Spect
"Spect seems to have disappeared from the Mac App Store in my country! What happened?"
Apps that did not comply with the EU's DSA law were removed from the App Stores in EU countries in February 2025. Unfortunately, DSA compliance for Spect would require my home address and phone number to be openly published on the internet, or for me to pay for an ongoing PO Box or business registration (on top of Apple's annual developer subscription). For a niche app made by a single person in their spare time, these aren't great options.
(I had been under the impression that people who'd already purchased Spect would still be able to download it, even though new sales would stop. But it seems that's not the case!)
I'm trying to figure out how to handle this, but in the meantime, owners of Spect in regions affected by the DSA law who need to reinstall the app can contact me for a direct download link.
Spect is still available on the Mac App Store in countries not affected by the EU's DSA law.
Note on using the direct download version:
Because the direct download build has not been code-signed, your Mac may refuse to run it at first, claiming it is "damaged" or "unsafe". On macOS prior to 15 Sequoia, you should be able to control-click the app icon and choose "Open" to bypass this.
On macOS 15 Sequoia or later, move Spect to your /Applications directory then, in the Terminal app, run this command:
xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Spect.app
After that, you should be able to run it normally. You only have to do this once. Let me know if you run into problems!