Installing Pop Dispatch on a Mac

One download covers everything: the Pop Dispatch app. The same app can be the office server for your business, join a server that already runs, or sign in to the hosted service. The first time it opens it asks which one you want. You will be able to install the app, open it past the macOS warning, choose, keep it up to date and remove it.

Before you start #

• macOS 14 or later on every Mac.
• The disk image PopDispatch-<version>.dmg from your supplier.
• Your licence key, if this Mac will be the office server. The setup page asks for it.
• An administrator name and password for the Mac that becomes the server.

This build carries an ad hoc signature and no Apple notarisation, so macOS shows a warning the first time you open it. The steps below take you past it. You do this once per Mac.

Install the app #

1. Double-click the .dmg. A window opens with the app and an Applications folder.
2. Drag Pop Dispatch onto Applications.
3. Close the window, then eject the disk image: choose its name in the Finder sidebar and press Command-E. The app must sit in the Applications folder before you choose to make this Mac the server.
4. Open Pop Dispatch from Applications. macOS says it cannot verify the app. Continue with "Open an unsigned app" below.

Open an unsigned app #

On macOS 15 and later:

1. Double-click the app. In the warning, choose Done.
2. Open System Settings, then Privacy & Security.
3. Scroll down to Security. The line "Pop Dispatch was blocked" has a button, Open Anyway. Choose it.
4. Type your Mac password if it asks, then choose Open.

On macOS 14:

1. Hold Control and click the app in Applications, then choose Open.
2. In the warning, choose Open.

After this, the app opens with a double-click.

Choose how this Mac is used #

The first time the app opens, it asks one question. You can change the answer later in Settings, under This computer's role.

Set up my business on this computer #

Choose this on the one Mac that holds your data. It becomes your office server.

1. Tick "Other computers in my office will connect to this one" if more computers or phones will use it. macOS asks for your password once.
2. Choose Start the server.
3. macOS needs one permission. The app shows the steps: open System Settings, choose General, then Login Items & Extensions, and switch on Pop Dispatch under Allow in the Background. The button Open System Settings goes there. Come back to the app.
4. When the app says the server is running, choose Open setup. Your browser opens the setup page at http://127.0.0.1:8480/setup. It asks for your licence key, your business details and the owner's sign-in, and it shows the recovery key once. Write the recovery key down and keep it away from this Mac.
5. Sign in to the app with the owner email and the password you chose.

The server then starts by itself every time the Mac starts, even when nobody is signed in, and restarts itself if it stops. Nothing needs to be typed in Terminal or edited in a file. The licence service's verification key is built into the server.

Join my business #

Choose this on every other computer. The app looks for your office server on the network and lists it. Choose it, then sign in. If it is missing from the list, type the server's address, or paste the link from the Connect devices step of the setup page.

Use the hosted service #

Choose this when your supplier runs the server for you. Type the cloud address you were given, then sign in. Nothing runs on this Mac.

Setting up from another computer #

While no owner exists, setup is open without a code on the server Mac. From another computer on your network it asks for the one-time setup code, which you can read with sudo cat "/Library/Application Support/Pop Street Dispatch/data/setup-code.txt". Tick the network box above first, then open http:// followed by this Mac's name or network address and :8480/setup. The code stops working once the owner account exists.

Moving your business to this Mac #

Make this Mac the server, then choose Restore from a backup file in the setup page and type the recovery key. See "Moving to a new computer".

Keep it up to date #

The app checks for updates once a day. Choose Pop Dispatch, then Check for updates, to check now, or open Settings, then Updates, to switch the daily check on or off. An update downloads, is checked against the update key built into the app, and installs when you follow the update window to the end. An update that fails the check is discarded. If macOS blocks the new copy, repeat the Open Anyway steps.

The server travels inside the app, so an update of the app updates the server too. Your data stays and the server starts again by itself.

Remove it #

• The app: quit it, then drag Pop Dispatch from Applications to the Trash. To remove its local copy as well, delete ~/Library/Application Support/Pop Street Dispatch. The server still holds your data.
• The server: in Settings, under This computer's role, choose Stop being the server. It stops and removes the background service and keeps your data in /Library/Application Support/Pop Street Dispatch/data. Delete that folder yourself only after you have a backup you trust.

If something goes wrong #

• There is no Open Anyway button: double-click the app once more, then open Privacy & Security again.
• Check for updates is grey or Settings says updates are off: this copy was built without an update key. Install the app from the current disk image.
• Start the server shows the permission steps for a long time: switch on Pop Dispatch in System Settings, General, Login Items & Extensions, under Allow in the Background.
• The app says to move it into Applications: drag it there from the disk image, then open it again.
• The server does not answer after the permission is on: the log is /Library/Logs/Pop Street Dispatch/server.log; send it to your supplier.
• Other computers cannot find the server: switch on Let other computers connect in Settings, under This computer's role, and allow incoming connections if the Mac firewall asks. Typing the server's address always works.