# Mac App Store Submission Guide

Since v0.34.0, Electron allows submitting packaged apps to the Mac App Store
(MAS). This guide provides information on: how to submit your app and the
limitations of the MAS build.

**Note:** Submitting an app to Mac App Store requires enrolling [Apple Developer
Program][developer-program], which costs money.

## How to Submit Your App

The following steps introduce a simple way to submit your app to Mac App Store.
However, these steps do not ensure your app will be approved by Apple; you
still need to read Apple's [Submitting Your App][submitting-your-app] guide on
how to meet the Mac App Store requirements.

### Get Certificate

To submit your app to the Mac App Store, you first must get a certificate from
Apple. You can follow these [existing guides][nwjs-guide] on web.

### Get Team ID

Before signing your app, you need to know the Team ID of your account. To locate
your Team ID, Sign in to [Apple Developer Center](https://developer.apple.com/account/),
and click Membership in the sidebar. Your Team ID appears in the Membership
Information section under the team name.

### Sign Your App

After finishing the preparation work, you can package your app by following
[Application Distribution](application-distribution.md), and then proceed to
signing your app.

First, you have to add a `ElectronTeamID` key to your app's `Info.plist`, which
has your Team ID as value:

```xml
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
  ...
  <key>ElectronTeamID</key>
  <string>TEAM_ID</string>
</dict>
</plist>
```

Then, you need to prepare two entitlements files.

`child.plist`:

```xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
  <dict>
    <key>com.apple.security.app-sandbox</key>
    <true/>
    <key>com.apple.security.inherit</key>
    <true/>
  </dict>
</plist>
```

`parent.plist`:

```xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
  <dict>
    <key>com.apple.security.app-sandbox</key>
    <true/>
    <key>com.apple.security.application-groups</key>
    <string>TEAM_ID.your.bundle.id</string>
  </dict>
</plist>
```

You have to replace `TEAM_ID` with your Team ID, and replace `your.bundle.id`
with the Bundle ID of your app.

And then sign your app with the following script:

```bash
#!/bin/bash

# Name of your app.
APP="YourApp"
# The path of your app to sign.
APP_PATH="/path/to/YourApp.app"
# The path to the location you want to put the signed package.
RESULT_PATH="~/Desktop/$APP.pkg"
# The name of certificates you requested.
APP_KEY="3rd Party Mac Developer Application: Company Name (APPIDENTITY)"
INSTALLER_KEY="3rd Party Mac Developer Installer: Company Name (APPIDENTITY)"
# The path of your plist files.
CHILD_PLIST="/path/to/child.plist"
PARENT_PLIST="/path/to/parent.plist"

FRAMEWORKS_PATH="$APP_PATH/Contents/Frameworks"

codesign -s "$APP_KEY" -f --entitlements "$CHILD_PLIST" "$FRAMEWORKS_PATH/Electron Framework.framework/Versions/A/Electron Framework"
codesign -s "$APP_KEY" -f --entitlements "$CHILD_PLIST" "$FRAMEWORKS_PATH/Electron Framework.framework/Versions/A/Libraries/libffmpeg.dylib"
codesign -s "$APP_KEY" -f --entitlements "$CHILD_PLIST" "$FRAMEWORKS_PATH/Electron Framework.framework/Versions/A/Libraries/libnode.dylib"
codesign -s "$APP_KEY" -f --entitlements "$CHILD_PLIST" "$FRAMEWORKS_PATH/Electron Framework.framework"
codesign -s "$APP_KEY" -f --entitlements "$CHILD_PLIST" "$FRAMEWORKS_PATH/$APP Helper.app/Contents/MacOS/$APP Helper"
codesign -s "$APP_KEY" -f --entitlements "$CHILD_PLIST" "$FRAMEWORKS_PATH/$APP Helper.app/"
codesign -s "$APP_KEY" -f --entitlements "$CHILD_PLIST" "$FRAMEWORKS_PATH/$APP Helper EH.app/Contents/MacOS/$APP Helper EH"
codesign -s "$APP_KEY" -f --entitlements "$CHILD_PLIST" "$FRAMEWORKS_PATH/$APP Helper EH.app/"
codesign -s "$APP_KEY" -f --entitlements "$CHILD_PLIST" "$FRAMEWORKS_PATH/$APP Helper NP.app/Contents/MacOS/$APP Helper NP"
codesign -s "$APP_KEY" -f --entitlements "$CHILD_PLIST" "$FRAMEWORKS_PATH/$APP Helper NP.app/"
codesign -s "$APP_KEY" -f --entitlements "$CHILD_PLIST" "$APP_PATH/Contents/MacOS/$APP"
codesign -s "$APP_KEY" -f --entitlements "$PARENT_PLIST" "$APP_PATH"

productbuild --component "$APP_PATH" /Applications --sign "$INSTALLER_KEY" "$RESULT_PATH"
```

