Connect-Desk-Project/DISTRIBUTION.md

Distributing Connect Desk

The installers live in dist/ after a build:

File	Platform	Notes
Connect Desk Setup 1.9.0.exe	Windows 10/11 (x64)	NSIS installer — runs on any normal Intel/AMD PC, and on Windows-on-ARM via emulation
Connect Desk-1.9.0-arm64.dmg	macOS (Apple Silicon)	Drag-to-Applications DMG
Connect Desk-1.9.0.dmg	macOS (Intel)	Drag-to-Applications DMG

Rebuild any time:

npm run dist            # Mac arm64 + Intel DMGs, and Windows x64 NSIS
npm run dist:mac        # both Mac DMGs
npm run dist:win        # Windows x64 installer (always --x64; this Mac is Apple Silicon)

What recipients do

Windows: run Connect Desk Setup 1.9.0.exe, pick an install folder, finish. A desktop and Start-menu shortcut named "Connect Desk" are created; the app lives in the chosen folder as Connect Desk.exe.

macOS: open the DMG, drag Connect Desk into Applications, launch from there.

Each installation starts empty: the recipient adds their accounts with + Add account and signs in with their own Connect credentials. Nothing from your machine — no accounts, no sessions, no cookies — is inside the installer; only the app code ships.

The unsigned-app warnings (tell recipients this up front)

These builds are not code-signed — there is no paid Apple Developer ID or Windows signing certificate behind them — so both OSes show a one-time scare prompt:

• Windows SmartScreen: "Windows protected your PC" → click More info → Run anyway.
• macOS Gatekeeper: "cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified" → right-click the app → Open → Open. Once is enough.

This is expected for unsigned software and does not indicate a problem with the app. If you later want prompt-free installs, that requires purchasing certificates: an Apple Developer ID (~$99/year, plus notarization) and a Windows code-signing certificate — the config is ready for both; only the certificates are missing.

Architecture cheat sheet

• The build machine's CPU decides the default target. This Mac is Apple Silicon, so a plain --win nsis build silently produced an arm64 exe that ordinary PCs cannot run — always pass --x64 for Windows.
• For an Intel-Mac DMG: npx electron-builder --mac dmg --x64. For one DMG that runs on both: --universal (roughly doubles the file size).