macOS autoUpdater not working — is Apple Developer cert required for local updates?

[sushi-udon-dev]

Hi, I’m experimenting with Lichtblick on macOS for personal use and trying to verify if auto-updates work locally.

✅ What’s working so far
• On Windows and Linux, I was able to confirm that locally installed apps can auto-update without issue.

✅ Current setup on macOS
•Based on v1.14.0
•MacOS: Sequioia 15.5
• electron: "36.0.1",
•Built a universal zip using yarn run package:darwin
•Not using Apple Developer Program (just for personal use)
•Running the app and clicking “Check for updates” from the menu shows no UI feedback or logs

❓ What I’d like to ask
1. Is autoUpdater officially supported on macOS at the moment?
2. Is it possible to test auto-updates on macOS without an Apple Developer certificate (e.g., via locally distributed zip)?
3. Any ideas why “Check for updates” shows no response, or what the expected behavior should be?

If macOS auto-updates are currently not supported or untested, I’d also love to hear if there are any plans or known workarounds.

Thanks in advance!

[ctw-joao-luis]

Hey @sushi-udon-dev our app is not distributed via the Mac App Store, and we currently don’t sign it with an Apple Developer certificate. As of now, we don’t have plans to obtain one.

Because of this, auto-updates on macOS using autoUpdater may not work as expected. As far as workarounds we don't really know one for auto updates to work.

We recommend manually downloading updates for the time being. If our plans around macOS support change, we’ll be sure to update the documentation.

Cheers,
JL