Mac OSx: "Screen Recording" Permission request

[jordanbigel]

On my Mac - running OSx 11.4 (BigSur) - OCPN always triggers a popup requesting me to grant permission for screenshots on launch. Every time I launch the app.

"OpenCPN.app would like to record this computer's screen"

When I click "Open System Preferences" it brings me to the system preferences app - there is a list of apps which have been granted permission to record contents of the screen, OCPN is listed there with a checkmark, so it already has the permission it is asking for.

I've tried unchecking it and re-checking it, in various sequences.

Note: This was happening before I upgraded to 5.6.0 which was just last week. I was hoping that the upgrade might fix this, it's been happening for months, but, I've just been ignoring it till now.

I have not yet tried to uninstall (delete) OCPN completely and re-install it. I am worried I would lose some or all of my configuration settings, chart groups, connections, etc., etc. -- I am sure there is a procedure for doing this and restoring prefs and settings. I will do it if there is some reason to believe it will help, if that is the collective wisdom of the OCPN experts.

Thanks.

[bcn]

This issue is annoying but not severe.
Has been reporrted several times. In reality OCPN does not mke screenshots. If somebody wants to dig in, the sources are public.


Some interaction of wxWidgets with macOS security processes nobody was able to trace down. Appears, disappears. On our macMinis we see that since quite a time. 5.0, 5.2 and 5.6
No reason to worry..

[jordanbigel]

Originally Posted by bcn

This issue is annoying but not severe.
Has been reporrted several times. In reality OCPN does not mke screenshots. If somebody wants to dig in, the sources are public.


Some interaction of wxWidgets with macOS security processes nobody was able to trace down. Appears, disappears. On our macMinis we see that since quite a time. 5.0, 5.2 and 5.6
No reason to worry..

Yeah, wasn't worried, just annoying after the 1 millionth time.

Also, MacMini here too. Thanks for the reply.

[nuku34]

Ditch the Mac OS and install Linux (yes Apple machines can run Linux; both OS are based on UNIX). You can even run both OX and Linux on the same machine in different partitions.

Linux (a free open-source not for profit OS) is way better than the rapacious Mac "ecosystem" with its restrictions on 3rd party programs (everything has to go through the "app store") and hidden snooping on your every move.
Linux has cognate programs for almost every Mac program. I use Kubuntu, which is a very user configurable "flavor" of Linux. I was a Mac user for 25 years and got tired of the endless OS updates and the whole closed ecosystem. Modern Linux OS is easy to learn; there some "flavors" that even look Mac-like.

[CarCode]

If worried or not, Apple introduced the Gatekeeper to warn users to install and use malware. Software signed with the developer certificate is not affected. So nobody is safe using software not signed and not knowing who and how it was compiled. May be this reminder message is a result of the stronger Gatekeeper functions. I have never got such a message because I always use my own compiled and signed versions.
Another reason might be also a wrong item in the info.plist file of the software. Any software bundle for macOS has such a file with several items.


These are the two main reasons for such messages with software for macOS build from nonnative Apple developers.

[jordanbigel]

Originally Posted by nuku34

Ditch the Mac OS and install Linux (yes Apple machines can run Linux; both OS are based on UNIX). You can even run both OX and Linux on the same machine in different partitions.

Linux (a free open-source not for profit OS) is way better than the rapacious Mac "ecosystem" with its restrictions on 3rd party programs (everything has to go through the "app store") and hidden snooping on your every move.
Linux has cognate programs for almost every Mac program. I use Kubuntu, which is a very user configurable "flavor" of Linux. I was a Mac user for 25 years and got tired of the endless OS updates and the whole closed ecosystem. Modern Linux OS is easy to learn; there some "flavors" that even look Mac-like.

Could you please explain again the reasons I should not be using MacOS?

Go slow, please. I've only been developing software for 40 years, and only for iOS on a Mac for 12 years, so there is a lot I still don't know about why MacOS sucks. (I did develop streaming video software on a Sun Solaris back in the 90s for about 2 years, so my knowledge of Unix is limited.)

No one expects every member to be familiar with the backgrounds and knowledge of other members, but maybe before you start going off topic and "mansplaining" why the OP (me) is an idiot, you might want to reconsider and maybe stick to the topic.

Free advice, worth what you paid for it.

PS. You seem to have a lot of hostility towards Apple and the Mac. Maybe you should talk to someone about that?

[bdgWesternMass]

I just installed OpenCPN_5.6.0 on an iMac at 12.0.1.

Since OpenCPN is distributed unsigned
I had to control click and choose the Installer manually to override the unsigned software protections to install.

Once I did that it launched right up.

I then repeated the experiment on the a MacBook Air at 11.6.1

With the same experience.
I'm currently evaluating chart plotter software for macOS but this was the first time I ever installed OpenCPN.

If start from a fresh install doesn't fix the issue I would login into a brand new account on the same machine and see what happens.

If it works as expected then then there must old/corrupted preferences file somewhere in your main login.

If the problem persists then most likely OpenCPN is referencing a persistent file outside of your home directory.

Let us know how it goes.

Ben

[bcn]

Just another piece of background: our estimate is that about 10% of the user base of OpenCPN is running macOS.
From old download statistics combined with what we see the last 5 years at o-charts.org, the chart outlet of OpenCPN.