If you are new to app sandboxing under macOS, you should also read through
Apple's [Enabling App Sandbox][enable-app-sandbox] to have a basic idea, then
add keys for the permissions needed by your app to the entitlements files.

Apart from manually signing your app, you can also choose to use the
[electron-osx-sign][electron-osx-sign] module to do the job.

#### Sign Native Modules

Native modules used in your app also need to be signed. If using
electron-osx-sign, be sure to include the path to the built binaries in the
argument list:

```bash
electron-osx-sign YourApp.app YourApp.app/Contents/Resources/app/node_modules/nativemodule/build/release/nativemodule
```

Also note that native modules may have intermediate files produced which should
not be included (as they would also need to be signed). If you use
[electron-packager][electron-packager] before version 8.1.0, add
`--ignore=.+\.o$` to your build step to ignore these files. Versions 8.1.0 and
later ignores those files by default.

### Upload Your App

After signing your app, you can use Application Loader to upload it to iTunes
Connect for processing, making sure you have [created a record][create-record]
before uploading.

### Submit Your App for Review

After these steps, you can [submit your app for review][submit-for-review].

## Limitations of MAS Build

In order to satisfy all requirements for app sandboxing, the following modules
have been disabled in the MAS build:

* `crashReporter`
* `autoUpdater`

and the following behaviors have been changed:

* Video capture may not work for some machines.
* Certain accessibility features may not work.
* Apps will not be aware of DNS changes.
* APIs for launching apps at login are disabled. See
https://github.com/electron/electron/issues/7312#issuecomment-249479237

Also, due to the usage of app sandboxing, the resources which can be accessed by
the app are strictly limited; you can read [App Sandboxing][app-sandboxing] for
more information.

### Additional Entitlements

Depending on which Electron APIs your app uses, you may need to add additional
entitlements to your `parent.plist` file to be able to use these APIs from your
app's Mac App Store build.

#### Network Access

Enable outgoing network connections to allow your app to connect to a server:

```xml
<key>com.apple.security.network.client</key>
<true/>
```

Enable incoming network connections to allow your app to open a network
listening socket:

```xml
<key>com.apple.security.network.server</key>
<true/>
```

See the [Enabling Network Access documentation][network-access] for more
details.

#### dialog.showOpenDialog

```xml
<key>com.apple.security.files.user-selected.read-only</key>
<true/>
```

See the [Enabling User-Selected File Access documentation][user-selected] for
more details.

#### dialog.showSaveDialog

```xml
<key>com.apple.security.files.user-selected.read-write</key>
<true/>
```

See the [Enabling User-Selected File Access documentation][user-selected] for
more details.

## Known issues

### `shell.openItem(filePath)` 

This will fail when the app is signed for distribution in the Mac App Store.
Subscribe to [#9005](https://github.com/electron/electron/issues/9005) for updates.

#### Workaround

`shell.openExternal('file://' + filePath)` will open the file in the default application as long as the extension is associated with an installed app.

