exiftool

[LarryRC]

There are EXIF tools in the app store that are rated and Apple blessed.

Edit: i see that you’d already been looking.

 

[graybalanced]

For regular applications, the easy bypass of that warning has been to right-click the app and click Open. That specific sequence (i.e. you have to do it through the contextual menu) allows display of a dialog box that has a button that I think is labeled "Open Anyway". Does that also work for .pkg/installers like this one?

You can also use the Terminal method of course, but I am not a command line type of person.

As long as you downloaded Exiftool from a trusted source, bypassing the notarization warning should be safe. ExifTool is extremely well known, credible, and widely used for years. It is even embedded in many photo apps. If it is you will see it mentioned in the app credits.

And as others have said, to do the basic job of fixing one photo's EXIF there are many many Mac apps that provide a friendly GUI front end while running Exiftool in the background or something similar. Two examples are the aforementioned xnViewMP, and A Better Finder Attributes, but there are many more. Some free some paid, most notarized.

 

[Greybeard2023]

For regular applications, the easy bypass of that warning has been to right-click the app and click Open. That specific sequence (i.e. you have to do it through the contextual menu) allows display of a dialog box that has a button that I think is labeled "Open Anyway". Does that also work for .pkg/installers like this one?

This hasn't worked in the last few versions of MacOS.

You have to either use command line to override (and as its a command line tool that isn't a big deal) or use Settings to do the same thing.

 

[MtnBikerCalif]

I have one photo that I need to fix the EXIF so I downloaded the Mac version:

https://exiftool.org/index.html

Unfortunately, I can't install. I get "Apple could not verify..."

I use the exiftool in terminal many years and didn't get this message. I am installing it from Homebrew

Either the Homebrew's exiftool is notarized, or all Homebrew applications are?

https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/exiftool#default

Homebrew is a hill to climb when you start, but offers many important applications that are otherwise difficult to install, including darktable, ffmpeg, and gcc. Possibly if you don't expect to use open-source software, it would be easier to override Apple Nanny?

https://brew.sh/

And apps installed with Homebrew can easily be updated. I don't know the security implications. What's on your computer and who else is using it? I've been using Homebrew and also installing programs for years without problems. But exiftool wouldn't make a very good vector. A game or more mainstream program maybe. By mainstream, an example might be LibreOffice which is used in place of MS Word.

What are the hurdles to getting notarized? But to have to jump through extra hoops each time a new update is released would be a barrier. What if you need to put a out an important fix and you're up against a deadline?

 

[CAcreeks]

https://brew.sh/

As their website says, "Homebrew is a non-profit project run entirely by unpaid volunteers. We need your funds to pay for software, hardware and hosting around continuous integration and future improvements to the project. Every donation will be spent on making Homebrew better for our users."

Apps installed with Homebrew can easily be updated. I don't know the security implications. What's on your computer and who else is using it? I've been using Homebrew and also installing programs for years without problems. But exiftool wouldn't make a very good vector.

It's written in Perl, which runs as a normal user without system privileges.

What are the hurdles to getting notarized? But to have to jump through extra hoops each time a new update is released would be a barrier. What if you need to put a out an important fix and you're up against a deadline?

I've never done it, but here is Apple documentation about notarization.

Notarizing macOS software before distribution | Apple Developer Documentation

Give users even more confidence in your macOS software by submitting it to Apple for notarization.

developer.apple.com

 

[Greybeard2023]

What are the hurdles to getting notarized? But to have to jump through extra hoops each time a new update is released would be a barrier. What if you need to put a out an important fix and you're up against a deadline?

Its just a couple of commands - and then wait for Apple approval - mostly within seconds (could be a bit longer at peak times - but still relatively fast).

productsign --sign "Developer ID Installer: (xxxxxxx)" ExifTool-13.30.pkg ExifToolS-13.30.pkg

xcrun notarytool submit "ExifToolS-13.30.pkg" --apple-id "youremail@whatever" --team-id "xxxxxxxx" --password "xxxxxxxx" --wait

You do need an Apple developer account.