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Editions

Twain comes in two editions, built from the same app:

  • Direct download (Developer ID). A notarised .dmg from twain.md. It updates itself, and runs outside the App Store sandbox, so it can do a few things the store edition can't.
  • Mac App Store. Installed and updated through the App Store. It runs sandboxed, as the store requires.

Both editions render the same and preview in Finder the same. Only a small set of features differs, mostly because of the sandbox.

Only the direct download has shipped

Twain 1.0.0 is available now as the direct download. The Mac App Store edition has not been released yet, so everything below describing it, including buying Pro in the store and the free direct version for store customers, is how that edition will work rather than something you can do today. Everything describing the direct download applies now.

What only the direct edition can do​

  • Show Changes vs Git HEAD. The direct edition can compare the open document against its last committed version. The store edition can't run git, so it offers Since Last Save and version-history baselines instead.
  • Sibling images without granting a folder. Under the sandbox, Twain can only read images that sit next to a document once you've opened that folder; open the enclosing folder (or the whole project) to grant access. The direct edition reads them straight away in the app window. The Quick Look preview is sandboxed in both editions, so a sibling image can still be missing there.
  • Files handed to it by other tools. The direct edition opens any file passed to it through the twain-md:// URL scheme, which is how the twain-md command-line tool and the VS Code commands reach the app. The store edition is sandboxed, so it can only open a file it has already been granted; those commands work best for files inside a folder you've opened in Twain.
  • Session status for local tools. The direct edition can publish which documents are open so a coding agent avoids overwriting a file you're editing. The sandbox keeps that file inside the app's private container, so the store edition doesn't publish it.
  • Self-updates. The direct edition updates through Sparkle: it checks in the background and offers what it finds, and never installs an update without your say-so. The store edition updates through the App Store.
  • Anonymous usage check-ins. The direct edition sends a small anonymous check-in when it launches, when a trial starts, and when a licence is activated. It reports only the app version, which edition is running (free, trial, trial-expired, licensed or App Store), which day of a trial a launch falls on, and, on activation, a one-way tag derived from the licence key so we can count how many Macs a licence runs on. It never sends your name, your email, anything about your documents, or anything that identifies your Mac, and nothing it sends can affect Pro. Turning it off in Settings ▸ Privacy does not stop update checks. The store edition sends no check-in and has no Privacy tab, because the App Store already reports installs.
  • Reading settings in Quick Look. The direct edition's previews use your theme, font, width and text size. The store edition's previews keep the built-in defaults, because the sandbox gives the preview extension its own separate preferences. See Quick Look previews.

Everything else you do with a document (rendering, Quick Look, reading settings, the editor, export, folder mode, presentation mode, and the review tooling) works the same in both editions.

Free direct version for App Store customers​

If you bought Twain Pro on the Mac App Store, the direct version is free, so moving to it never costs you the direct-only features above. These steps need a Mac App Store purchase, so they apply once that edition is released.

  1. Download the direct version from twain.md and open it.
  2. Choose Twain ▸ Enter License… (or use any Pro feature) to show the unlock panel.
  3. Under Bought Twain on the Mac App Store?, click Unlock the Direct Version Free. Twain finds your App Store copy, checks its receipt, and unlocks Pro (no key to type).
  4. If it can't find the copy automatically, click Locate App Store Copy… and choose your App Store Twain (usually in /Applications). Or click Email Support, send us your receipt, and we'll sort it out by hand.

The check is done entirely on your Mac against the App Store receipt: there's no account, and your receipt never leaves your Mac. Twain keeps the validated receipt and re-checks Apple's signature over it on every launch, rather than trusting a note that it once passed. (The direct edition does still send its anonymous launch check-in, which now reports the App Store edition along with the app version; it carries nothing that identifies you or your Mac, and you can turn it off in Settings ▸ Privacy.) You can keep both editions side by side or delete either one; the unlock is remembered on your Mac.