Skip to main content

Get started

Allomer requires an Apple silicon Mac with macOS 14 or later. Conversion happens on the Mac.

Release status

The Homebrew command below becomes available after the first signed and notarized release is published. There is no production release yet.

Install with Homebrew​

brew install --cask ashbench/tap/allomer

The fully qualified name grants Homebrew trust only to the Allomer cask. It does not trust every item that AshBench might publish later. If you add the tap separately, grant the same narrow trust before installing:

brew tap ashbench/tap
brew trust --cask ashbench/tap/allomer
brew install --cask ashbench/tap/allomer

See Homebrew's tap trust documentation for the scope of each trust command.

This installs Allomer.app in Applications and links the bundled allomer command into Homebrew's binary directory. It does not install separate conversion tools.

Open an unsigned beta from a disk image​

Early test builds may have an ad hoc signature while Developer ID signing and notarization are being configured. Download these builds only from the AshBench GitHub release and compare the disk image's SHA-256 value with its release manifest:

shasum -a 256 ~/Downloads/Allomer-0.1.0-beta.1.dmg

After dragging Allomer to Applications, macOS will block its first launch. You can try to open it once and then use System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway, as described in Apple's instructions. The terminal alternative removes quarantine from this app only:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Allomer.app
open /Applications/Allomer.app

Do not disable Gatekeeper for the whole Mac. A signed and notarized release will not require this step.

Launch the app from Applications or run:

open -a Allomer

Homebrew can update or remove the app later:

brew upgrade --cask ashbench/tap/allomer
brew uninstall --cask ashbench/tap/allomer

brew uninstall --cask --zap ashbench/tap/allomer also removes saved settings, history, and recovery data. Use --zap only when you no longer need Undo.

Convert one file​

  1. Open Allomer and select Manual.
  2. Drag one file into the window or select Choose File….
  3. Select the destination under Convert to.
  4. Review the format settings.
  5. Select Save Converted Copy….

Allomer keeps the source and refuses to replace an existing destination.

Convert after a Finder rename​

  1. Select Automatic.
  2. Select Add Watched Folder… and choose a folder.
  3. Keep Automatic conversion on.
  4. Rename a file in that folder. For example, rename photo.png to photo.jpg.
  5. Approve the conversion if After an extension change is set to ask first.

Subfolders are included. Review Automatic conversion before enabling whole-system watching or changing backup retention.

Use the command line​

List the formats available in the installed app:

allomer formats

Convert a file by giving it a new output path:

allomer convert photo.png photo.jpg

The destination must not exist. Run allomer without arguments to see the supported option-file flags.

Build from source​

Contributors need Xcode with the Swift 6 toolchain. Some routes also need the pinned helper builds described in Dependency updates.

swift build
swift test
swift run allomer formats

The complete local app build is documented under Build and run.

Next steps​