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I am running macOS Mojave 10.14.6 and I want to run an application which was made only for Catalina. I have downloaded “Noto” from the Mac App Store on another Mac (Running Catalina) and copied it on my flash drive. I did it using MY AppleID.

When I run it on Mojave it doesn’t start. It says that I have an incompatible macOS version.

  1. I tried to edit .plst file in the package contents
  2. I tried to run it through terminal

The app is not so popular so I can’t just download a .dmg .

anki
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Tofolt
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  • What is the exact error? It should be possible to at least get past the arbitrary OS gating, and let the app crash if it is going to crash. You may be interested in the writeup I did for Unity games on Mavericks. The basic process should be broadly the same for most apps. https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/414688/how-can-i-run-newer-unity-games-on-os-x-10-9-mavericks – Wowfunhappy Mar 12 '21 at 22:03

4 Answers4

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In a word, No

There are differences in macOS versions, and if an app says "macOS Catalina or later" it means that it requires something that is specific to, introduced in and not in earlier versions of macOS.

For example if you have an app that requires macOS High Sierra or greater it will also (likely) work on Mojave and Catalina too, but not on Sierra.

So, sorry, but that app was written to use a feature of Catalina that is just not there in previous versions of macOS.

You could contact the developer and ask if it is possible but I would bet no.

Steve Chambers
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  • In 99% of the cases this is only due to the developer compiling the application with the wrong Xcode settings (having a too high deployment target). It's sad, as almost all apps are still compatible but the executable is wrecked in this way. It might be possible to convert, but sadly nobody puts any effort into this – Julian F. Weinert Feb 20 '24 at 11:01
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You're in luck. The "Noto" app is open-source and available outside the Mac App Store in a version compatible with your Mojave system.

You can download the DMG here:

https://www.brunophilipe.com/software/noto/releases/noto-1.2.dmg

UPDATE: In the comments I learn that you're not looking for the app named "Noto", but rather an app named "Noto - Elegant Note" on the App Store, and "Noto.ink" elsewhere. That particular app is not made from the ground up for macOS - instead it is their iOS app that they have converted to macOS using Catalyst. Catalyst is only available on Catalina or later, so you have no way of running that app on Mojave unfortunately.

jksoegaard
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You could use something like Parallels to run a Catalina or Big Sur virtual machine on your Mac, and run the app in the virtual machine.

Virtualize got an older “guest” OS on a newer “host” OS often works to reach very far into the past. Often, you can also virtualize a newer “guest” on an older “host” but that sometimes works for one or two versions instead of tens of jumps.

bmike
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Mike Scott
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An Operating System is (crudely) a set of features for developers to use in their applications. The apps use these features when they are executed.

New OS versions introduce new features that devs can take advantage of in new apps.

If the feature isn't in the OS, the app can't use it, and so can't run.

benwiggy
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