## Cryptographic Algorithms Used by Electron

Depending on the country and region you are located, Mac App Store may require
documenting the cryptographic algorithms used in your app, and even ask you to
submit a copy of U.S. Encryption Registration (ERN) approval.

Electron uses following cryptographic algorithms:

* AES - [NIST SP 800-38A](http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-38a/sp800-38a.pdf), [NIST SP 800-38D](http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-38D/SP-800-38D.pdf), [RFC 3394](http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3394.txt)
* HMAC - [FIPS 198-1](http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips198-1/FIPS-198-1_final.pdf)
* ECDSA - ANS X9.62–2005
* ECDH - ANS X9.63–2001
* HKDF - [NIST SP 800-56C](http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-56C/SP-800-56C.pdf)
* PBKDF2 - [RFC 2898](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2898)
* RSA - [RFC 3447](http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3447)
* SHA - [FIPS 180-4](http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips180-4/fips-180-4.pdf)
* Blowfish - https://www.schneier.com/cryptography/blowfish/
* CAST - [RFC 2144](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2144), [RFC 2612](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2612)
* DES - [FIPS 46-3](http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips46-3/fips46-3.pdf)
* DH - [RFC 2631](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2631)
* DSA - [ANSI X9.30](http://webstore.ansi.org/RecordDetail.aspx?sku=ANSI+X9.30-1%3A1997)
* EC - [SEC 1](http://www.secg.org/sec1-v2.pdf)
* IDEA - "On the Design and Security of Block Ciphers" book by X. Lai
* MD2 - [RFC 1319](http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1319)
* MD4 - [RFC 6150](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6150)
* MD5 - [RFC 1321](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1321)
* MDC2 - [ISO/IEC 10118-2](https://www.openssl.org/docs/manmaster/crypto/mdc2.html)
* RC2 - [RFC 2268](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2268)
* RC4 - [RFC 4345](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4345)
* RC5 - http://people.csail.mit.edu/rivest/Rivest-rc5rev.pdf
* RIPEMD - [ISO/IEC 10118-3](http://webstore.ansi.org/RecordDetail.aspx?sku=ISO%2FIEC%2010118-3:2004)

On how to get the ERN approval, you can reference the article: [How to legally
submit an app to Apple’s App Store when it uses encryption (or how to obtain an
ERN)][ern-tutorial].

[developer-program]: https://developer.apple.com/support/compare-memberships/
[submitting-your-app]: https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/IDEs/Conceptual/AppDistributionGuide/SubmittingYourApp/SubmittingYourApp.html
[nwjs-guide]: https://github.com/nwjs/nw.js/wiki/Mac-App-Store-%28MAS%29-Submission-Guideline#first-steps
[enable-app-sandbox]: https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/Miscellaneous/Reference/EntitlementKeyReference/Chapters/EnablingAppSandbox.html
[create-record]: https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/LanguagesUtilities/Conceptual/iTunesConnect_Guide/Chapters/CreatingiTunesConnectRecord.html
[electron-osx-sign]: https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-osx-sign
[electron-packager]: https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-packager
[submit-for-review]: https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/LanguagesUtilities/Conceptual/iTunesConnect_Guide/Chapters/SubmittingTheApp.html
[app-sandboxing]: https://developer.apple.com/app-sandboxing/
[ern-tutorial]: https://carouselapps.com/2015/12/15/legally-submit-app-apples-app-store-uses-encryption-obtain-ern/
[temporary-exception]: https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Miscellaneous/Reference/EntitlementKeyReference/Chapters/AppSandboxTemporaryExceptionEntitlements.html
[user-selected]: https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Miscellaneous/Reference/EntitlementKeyReference/Chapters/EnablingAppSandbox.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40011195-CH4-SW6
[network-access]: https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/Miscellaneous/Reference/EntitlementKeyReference/Chapters/EnablingAppSandbox.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40011195-CH4-SW9
