macos
Olympiads on macOS
Olympiads runs on macOS 13 Ventura or later, on Apple silicon and on Intel Macs. It is signed and notarized by Main Team Organisation GmbH, so it opens without any warning.
Which Mac do I have?
There are two builds because there are two kinds of Mac.
- Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner and choose About This Mac.
- Look at the line labelled Chip or Processor.
- Apple M1, M2, M3, M4 (or any "Apple" chip) → download the Apple silicon build.
- Intel Core i5, i7, i9 (or any "Intel") → download the Intel build.
If you picked the wrong one, nothing breaks — the app simply refuses to open with a message. Download the other build and try again.
Install
- Open the downloaded disk image (
Olympiads_<version>_aarch64.dmgfor Apple silicon,Olympiads_<version>_x64.dmgfor Intel). - Drag Olympiads onto the Applications folder shown next to it.
- Eject the disk image and open Olympiads from Applications or Launchpad.
The first launch may take a few seconds while macOS checks the notarization ticket. That is normal and only happens once.
The first launch: permissions
Before you can sign in, the app walks you through what it needs for a supervised exam. Each card explains why, and each one opens the right System Settings pane for you.
| Permission | Why | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | Records you during the exam | System Settings → Privacy & Security → Camera |
| Screen Recording | Records your screen during the exam | System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording |
| Notifications | Tells you when an exam window opens | Optional — the app works without it |
Screen Recording is the one that surprises people: macOS asks you to quit and reopen the app after you allow it. The card says so and offers to do it for you.
Do this a day before your exam. On exam morning, opening the app should be the whole preparation.
Updates
The app checks for a new version shortly after it opens and about every six hours after that. When one is ready it downloads it in the background and shows a quiet strip: Update ready — install and reopen. Nothing is installed until you press it, and the app will not update while an exam is open or a recording is still being sent.
You can also check by hand in About Olympiads.
Verify a download
Every file on the download page lists its SHA-256 checksum. To compare:
shasum -a 256 ~/Downloads/Olympiads_*.dmg
The desktop packages also carry a minisign signature (.sig files next to the update archives). The app verifies these itself before it installs an update; you do not need to.
Uninstall
Drag Olympiads from Applications to the Bin. Exam recordings that are still being sent live in ~/Library/Application Support/org.mainteam.olympiads.desktop/ — the app tells you if something is still waiting before you quit.
Trouble?
- "Olympiads is damaged and can't be opened." The download did not finish. Delete it and download again.
- The camera card stays on "Checking…". Another app is using the camera. Quit video-call apps and press Check again.
- Screen Recording is allowed but the card says no. Quit Olympiads completely (⌘Q) and reopen it; macOS only re-reads that permission at launch.