The questions backpackers actually ask.

That’s Gatekeeper, the macOS security layer. It shows the dialog on first launch for any app it hasn’t seen before. Standard behaviour, not a malware flag.

The one-time fix takes ~30 seconds: click Done on the dialog (never “Move to Trash”), open Apple menu → System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down to the Security block, click Open Anyway next to the Bushpass row, authenticate, then relaunch the app. After that, it launches like any other app on this Mac.

Full walkthrough with screenshots is on the install page. We’re working through the Developer ID signing process in the background; once it lands, the dialog goes away automatically for everyone.

Same story as the Mac warning. SmartScreen flags any installer from a publisher Microsoft hasn’t seen pass through millions of downloads yet. We’re a small indie shop, so we trip it on the way out the door.

Click the small More info link in the SmartScreen box, then the Run anyway button that appears. One install, one warning, never again after.

Three usual culprits:

• The dock icon bounced once and stopped. Quit Bushpass (right-click dock icon → Quit), try again. macOS sometimes needs a second tap on a fresh install.
• You’re on macOS 11 (Big Sur) or older. Bushpass needs macOS 12 (Monterey) or newer. We’ll add older-OS support if it becomes a frequent ask, but it’s not there today.
• An aggressive antivirus is quarantining the app. Avast and McAfee occasionally do this on first launch. Whitelist Bushpass.app, try again.

None of those fit? Email support@bushpass.com with your macOS or Windows version. Same-day reply.

One licence, one active machine. The activation binds your key to a device fingerprint so it can’t be shared across a hostel.

Switched machines, your old one died, you bought a Mac after using Windows? Email support@bushpass.com with your licence key. We unlock it within a couple of hours, usually faster.

The licence email goes out within 60 seconds of payment. If it’s not in your inbox after 5 minutes:

1. Check spam/junk. First-time senders to your address sometimes land there.
2. Check Promotions tab if you use Gmail.
3. Search for “Bushpass” across all folders. Sender is licences@bushpass.com.
4. Still nothing? Email support@bushpass.com from the address you used at checkout, with your Stripe receipt number. We resend manually.

“Invalid” usually means a typo. The key looks like BPS-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX with hyphens, all uppercase. Copy-paste from the email rather than typing by hand. Watch for trailing spaces.

“Already used” means the key is bound to another machine. That happens if you installed once before, switched laptops, or tried activating in a fresh user account. Email us, we unlock it within a couple of hours.

If activation hangs forever, your network may be blocking our licence server. Try a different network (mobile hotspot is a good test). Some hostel Wi-Fi blocks everything non-Facebook.

Yep. Normal request, not a punishment. Email support@bushpass.com with your key (the address you used at checkout works as ID). We unlock it on our end and you paste the same key on the new machine. Done.

We don’t cap the number of moves. Just don’t share the key with friends. Sharing it triggers our abuse detection and the key gets revoked.

Easiest: search your inbox for licences@bushpass.com. The original email isn’t deleted on our side either. Can’t find it? Email support@bushpass.com from the address you used at checkout and we resend it.

The app checks for new versions every 30 minutes in the background. When a fresh build is ready you’ll see a small banner top-right asking if you want to install. One click, the app restarts in about 15 seconds, your data and licence stay where they were.

You can also trigger a check manually in Settings → About → Check for updates. No reinstall, no fresh download from the website. Updates stream from our update server.

You don’t see the macOS warning on update. That dance is a one-time thing for the first install only.

Nope. The updater keeps a backup of the previous version on disk until the new one’s verified working. If anything goes wrong it either rolls back automatically or you’ll see a notice in Settings → About with a Restore previous version button.

Properly stuck? Email us with your version number (visible in Settings → About) and what you see on screen. Worst case we walk you through a clean reinstall. Your data is preserved either way.

No. Your CV, your saved jobs, your contacts, your outreach drafts, your sent emails, your 88-day log. All of it lives in a SQLite file inside your app folder. We can’t read it. Wipe the file, it’s gone.

Your outreach to employers never goes through us either. Every pitch you send goes straight from your Gmail (or whichever address you connect) to the employer. We never see, store or relay the message.

The honesty box has the full breakdown of what stays local vs what touches our server.

