Codebook macOS Distributions

When purchasing Codebook for macOS you have two options:

  1. Direct Download — purchased and distributed from www.zetetic.net
  2. Mac App Store — purchased from Apple and distributed in the Mac App Store

There are few differences between the two distributions (or "builds") of Codebook for macOS in terms of functionality, as noted below. Both builds of the software are Sandboxed and Notarized, we do not utilize any private macOS APIs.

When you buy a license for the Direct Download build, all the proceeds of the sale go to the developers, Zetetic, LLC. When you buy the Mac App Store build, 15% of your purchase goes to Apple.

Each distribution receives an update when we release a new version of Codebook for macOS, and we do our best to make sure they are both available at the same time. In some rare cases we may release the Direct Download build before the Mac App Store (MAS) build if there is a hold-up on the latter related to Apple's App Review process and we believe it's important to get a particular update out as quickly as possible.

Updates for the Mac App Store build are handled by the App Store app on macOS. If you have Automatic Updates enabled you do not need to do anything to keep the software up-to-date.

The Direct Download build of Codebook for macOS includes a software update feature that can automatically check for updates, or check for updates on-demand. When an update is detected Codebook will offer to install it for you, which will Quit Codebook and re-launch the app running the new version. Click on the Codebook menu > Check For Updates to check if a new version is available. Open the Preferences window and select the Updates tab to adjust the software update settings.

If you are unsure which distribution of Codebook for macOS is running on your Mac, you can easily check:

  1. Click on the Codebook menu > About Codebook
  2. The About window will display the build name below the Version number

About Codebook window screenshot