Unable to launch iOS .app via appium capabilities but app launched successfully via 'xcrun simctl install booted install myApp.app'

Support
1

Hello experts,

Error message: ‘myApp.app’ cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified.

I face above error when I install the myApp.app using Appium on my iOS simulator. However, when I install the same myApp.app using terminal command ‘xcrun simctl install booted install myApp.app’ then the app installed/launched perfectly fine.

Note: I am a tester hence I have not built the app using XCode and moving forward I will be getting the .app file only from the developer for testing.

Below are the details

Appium desktop client version : 1.15.1
Mac os version : 10.15.2
Xcode version: 11.3

I am using below appium desired capabilities for iOS

{
“platformName”: “iOS”,
“platformVersion”: “13.3”,
“deviceName”: “iPhone 8”,
“automationName”: “XCUITest”,
“app”: “/Users/harj/Desktop/myApp.app”,
“bundleId”: “com.abc.xyzApp”,
“commandTimeouts”: 60000,
“noReset”: false,
“autoGrantPermissions”: true,
“useNewWDA”: true,
“showXcodeLog”: true
}

Appium logs
There are many errors in the log but i found this one relevent
Original error: ‘idb’ has not been found in PATH. Is it installed? Read https://www.fbidb.io for more details

That would be great if someone faced the same problem and got a solution.

Happpy Testing
harj

2

Finally, the solution has been found. Actually, the problem is with the macOS Catalina not with the Appium. The OS was preventing the .app to install on the simulator. There are two ways to solve this problem.

  1. Degrade the gatekeeper(security) checks on your mac.
  2. Quarantine that specific app using below terminal command

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /yourAppPath/myApp.app

I recommended the option2 as it will keep your mac safe from attacks.