Element no longer runs on MacOS 10.13 & 10.14

[Behodar]

Steps to reproduce

Install Element 1.11.48 on MacOS 10.14.6 and try to run it. Alternatively, install a previous version and update when prompted.

Outcome

What did you expect?

I expected Element to launch as usual (as it did with 1.11.47).

What happened instead?

I got an error saying that OS 10.15 or later is required.

The change log doesn't list anything about different OS requirements, and the minor change to the version number also implies that there would be no deliberate breaking changes. Additionally I wouldn't expect the near-automatic update process to install an incompatible version. I'm therefore assuming that this change occurred in error.

Operating system

MacOS 10.14.6

Application version

Element 1.11.48

How did you install the app?

From https://element.io/get-started

Homeserver

No response

Will you send logs?

No

[yozhic]

Gentlemen, how can this even be a line of thought?
Version 1.11.48 doesn't work on macOS 10.14.6. Ok, I uninstalled it and installed 1.11.47. But there is no way to disable automatic updates in this program 🧐 Every time it prompts me to update I click Dissmiss, but today after restarting my computer the program updated itself without my consent. What should I do now? Reinstall the old working version every day? 😳

As a temporary solution, I blocked the program from accessing packages.element.io. But please do something about it too.

[t3chguy]

The change log doesn't list anything about different OS requirements

See breaking change in the release notes https://github.com/vector-im/element-desktop/releases/tag/v1.11.48

Also see https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/#supported-environments - 10.14 has been out of support for 2 years by Apple so we no longer consider it supported.

the minor change to the version number also implies that there would be no deliberate breaking changes.

Applications don't tend to follow semver, but also the change in requirements comes from Chromium as per https://www.electronjs.org/blog/electron-27-0#removed-macos-1013--1014-support

Additionally I wouldn't expect the near-automatic update process to install an incompatible version. I'm therefore assuming that this change occurred in error.

Squirrel.Mac seemingly doesn't check the LSMinimumSystemVersion before installing an update as that is set correctly by electron-builder.

Reinstall the old working version every day?

You can disable updates by creating a config.json file - see docs https://web-docs.element.dev/Element%20Desktop/config.html + https://web-docs.element.dev/Element%20Desktop/index.html#user-specified-configjson

---

Keep in mind that given your OS is already missing tens of security patches, you cannot expect any applications installed within it to still be secure.

[outflux3]

Where can we download the old version that works on MacOS 10.13, it was working perfectly till today when you updated it.

[t3chguy]

@outflux3 https://packages.element.io/

[outflux3]

thanks

[TallTed]

@t3chguy -- Thanks for your very helpful info.

As you suggested above, I am now trying to create a config.json to prevent forced Element update on my macOS 10.14.6 (where I am currently trapped by mission critical abandonware), but have no idea what to put into it. The documentation only says I should provide a value for update_base_url; it says nothing about anything else that belongs in this file, including relevant punctuation for setting this value. Can you perhaps provide a little boilerplate?

[t3chguy]

@TallTed { "update_base_url": null } should do the trick

[felixx9]

also affected: macOS 10.15 (here seen with 10.15.7).

[Kater--S]

…same effect here with Element 1.11.58 on Big Sur (11.7.0). I know its status is also unsupported by Apple, but I am stuck on that version because of the hardware, an iMac15,1 which is still running fine.

The best solution for Element would be issuing a warning with the option of disabling further updates, instead of just installing a version that crashes without any information comprehensible for a normal user (ok, crash report says SIGSEGV… so?) and needs some research to even find the previous version for reinstalling as there is no link on the https://element.io/download page.

Nevertheless, thanks for the information here. Now I even can update the Element client on my M1 MBP without fear of losing the application's functionality.

[Behodar]

It sounds like you're having a subtly different issue. Version 1.11.58 still declares itself as needing 10.15 and should still launch on 10.15.7 and 11.7. Indeed, if it's crashing, then the OS must have allowed it to load.

On 10.14 you can't actually start the app at all: Finder shows the app icon with a cross through it, and won't allow you to launch it at all. If you're getting an actual crash then I'd suggest making a new bug report for that specific issue.

[BigslimVdub]

…same effect here with Element 1.11.58 on Big Sur (11.7.0). I know its status is also unsupported by Apple, but I am stuck on that version because of the hardware, an iMac15,1 which is still running fine.

The best solution for Element would be issuing a warning with the option of disabling further updates, instead of just installing a version that crashes without any information comprehensible for a normal user (ok, crash report says SIGSEGV… so?) and needs some research to even find the previous version for reinstalling as there is no link on the https://element.io/download page.

Nevertheless, thanks for the information here. Now I even can update the Element client on my M1 MBP without fear of losing the application's functionality.

For your older mac, goto https://packages.element.io/desktop/install/macos/index.html and download the 1.11.46 dmg. open it and install and overwrite the feb13 version (1.11.48). In the applications folder right click the Element app and select "get info". Select the "Locked" check box (pic below) and hit ok.

Now it will not be possible for the app to auto-update unless you give it permission to do so every time you open the app :)

[Kater--S]

If you're getting an actual crash then I'd suggest making a new bug report for that specific issue.

Done, but it was closed after only 2 minutes 🤣. That old macOS is officially unsupported by Element, so it's my fault, kind of. There are also some duplicates already.

But I stick to requesting a better UX for less tech-savvy users who may not even know about Electron, Squirrel, and other components buried in Element.

The advice to mark the application as "locked" is valuable as it is app-independent. The config.json trick is more elaborated as it prevents update requests completely. And a link to the older versions should be on the official Download web page (see also element-hq/element.io#67).

[ImaCrea]

I have 1.11.57 on MacOS Big Sur (11.7.10) and the config.json trick doesn't work. It keeps updating in the background and then I keep re-installing Element..

In the end, it's @BigslimVdub trick that helped. Now I get a warning message asking me if I want to update and I can refuse. It's annoying but least than having to re-install a previous version every time I want to use Element 😅

btw @Behodar you can rename the ticket as it also crashes on Mac OS BigSur 11.7.10 at least, from Element 1.11.58.

[wico]

I can also confirm that Element starting from version 1.11.58 crashes on MacOSX Catalina (10.15.7 19H2026). I do use this older unsupported MacOSX on my old Macbooks and do not want to throw them away, their hardware is still good enough. Funny is, Element is THE app I use there, almost nothing else. Now I am stuck with 1.11.57 and need to prevent it from auto-updating too.

If it helps, this is the crash report (cutted):

[...]
Crashed Thread:        0  CrBrowserMain  Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread

Exception Type:        EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV)
Exception Codes:       EXC_I386_GPFLT
Exception Note:        EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY

Termination Signal:    Segmentation fault: 11
Termination Reason:    Namespace SIGNAL, Code 0xb
Terminating Process:   exc handler [34850]

Thread 0 Crashed:: CrBrowserMain  Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
0   keytar.node                   	0x0000000119fcc000 0x119fcc000 + 0
1   com.github.Electron.framework 	0x000000010ef0c2c0 0x10eed6000 + 221888
2   com.github.Electron.framework 	0x000000010ef0a364 0x10eed6000 + 213860
3   com.github.Electron.framework 	0x000000010ef0a364 0x10eed6000 + 213860
[...]

Element 1.11.57 works with no issues. To me it looks like its one of the dependencies inside Element which causes the crash, maybe something with Electron / keytar?