HandBrakePM (app)

Hey,

So yesterday I spent a solid chunk of time poking around HandBrakePM (app) from [OrchardKit] on my M1 MacBook Air running macOS 13.5, and honestly, it was one of those “why isn’t this just opening?” mornings. I just wanted to get a quick video conversion going, but the app refused to launch—classic Gatekeeper block.

First, I tried the usual: right-click → Open. Nothing. The “app can’t be opened because Apple cannot check it for malicious software” warning kept popping up. Then I reset permissions using the Finder’s Get Info panel, thinking maybe some weird sandboxing was causing it. Still nada.

Next, I dug into Terminal, trying xattr -cr and spctl --master-disable to remove quarantine flags. That seemed promising at first—the app icon finally animated—but then it crashed instantly on start. So much for a quick win.

After a little frustration, I checked Apple’s documentation on Gatekeeper and notarization
and realized I’d overlooked a subtle step: even notarized apps on M1 need explicit Full Disk Access or Files & Folders permissions to operate properly if they interact with certain directories. Once I added HandBrakePM under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Files and Folders, it finally ran without crashing.

I also bookmarked this page / the resource I used / my notes here
—it had some handy pointers for permissions quirks on macOS Ventura+. That tip alone probably saved me 20 minutes of trial and error.

What really helped:

Explicitly granting permissions in System Settings for the app.

Resetting quarantine flags via Terminal (xattr -cr).

Restarting the app after each change (don’t skip this; macOS caches stuff weirdly).

If I were doing it again, I’d skip the half-baked Finder tweaks and go straight to checking System Settings permissions after resetting quarantine flags. Small time saver, big headache avoided.

Also, note that updates can re-toggle these permissions or trigger Gatekeeper again, so a quick checklist for next time:

Verify the app is notarized (support.apple.com has the steps).

Reset quarantine flags.

Grant Files & Folders access as needed.

Restart app after each change.

Anyway, that’s my morning with HandBrakePM. Works like a charm now, but only after a little elbow grease—and a reminder that Gatekeeper isn’t messing around on M1s.