macOS Sonoma introduces a lot of new features for the Mac, including Game Mode, interactive desktop widgets, enhancements for viewing and editing PDFs, and more. However, at the same time, Apple is also dropping support for legacy Mail app plug-ins. While this may not affect most users, there are some third-party apps that will no longer work because of this.
Apple Mail plug-ins and extensions
As noted by the developers of AltStore, which relies on a Mail app plug-in to connect to the user’s Apple ID and generate the certificates needed to sign apps, macOS Sonoma no longer supports legacy Mail plug-ins. The news was confirmed by Apple at the WWDC 2023 labs.
However, this doesn’t mean that’s the end of add-ons for Apple’s Mail app. That’s because Apple has introduced a new way to create Mail extensions with the MailKit API in macOS Monterey. So from now on, this will be the only way to create extensions for the app. But even so, there are a few things to keep in mind.
The MailKit API, despite having more security layers, is much more restricted than legacy plug-ins. When it comes to AltStore, the developers said on Twitter that they’ve been working on a new authentication method as users can no longer use the current Mail plug-in with macOS Sonoma.
Unfortunately, if you have an app that relies on legacy Mail plug-ins, you’ll have to wait for an update before installing macOS Sonoma on your Mac.
How to try macOS Sonoma
Developers can now try out macOS Sonoma by enrolling their Mac in the Apple Developer Program. More details on how to get the beta update can be found on the Apple Developer website. Apple says that macOS Sonoma will be released for everyone this fall, while a public beta is expected to be released by July.
macOS Sonoma is compatible with Macs released in 2018 and later.
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