This article applies to Tradecopia Pro (desktop) on macOS only. Pro+ Lite and Pro+ users access Tradecopia through a web browser — if you are on a cloud plan and something isn't working, contact the Tradecopia support team.

macOS has several system-level features that can block Tradecopia from launching or connecting. These are OS restrictions, not installation failures — reinstalling Tradecopia will not fix them.

You might be experiencing this if:

If you need to do a standard reinstall or clean reset on macOS → see How to reinstall Tradecopia or do a clean reset instead.

This error is a macOS Gatekeeper security block — not a sign that Tradecopia is broken or corrupted. macOS quarantines apps downloaded from outside the App Store and may block them from launching. Reinstalling will not fix this. The fix is removing the quarantine flag using a single Terminal command.

This clears the quarantine attribute and lets macOS run the app normally. If Tradecopia launches after this, you are done.

If you don't see the "damaged" error message but the app is still being blocked:

If Tradecopia opens but cannot connect to your broker, macOS is blocking its network access.

Check the macOS firewall:

If you use a third-party firewall (Little Snitch, Lulu, or similar):

Check for any pending approval requests for Tradecopia. If connection requests were previously denied, find and approve them. Third-party firewalls can silently block network connections even when the macOS system firewall is not blocking them.

If you are connected to a VPN:

Disable the VPN temporarily and try connecting to your broker again. Some VPN configurations block the broker's WebSocket connection. If the connection works with the VPN disabled, you will need to add a rule to your VPN to allow Tradecopia's traffic.

Check for previously denied permissions:

Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and check whether any Tradecopia network permissions were previously denied. Re-enable any that were blocked.

If Tradecopia connects successfully but drops repeatedly during a session, macOS is likely suspending the app or interfering with its network activity.

Disable App Nap for Tradecopia:

App Nap is a macOS power management feature that throttles background apps. It can interfere with Tradecopia's broker connections during an active session. Disable it with the following Terminal command:

Restart Tradecopia after running this command.

Check display sleep settings:

Go to System Settings → Displays → Advanced and enable Prevent automatic sleeping when the display is off. Display sleep can trigger network suspension on some Mac configurations.

Confirm your system clock is accurate:

Go to System Settings → General → Date & Time and make sure Set time and date automatically is enabled. Broker API connections can fail if the system clock is significantly out of sync.

Tradecopia currently ships one macOS build — the Intel DMG — which runs on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs (M1, M2, M3) through Rosetta 2, Apple's built-in compatibility layer for Intel apps. If Rosetta 2 is not installed, Tradecopia will not run correctly on Apple Silicon.

macOS typically prompts you to install Rosetta 2 automatically the first time you launch an Intel app. If you dismissed that prompt or Rosetta 2 is not installed, install it manually:

Note: Rosetta 2 runs Intel apps at near-native performance on Apple Silicon — it is not a workaround or a downgrade. If you experience crashes or inconsistent behaviour after Rosetta 2 is confirmed installed, contact the Tradecopia support team.

If you have worked through the relevant steps above and Tradecopia is still not working on your Mac, contact the Tradecopia support team. Share which Mac model you are on (Intel or Apple Silicon), what macOS version you are running, and exactly what happens when you try to open or connect — and we can investigate from there.