Over the weekend, a number of Mac apps failed to launch because of the expiration of certificates. Before, despite certificate expiration, the apps already shipped for purchase will run. However, that changed with the Sierra update, which uses provisional profile to check whether an app is Apple certified or not.
This event happened on all Mac apps directly downloaded from their websites instead through the Mac App Store. Programs which failed to launch include 1Passoword, Soulver and PDFPen. The said apps reported immediate crashes on launch, according to Mac Rumors. The developers was able to apologize quickly and make fixes over the course of weekend.
The issue, which is rooted from the app's code signing certificates expiration, was not a problem before. But since the Apple's requirement of apps to have a provisioning profile, the developers were surprised that their apps will fail to launch if they haven't renewed their code signing certificate.
The provisioning profile means that the app has been cross-checked with an online database, and is allowed to do system actions or entitlements. The profile is signed using the developer's code signing certificate - which made the apps fail to launch since the certificates of the Mac apps on question are invalid due to expiration.
The developers also admit their shortcoming since they were already aware that the certificates will be expiring soon, 9to5mac reported. "We knew the developer certificate was going to expire on Saturday, but thought nothing of it because we believed those were only necessary when publishing a new version," according to one blog post from 1Password developers.
For the Mac Apps developers, the only solution for the problem to stop from recurring is to renew their certificates long before they expire. AgileBits, one of the developers yet to have their certificates to expire by 2022 stated that they are planning to renew their licenses far before it expires.
