Deploy .NET MAUI Apps on macOS

This tutorial walks you through the steps required to package and distribute a .NET Multi‑Platform App UI (MAUI) application for macOS.

Prerequisites

macOS 12.0 or later
Visual Studio 2022 for Mac (or Visual Studio 2022 on Windows with a connected Mac)
.NET 8 SDK or later
An Apple Developer account (for signing and notarization)

1. Configure the macOS Project

Open your MAUI solution and locate the Platforms/MacCatalyst folder. Update the Info.plist file with your app's display name and bundle identifier.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN"
   "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>CFBundleDisplayName</key>
    <string>MyMauiApp</string>
    <key>CFBundleIdentifier</key>
    <string>com.example.mymauiapp</string>
    <key>NSHighResolutionCapable</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

2. Build the App Bundle

Run the following command in the terminal from the solution root:

dotnet publish -f net8.0-maccatalyst -c Release -o ./publish

The output folder will contain MyMauiApp.app, which is the macOS bundle.

3. Sign the App

Use codesign with your Developer ID certificate:

codesign --deep --force --verify --verbose \
    --sign "Developer ID Application: Your Name (TEAMID)" \
    ./publish/MyMauiApp.app

4. Notarize the App

Upload the signed bundle to Apple for notarization:

ditto -c -k --keepParent ./publish/MyMauiApp.app MyMauiApp.zip
xcrun altool --notarize-app -f MyMauiApp.zip \
    --primary-bundle-id com.example.mymauiapp \
    -u your@appleid.com -p @keychain:AC_PASSWORD
# After approval:
xcrun stapler staple ./publish/MyMauiApp.app

5. Distribute

Once notarized, you can distribute the .app bundle directly, or create a disk image (DMG) for a more polished installer.

hdiutil create -volname "MyMauiApp" -srcfolder ./publish/MyMauiApp.app \
    -ov -format UDZO MyMauiApp.dmg