For many years the secret incantation to run an unsigned app is right click open twice in a row and confirming at the warning. “Run this… yes, and I really mean it!” Once you do this once it remembers and opens normally. This is still the case in Big Sur and on the M1.

This idiom is fine with me. It’s easy to remember but kind of hidden from the non-technical. It also forces you to think a little which protects from accidentally launching an unsigned app.

An alternative idiom that would work would be a red warning and requiring the user to type “YES.” This is also common in non-reversible delete dialogs.

This is definitely my fear for the future of MacOS, though it will likely cause me to just get an iPad and a windows computer instead.

They're not pushing you in the direction of running apps from their store, but they are pushing in the direction of having apps be notarized: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/security/notarizin...