[macOS] Install guide

[SenpaiHunters]

macOS Installation Guide for Zen Browser

Initial Setup

Step 1: Download the Latest Version

1. Download the latest Zen Browser DMG.
2. Once downloaded, open the DMG file. You might need to zoom out a bit to see everything.

Step 2: Install Zen Browser

1. Drag the Zen Browser icon to the Applications folder.

Note for Developers

If you are the developer of Zen Browser, ensure you include the following icon sizes for macOS, and update the names accordingly:

• Black-16.png
• Black-32.png
• Black-64.png
• Black-128.png
• Black-256.png
• Black-512.png
• Black-1024.png

These icons serve different purposes, such as the DMG and app icon (1024), Finder icon (128), etc.

Step 3: Bypass Gatekeeper

Upon trying to open Zen Browser, you may encounter a message indicating the file is damaged. This happens because the app does not have a valid developer signature and is using an Ad-hoc sign.

To bypass this warning:

1. Open Terminal.

2. Run one of the following commands:

   To bypass Gatekeeper for the current installed version:

   xattr -c '/Applications/Zen Browser.app/'

   To bypass Gatekeeper for all versions of the app:

   xattr -d com.apple.quarantine '/Applications/Zen Browser.app/'

3. After running the command, if successful, Terminal will return a blank line.

Step 4: Open Zen Browser

1. Open Zen Browser from the Applications folder.
2. Complete the onboarding process.
3. If you use Little Snitch (LS), accept or block any connections as needed, though for a browser, it is generally not recommended to block connections other than telemetry.

Step 5: Restart Zen Browser

At the time of writing, there seems to be a bug with Zen Browser where the menu might not display correctly on the initial start. To fix this, quit Zen Browser (⌘Q) and reopen it.

You should now have a fully functional Zen Browser on your macOS. If you need to uninstall Zen, you can use Pearcleaner.

[mr-cheffy]

woah, thanks a lot for this detailed guide! Ill pin it to the repo's issues and add it to the readme. By the way, any idea on why you have to do the terminal thing? Does macos consider it a virus?

[SenpaiHunters]

macOS flags unsigned apps from unidentified developers as potentially unsafe, hence the warning. This isn't because it considers Zen a virus, but because it doesn't recognise the developer. Running the terminal commands bypasses Gatekeeper, allowing the app to run. To avoid this, you can get an official Apple developer certificate and sign the app (although this will cost 100 USD, so for something such as this, would not exactly be viable, hence why we use terminal commands).

[mr-cheffy]

that sucks :(

[emm312]

in my experience the corrupted thing can be fixed with a chmod +x on the executable itself and from there you get past the unidentified developer thing in settings

[SenpaiHunters]

in my experience the corrupted thing can be fixed with a chmod +x on the executable itself and from there you get past the unidentified developer thing in settings

chmod +x is for a file to allow execution. For an app in the applications folder you need to pass xattr -c. As this is a dmg, chmod +x works less than the method above.

[comfortablemilk4454]

(the first command xattr -c '/Applications/Zen Browser.app/' works though). any ideas on how i can fix this? macOS 14.5 here.

[mr-cheffy]

It's one command or the other, not both. The command you just ran clears the attributes so it should work already. (Someone tell me if I'm wrong)

[chilikasha]

hi @mauro-balades , could you please update the icons?

thanks for the browser, enjoying so far!

[stairjoke]

Honestly, I would have loved to try, but the instructions to circumvent security measures are a real turn-off. I understand why, I get it intellectually, but I think its a bad decision, in my opinion.

[mr-cheffy]

a bad decision to do what exactly?