Scrolls for Courses
Free public beta · Version 0.1.0

Download Scrolls for Courses

For the coordinators and speakers who record a program’s sessions, and for participants on a Mac. Free while in beta. You sign in with a Google account the first time you open it.

Pick your download

Scrolls has one download for each kind of Mac. Not sure which you have? Open the Apple menu and choose About This Mac. If it says Chip followed by “Apple M” something, choose Apple silicon. If it says Processor followed by “Intel”, choose Intel.

Scrolls is Mac only for now. Before you open it, read the next section: macOS will stop it the first time.

Opening Scrolls for the first time

Scrolls isn’t signed with an Apple developer certificate yet. Because of that, macOS blocks it the first time you open it, and you have to tell your Mac you want to open it anyway. It takes about a minute, and you only do it once per version.

If you would rather not, that is a reasonable choice: you can wait until Scrolls is signed. If you do go ahead, here is exactly what happens.

  1. Open the download and drag Scrolls to Applications

    Double-click the .dmg file you downloaded. A window opens with the Scrolls icon and your Applications folder. Drag Scrolls onto Applications.

  2. Try to open Scrolls

    Open your Applications folder and double-click Scrolls. macOS shows a message saying it couldn’t verify the app. Click Done. Do not move it to the Bin.

  3. Open System Settings and choose Open Anyway

    Choose Apple menu › System Settings › Privacy & Security and scroll down to the Security section. You will see a line saying Scrolls was blocked. Click Open Anyway.

    The Open Anyway button only appears after you have tried to open the app in step 2, and it goes away after a while. If you can’t see it, go back and try opening Scrolls again.

  4. Confirm

    Enter your Mac’s password or use Touch ID when asked, then click Open. Scrolls starts. From now on it opens normally.

  5. Allow the microphone

    Scrolls explains why it needs the microphone, then macOS asks for permission. Choose Allow. Scrolls can’t hear the session without it. For an online course, play it through your laptop speakers, not headphones, so the microphone can hear it.

If you use Terminal

As an alternative to steps 2 to 4, you can clear the “downloaded from the internet” mark yourself. Run this once, after copying Scrolls to Applications:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Scrolls.app

This removes macOS’s quarantine mark from Scrolls only. Then open Scrolls as normal.

Still stuck? See Support, or email support@scrolls.example and say which macOS version you have.

Getting a newer version

Scrolls does not install new versions by itself. When a newer one is out, Scrolls tells you, and its button brings you back to this page. To update:

  1. Download the newest version here.
  2. Quit Scrolls, then drag the new Scrolls onto the old one in Applications and choose Replace.
  3. Open it. Because the new version is a different build, you may need to repeat the steps above once, and macOS may ask for microphone permission again. This is expected. Your sessions are kept; they live in your account.

The newest version, and what changed in it, is always listed on the Changelog.

What we collect

Scrolls keeps your recording on your Mac, stores your transcript and notes in your account, and sends anonymous usage numbers only if you opt in. The full list, including the services that process your sessions, is in the Privacy Policy.

Requirements

  • A Mac with Apple silicon or an Intel processor, running macOS 11 or later
  • An internet connection while you record and when your notes are written
  • A Google account to sign in
  • A microphone, built in or external