No. We don’t sell or rent any personal data. We don’t share with advertisers. We don’t use your CV, emails or shifts to train any model.

When you trigger an AI feature (CV polish, email rewrite, assistant chat) the relevant text goes through our small proxy to OpenAI. We use OpenAI’s no-training setting, which means your prompt isn’t used to train their model either. We don’t store the prompt or response on our end beyond the brief moment it takes to forward it.

The privacy policy spells this out in legal-grade detail.

Your data lives in a folder outside the app itself, so a normal uninstall (drag to Trash on Mac, Add/Remove Programs on Windows) leaves your 88-day log, CV, contacts and outreach intact. Reinstall later, sign in with the same key, everything reappears.

Want to wipe everything? The data folder is at:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Bushpass/
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Bushpass\

Delete that folder and Bushpass starts fresh on next launch. We don’t keep a copy on our side.

Lifetime licence, not yet activated, within 14 days of purchase. Full refund, no questions asked.

Email support@bushpass.com from the address you used at checkout, with your Stripe receipt number. We process the refund through Stripe within 5 business days. Funds typically reach your card 5 to 10 business days after that, depending on your bank.

Monthly subscription? Cancel yourself any time at bushpass.com/billing (Stripe sends you a 5-min magic link, you cancel in two clicks). Or hit "Manage billing" in Settings inside the app. The current month is non-refundable but no further charges happen. Full details on the refund policy page.

Self-serve through the Stripe billing portal: bushpass.com/billing (or hit "Manage billing" in Settings inside the app).

Type the email you bought with, Stripe sends you a 5-minute magic link, you land in your portal. From there you can cancel a Monthly, swap your card, download every invoice as a PDF, or change your billing email and address.

Lifetime customers see the same portal but with no subscription to cancel. Just receipts and contact info you can keep current.

No password, no account to remember. Your email is the key.

Once a lifetime key is activated the digital product is fully delivered and we don’t do casual refunds. But your statutory rights still apply on top of that:

• Australian Consumer Law (ACL) entitles you to a refund or replacement if the software has a major problem, isn’t of acceptable quality, or doesn’t match the description.
• EU and UK consumer law give you similar rights.

If the app is genuinely broken on your machine, email us. We’d much rather fix it (or refund) than leave you stuck.

You can, but please don’t. Email us first. Genuine billing problems we fix the same day. Chargebacks opened without contacting us cost us time and processor fees, and result in your licence being revoked.

If we’ve been unhelpful or unresponsive, that’s a different conversation. Tell us why, we’ll sort it.

The job feed is rebuilt every day from public job boards (Backpacker Job Board, Workforce Australia and several others). Listings older than ~10 weeks or already taken down at the source are pruned automatically.

Most listings you see are less than a week old. The atlas of farms, mines and roadhouses is hand-curated from public contact info and refreshed when contacts change. Not every day, but whenever a number bounces or an email goes dead.

Because the farm doesn’t publish one. We only ship public contact info. What’s on the business’ own website, listing, or public directory. We don’t buy data lists, we don’t scrape personal addresses, we don’t guess.

For farms with only a website, the app surfaces that and tells you to start there. Usually a contact form. For farms with only a phone number, we suggest calling. Yes, that’s still a thing on the road.

Tell us. Either inside the app (there’s a small flag on every AI response) or by email with a screenshot. We use these reports to tighten the prompts.

Heads up: the AI is helpful for “what does this rule mean”, “rewrite my pitch shorter”, “is this farm in a regional postcode”. Treat it as a mate’s opinion at the pub, not as Immigration. For visa decisions always cross-check with the official Home Affairs site or a MARA-registered agent.

No, and nothing legal can. Bushpass is a tool that helps you find specified work, contact employers, log your shifts and produce the paperwork. It’s not Immigration and it’s not a visa-application service.

We’re not MARA-registered migration agents. The 88-day rules, the postcodes, the eligible job categories and the Specified Work definition are public. We model them inside the app, but the final decision on your visa is made by the Department of Home Affairs based on your own evidence.

Need formal advice on your individual case? Talk to a registered MARA agent or a community legal centre.

Email support@bushpass.com from any device. We read every message and reply same-day during Australian business hours, usually faster.

For licence transfers, refunds and billing, write from the email address you used at checkout. That’s how we identify your account. For everything else, any address works.