Will Readerware run on macOS Catalina (10.15)?
Last Updated: February 23, 2023
Keywords: macOS, Catalina, 10.15, Mac
Yes, but there are issues you need to be aware of.
We currently have a separate download page for macOS Catalina users here.
Access to your Documents folder
Readerware needs access to your Documents->Readerware folder. The first time you run a Readerware program on macOS Catalina it will ask you to approve this:
You must approve this and let Readerware access your Documents folder.
Relocated files
As part of the upgrade to macOS Catalina some of your files may have been relocated. If this happens you will have a Relocated Items folder on your desktop. macOS Catalina now limits where you can store files. If you are running a default Readerware installation then you shouldn't have any problems, but if you created your database at a different location, it is possible that your database has been moved. By default Readerware creates databases in your Documents->Readerware folder, this is allowed. However if you created a new top level folder on your hard drive called "Readerware Databases" for example, that will have been moved and Readerware will display a database not found error.
The database folder will be in your Relocated Items folder, look under Security. You must move your Readerware database folder to a new location, your Documents->Readerware folder is a good choice.
Run Readerware and click OK on the not found error. The Database Chooser will be displayed. Click on the Open function and select your database in it's new location. Readerware will remember the new location and open it automatically the next time the program is run.
Installing Readerware on macOS Catalina
In macOS Catalina Apple now requires that macOS applications are notarized by Apple. Beginning with Readerware 4.14, all our macOS downloads have been notarized by Apple. This means that all Readerware applications will run normally on macOS Catalina. macOS Catalina users must download the new notarized versions from our macOS Catalina download page.
There is a related article that describes how to install Readerware on a Mac that is linked to below.
If you install an older version of Readerware on macOS Catalina, you will see this dialog the first time you run the program.
The way to work around this issue is to go to your Applications folder and locate the Readerware application you are trying to launch. Instead of double clicking on it as you would normally do, right click on the icon and select Open from the popup menu. You will see a similar dialog again, but this time when you click the Open button the application will open.
You should only need to do this once, next time you should be able to run the application as normal.
This only applies if you install an older version of Readerware on macOS Catalina. If Readerware was already installed on your Mac when you upgraded to Catalina, the applications should run normally.
Running the Readerware server on macOS Catalina
There is an issue if you are running the Readerware server on macOS Catalina. To be clear you can run Readerware on macOS Catalina and connect to a Readerware server on another machine, but if the Readerware server itself is running on macOS Catalina, you may see this error:
The problem is that the Readerware server can not access the database. We are not sure why but the Readerware server seems to require full disk access on macOS Catalina. We are looking into this.
Meanwhile the solution is to give the Readerware server access to the full disk. Start System Preferences, then Security & Privacy. From the left hand column, select Full Disk Access. Click on the padlock and supply your password to be able to make changes. You will probably see an entry for RW Server in the list. If you don't click on the + button, go to your Applications folder and select the Readerware server.
Select the checkbox to the left of the RW Server entry so that it is granted full disk access. Restart your system and you should now be able to connect to the Readerware server.
Related Articles
- Installing Readerware on macOS / Mac OS X
Readerware is available for Mac OS X 10.8.3 or higher including macOS releases. Installing Readerware on macOS Catalina (10.15)? Be sure to read our Catalina article. Installing Readerware on macOS / Mac OS X You can download Readerware...