How MacSuite licensing works

MacSuite is sold as one license that covers every app in the bundle on up to three Macs. This note explains how that works in the apps, in plain terms. Licenses are issued and checked by Polar, which also runs the checkout.

One key, entered once per Mac

When you buy MacSuite you get a single license key. On each Mac you enter it once, in whichever MacSuite app you open first. That app activates the key for this Mac and saves the result where every MacSuite app on the Mac can read it. Open another MacSuite app and it's already unlocked; activating, deactivating or a revoked key in one app is picked up by the others too.

Because the activation is shared, "three Macs" really means three Macs — not three Macs per app.

What's sent, and what's stored

Activation and license checks go to Polar's license API. They contain the license key, MacSuite's organisation and benefit IDs at Polar, and — when a Mac is activated — a label made of the Mac's model identifier and its computer name, so you can tell your Macs apart, plus which app did the activating. The privacy policy has the full list.

On your Mac, the license state lives in a small file in ~/Library/Application Support/MacSuite/. It's signed with a key kept in your login Keychain and tied to this Mac using a one-way hash of the hardware UUID — the UUID itself is never written down. That makes the file tamper-evident and stops it being copied to another Mac. It's a safeguard, not heavy-handed DRM.

A 7-day trial for each app

Without a key, each app can be used for seven days on each Mac. The trial is per app, so trying Pixfinch doesn't use up Mailloft's trial. The start date is stored in two places, and deleting an app's preferences doesn't reset it.

Seven days of offline grace

A licensed app checks the key with Polar when it starts. If it can't reach Polar — no connection, a captive portal, a server error — it keeps working as long as the last successful check was within seven days. After that it asks you to connect to the internet so it can verify the license again.

Only a clear answer from Polar that a key is no longer valid (for example after a refund) marks a license as revoked. Even then the local record isn't deleted: if the key becomes valid again, entering it reuses the same activation instead of using up another Mac.

Moving to a new Mac

Deactivating a Mac in any MacSuite app frees its slot. If the deactivation can't reach Polar at that moment, it's queued and retried the next time any MacSuite app starts on that Mac.

In short

• One key for all eleven apps.
• Up to three Macs, one activation per Mac shared by every app.
• A 7-day trial per app.
• Works offline for up to 7 days between checks.