Cannot open app because Apple won't allow it.

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Level 1

4 points

Cannot open app because Apple won't allow it.

I recently had to download MacOS High Sierra from scratch because the update process got messed up. Now that it's been downloaded, I can't open apps because I get a message stating that the app is from an unidentified developer and therefore can't be opened. I looked for fixes on the web, and found several that all said that I should use the Finder to locate the application, use the control button to open the app, click open and then the app would open, but this isn't happening. I also went to the Security section of System Preferences, but that didn't work either. I selected "open anyway", but nothing happened. I use an iMac, 10.13.4. The suggestions I saw on the web were for older versions of OS's. If anyone has any suggestions as to how I can open apps in the latest High Sierra update, I would really appreciate any and all of them!

Thank you,

Janie

iMac

Posted on Apr 7, 2018 8:16 PM

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Answer 1

John Galt

Level 10

155,306 points

Apr 10, 2018 10:57 AM in response to janiekhi

Apologies for the delay in responding.

I downloaded that app and attempted to run it on two Macs running both macOS 10.13.4 and a previous release, but it crashed in the exact manner you described.

A portion of the crash report appears below:

Application Specific Information:

*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInvalidArgumentException', reason: '*** -[NSKeyedUnarchiver _initForReadingFromData:error:throwLegacyExceptions:]: data is empty; did you forget to send -finishEncoding to the NSKeyedArchiver?'

abort() called

terminating with uncaught exception of type NSException

The problem is not Gatekeeper since you circumvented that restriction properly. The app runs, but it crashes. An app that crashes in that manner is not something you can fix.

The only recommendation I have is to contact its developer: Big Fish Games Help, or ask about the crash on its website's support forum: http://forums.bigfishgames.com/forums/.

I don't know what might have happened with Parallels and Windows, but it's unlikely to be a related problem.

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Answer 2

tygb

Level 9

65,010 points

Apr 8, 2018 12:50 AM in response to janiekhi

See this article macOS Sierra: Open an app from an unidentified developer

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Answer 3

janiekhi Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 8, 2018 12:00 AM in response to John Galt

Thank you, John Galt, for replying to my plea. I reviewed the info about Gatekeeper, but didn't find it that pertinent. I'm trying to download the Game Manager from Big Fish Games so that I can download games that I purchased. The website is bigfishgames.com, and instructions for downloading the Game Manager are on that site under the Help menu. I noticed when I tried to open the Game Manager icon that I have on my computer, I got a message stating "Game Manager quit unexpectedly." When I selected reopen, nothing happened. By the way, I've also noticed that since I downloaded High Sierra, my copy of Microsoft Windows 8.1 has disappeared (I have Parallels installed on my iMac). I get this message: The operation can’t be completed because the original item for “Windows 8.1” can’t be found. But perhaps just focusing on the Game Manager issue is enough for now. Thanks again for helping me.

janiek

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Answer 4

janiekhi Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 8, 2018 11:08 AM in response to tygb

Thank you, tygb, for your response. I did see this article and tried following its suggestion, but it didn't work. I'm thinking I may need to find a repair person to help me, because there are other issues related to this download of High Sierra that I need to deal with. For example, the Macintosh HD icon that used to be in the upper right hand corner of the desktop is no longer there, recent photos are missing, and a number of apps that were located in the dock are no longer there. But thanks again for your suggestion.

janiek

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Answer 5

John Galt

Level 10

155,306 points

Apr 7, 2018 9:57 PM in response to janiekhi

Although it seems as though you already did what it says, please review "How to open an app from a unidentified developer and exempt it from Gatekeeper" in OS X: About Gatekeeper - Apple Support.

Perhaps something is wrong with that app. If you have no objection, provide the name of the app (preferably, a URL where it can be downloaded) and I'll attempt to determine what the problem might be.

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Cannot open app because Apple won't allow it.

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