Install and update

Every app starts as a full-featured trial: 14 days for Basalt and Slate, 7 for Quartz. No account and no e-mail address are needed. Download the installer for your system from the download page.

macOS

Open the .dmg file.
Drag the app onto the Applications folder.
Open it from Applications. The first time, macOS stops it (see below).

One download runs natively on Apple silicon and Intel Macs with macOS 11 Big Sur or later.

“Apple could not verify …”

The apps are not notarized by Apple yet, so the first time you open one, macOS says it could not verify that the app is free of malware. To open it anyway:

Click Done in that message.
Open System Settings → Privacy & Security and scroll down to Security. It says the app “was blocked to protect your Mac”.
Click Open Anyway, confirm with your password or Touch ID, then Open Anyway again.

macOS remembers this; you will not be asked again, not even after updates. On macOS 14 Sonoma and earlier, Control-click the app in Applications, choose Open, then Open.

Windows

Run the -setup.exe file. It installs the app for your user account, so no administrator rights are needed.
Open the app from the Start menu.

Windows 10 or later, 64-bit. If the Microsoft Edge WebView2 runtime is missing (it is part of Windows 11 and most Windows 10 installations), the installer adds it.

“Windows protected your PC”

The installers are not signed with a code-signing certificate yet, so Windows SmartScreen warns about an unknown publisher. Click More info, then Run anyway. Updates install without this warning.

Smart App Control (Windows 11, Windows Security → App & browser control) blocks unsigned apps outright while it is on, with no way to run them anyway. If it stops the installer, the app cannot run on that computer until Smart App Control is turned off there; turning it back on blocks the app again. Signed Windows builds will remove this limit.

Linux

Two formats, both 64-bit. The apps need WebKitGTK 4.1, which Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12, and newer distributions include.

AppImage runs without installing:

chmod +x Slate_*.AppImage
./Slate_*.AppImage

On Ubuntu 22.04 and later, AppImages need FUSE 2: sudo apt install libfuse2 (on 24.04: libfuse2t64).

.deb for Debian, Ubuntu, and their relatives:

sudo apt install ./slate_*.deb

Updates

When an app starts, it looks for a new version at most once a day. If there is one, it shows what changed and offers Download and restart; Later asks again another day. Updates are signed with our own key, and the app checks the signature before installing anything. An app that is busy (an offload, a running queue) asks you to finish first.

Installing a newer version from the download page over the old one works too. Settings, history, and the license stay.

Moving to another computer or removing an app

Before you give away or reset a computer, open Settings → License and choose Deactivate this device. That frees one of the license’s three devices. If the computer is already gone, free the device on the license page instead.

macOS: drag the app from Applications to the Trash.
Windows: Settings → Apps → Installed apps → the app → Uninstall.
Linux: delete the AppImage, or sudo apt remove slate (basalt, quartz).

Removing an app leaves its settings, history, and logs in place, so a reinstall picks up where you left off.

Why the warnings

Apple and Microsoft show these messages for apps that are not signed with a certificate they sell (Apple: a yearly developer membership; Windows: a yearly certificate). We are a one-person studio and will add both once sales pay for them. Until then, the installers are offered only on apps.ldhmr.com, over HTTPS, and every update is signed and verified by the app before it installs.

Install and update.