DarkWire DarkWire for Mac
A desktop app for Macs with Apple silicon (M1 or newer). It's a DarkWire device of its own, with its own profile, or linked to your phone: you add contacts the same way as on a phone, and messages go straight between your Mac and their devices, end-to-end encrypted. It's the same app as DarkWire for Linux and Windows, and it works together with DarkWire for Android.
macOS 13 (Ventura) or newer, Apple silicon (M1 or newer). Macs with an Intel processor are
not supported.
"Apple could not verify DarkWire". DarkWire isn't signed by Apple, so the first time you open it, macOS refuses it with this message. Click
Done. Then open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down to the message
about DarkWire and click Open Anyway, then confirm with your password. You only do this once.
Not comfortable with that? Check the download first (see below), or use DarkWire for the web on a server of your own instead.
Not comfortable with that? Check the download first (see below), or use DarkWire for the web on a server of your own instead.
Installing. Open the .dmg and drag DarkWire to Applications.
Updates. DarkWire tells you when a new version is out and installs it for you, after checking that it's signed by DarkWire (see below).
Messages arrive while DarkWire runs. Closing the window keeps it running, with its icon in the menu bar at the top of the screen; Quit in its menu there stops it. While it's not running, your contacts' phones keep retrying, just like with a phone that's switched off.
Why not older Macs? DarkWire runs on Chromium, the engine behind Chrome, which no longer supports macOS 12 and older, or Macs with an Intel processor in DarkWire's case. A secure messenger can't run on an engine without security fixes.
Updates. DarkWire tells you when a new version is out and installs it for you, after checking that it's signed by DarkWire (see below).
Messages arrive while DarkWire runs. Closing the window keeps it running, with its icon in the menu bar at the top of the screen; Quit in its menu there stops it. While it's not running, your contacts' phones keep retrying, just like with a phone that's switched off.
Why not older Macs? DarkWire runs on Chromium, the engine behind Chrome, which no longer supports macOS 12 and older, or Macs with an Intel processor in DarkWire's case. A secure messenger can't run on an engine without security fixes.
Checking a download. Every Mac file is signed with DarkWire's own update key
(Ed25519), the same one as the Linux and Windows packages. DarkWire's updater refuses anything that
isn't. To check a file by hand, compare its SHA-256 below with
shasum -a 256 <file>
in Terminal. To check its signature you need OpenSSL 3 (for example from Homebrew): save
the public key next to the file, put the file's signature from
below in darkwire.sig with echo '<signature>' | base64 -d > darkwire.sig,
and run
openssl pkeyutl -verify -pubin -inkey darkwire-update-key.pem -rawin -in <file> -sigfile darkwire.sig.
It answers Signature Verified Successfully for a genuine file. The zip is what DarkWire's own
updater downloads; you don't need it. The public key:
-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----
MCowBQYDK2VwAyEAc/+PTEOQxH5f3EaLAoMTg8585ADIT0+9GnDE1feal5o=
-----END PUBLIC KEY-----
Each release lists its size and SHA-256. To check a downloaded file, compare its SHA-256 with:
sha256sum <file>(Linux)shasum -a 256 <file>(Mac)certutil -hashfile <file> SHA256(Windows)
| Version | Date | What's in it |
|---|---|---|
| v0.19.74 Latest | Oct 07, 2026 |
The first DarkWire for Mac.
|