KStars

KStars presents a complex situation on macOS. The project is actively developed and receives regular updates, but the official releases have struggled with stability on Apple Silicon Macs since late 2025. The current stable build (version 3.8.1, released February 2026) does not launch properly on many M-series Macs running macOS Sequoia, displaying "application is damaged" errors, and earlier versions fail to install on Intel Macs. Catalog downloads fail and the Ekos INDI server crashes when attempting to start. Rather than waiting for an unstable official build to improve, the Mac astronomy community has documented successful workarounds: community developers have compiled native Apple Silicon builds using custom KDE build scripts that resolve the launch failures. If you are willing to build from source, Rob Lancaster's astronomy-specific build scripts (available at github.com/rlancaste/Astro-Dev) are the most reliable path — multiple Mac astrophotographers have successfully compiled working native KStars and INDI binaries this way. This requires some command-line familiarity and build-tool setup, but yields a fully functional native application. If you prefer a pre-built binary without compilation, Mac Observatory's March 2026 guide documents the most recent successful community builds. Alternatively, watch the official KDE project repository for a native Apple Silicon build to appear in the official installer — the developers are aware of the Mac issues, but have not yet shipped a stable native release through standard channels. Given the September 2028 macOS 28 Rosetta 2 EOL deadline, the sooner you either switch to a community-compiled native version or contact KDE to prioritize official Apple Silicon support, the safer your long-term workflow will be.