[moduspwnens14]

I'm an iOS/Mac dev that's released a VPN app on both app stores.

The limiting factor is that the "Network Extension" framework is the way these apps work as VPNs, and currently Mac App Store distribution is the only supported method if you're using that framework (see #8) [1].

[1] https://forums.developer.apple.com/thread/67613

[xenadu02]

Macs are still macs. You can turn off SIP, disable AMFI & entitlement checks, then grant your app whatever entitlements you want and they won’t be verified.

I really really don’t recommend doing that; you’re giving up a lot of security.

A much easier alternative is to have a dev account, then you can just enable the entitlements in your provisioning profile for your dev devices (or personal devices). Most entitlements don’t require any approval for a dev profile.

[moduspwnens14]

Sure--I've no doubt there's some ugly workaround process to get around it, but I felt compelled to offer more information because it is usually the case that any Mac App Store app can be distributed outside the App Store relatively easily, except those that use the Network Extension framework.

I wanted to be sure the dev here is backed up that he's not making this up--this is Apple's restriction and not his.

> A much easier alternative is to have a dev account, then you can just enable the entitlements in your provisioning profile for your dev devices (or personal devices). Most entitlements don’t require any approval for a dev profile.

Yes, this is how we test on our own Macs before publishing to the app store. Although iirc those signatures have expiration timestamps, so you'll be re-signing and redistributing on some tedious interval (something like 30-90 days).