that my files are from an unidentified developer?

Post by martin »

When you try to open a previously saved Nisus Writer file using the Finder (eg: by double clicking the file's icon), you might see a warning alert like this:

unident2.png
unident2.png (59.6 KiB) Viewed 23657 times

The warning claims that the file "cannot be opened because it is from an unidentified developer". This is false. Nisus Software is part of the Apple Developer program. We sign and notarize our apps as required by Apple to properly identify them.

So why is the Finder showing this warning alert? Ultimately we don't know, since it's controlled by macOS. But the most likely cause is that the "Open with" settings for the file have been edited. Changing which app opens an individual file seems to trigger this misbehavior (bug?) in the Finder. For more details you might read this article on the underlying technical issues.


How Can I Bypass the Warning?
If you encounter the above warning, you can bypass it in several ways:

1. Open the file from inside Nisus Writer using the menu File > Open.
     -or-
2. Right-click the file in the Finder and use the "Open" command from the contextual menu.
→ You will see the same alert, but now with a button to bypass it.


How Can I Prevent the Warning?
To prevent future occurrences of the warning alert we recommend that you do not use the "Open with" options in the Finder to alter individual files. You should instead instruct the Finder to open all Nisus files in Nisus Writer en-masse, so all files of a particular type open in Nisus Writer.
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