Catalina Refusing App Installation (and how to trick it!)

Hallo Fellow Nerds, Geeks and Cyborgs,

Not sure whether this is an MPU post or an Automators post, but I suspect that y’all are the kind of people who are spelunking in the Catalina Dev Betas. It’s pretty, pretty awesome, but after performing a Nuclear Winter on my iMac and reinstalling a fresh OS, I realised that many of the apps I rely on are now bidden verboten by Security and Privacy. Basically, the Gatekeeper is getting more and more suspicious.

For instance, I couldn’t install Razer Synapse to run KM macros off the little gaming doover I have cobbled together.

But, there’s an easy way out. OSX Daily has the answer here: How to Allow Apps from Anywhere in macOS Gatekeeper (Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, Sierra, High Sierra)

Let me quote liberally from the article to save you unnecessary clicking

How to Allow Apps from Anywhere in Gatekeeper for macOS Mojave, MacOS Sierra

  1. Quit out of System Preferences
  2. Open the Terminal app from the /Applications/Utilities/ folder and then enter the following command syntax:

sudo spctl --master-disable

  1. Hit return and authenticate with an admin password

  2. Relaunch System Preferences and go to “Security & Privacy” and the “General” tab

  3. You will now see the “Anywhere” option under ‘Allow apps downloaded from:’ Gatekeeper options

You’ll now be able to open and launch apps from anywhere under macOS Mojave, High Sierra, and Sierra, but be forewarned this turns off Gatekeeper and is not recommended for the vast majority of Mac users.

Allowing apps from anywhere including unidentified developers can potentially leave a Mac vulnerable to certain malware and junkware and should be avoided by all Mac users with the exception of those with genuinely advanced abilities.

Hope this helps someone