Crate

How to install and open Crate on macOS

Install Crate in a minute: drag it to Applications, then allow it once in Privacy & Security. For macOS Sequoia and Sonoma, Apple Silicon and Intel.

  1. Download Crate. Get the free DMG from the download section.
  2. Drag Crate into Applications. Open the DMG and drag the Crate icon onto the Applications folder.
  3. Open it the first time. Double-click Crate in Applications. macOS says it can't verify the developer — click Done (on macOS 14 Sonoma: right-click Crate → Open → Open, and you're finished).
  4. Allow it in System Settings. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to the Security section and click Open Anyway next to “Crate was blocked”. Confirm with your password or Touch ID, then click Open Anyway again.
  5. Add your sample folders. Crate opens on a welcome screen: choose your sample folders and start browsing. From now on it opens normally.

Why does macOS ask?

Crate is free. Apps distributed outside the App Store can be signed with a paid Apple developer certificate; Crate isn't, to keep it free. So the first time, macOS asks you to confirm that you want to open it. This is a one-time step.

Crate doesn't need administrator rights, doesn't install anything else and never asks for your password itself — the only password prompt is macOS's own, in System Settings.

Prefer the Terminal?

After dragging Crate into Applications, this removes the download flag so it opens straight away:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Crate.app

Updating

Crate checks for a new version once a day and shows a notice in the sidebar. Download it, drag it into Applications and replace the old copy — your library, collections and analysis are kept.

Uninstalling

Drag Crate from Applications to the Trash. To also remove its data (index, covers, waveforms), delete ~/Library/Application Support/Crate. Your sample files are never touched.

Requirements

Download for Mac ↓