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Installing SparkStream

SparkStream is a Windows desktop app. It is free to install and you do not need an account to get started. Windows will show a warning the first time you run the installer. This page explains exactly what that warning is, why it appears, and how to check the file for yourself instead of taking our word for it.

SparkStream for Windows

Version 0.56.1. About 101 MB. Windows 10 or later, 64-bit. It installs for your user account only and never asks for administrator rights.

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What to expect

Windows will warn you, and here is why

Windows recognises software by its code signing certificate, a certificate bought from a certificate authority that identifies who published a file. Microsoft Defender SmartScreen checks for one, and warns about anything it does not recognise.

SparkStream's installers are not signed. We do not have a certificate, so every SparkStream release is an unrecognised app as far as SmartScreen is concerned. That is the entire reason for the warning.

This is not a virus detection. SmartScreen is not saying it found something wrong with the file. It is saying it does not know who published it. Those are different claims, and the dialog does not make the difference obvious.

It is also worth knowing that signing is not an instant fix. A signed file still gets warned about until its certificate has been seen widely enough to build a reputation, so this is not a warning that vanishes the moment a box is ticked.

What you will see
Windows protected your PC

Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognised app from starting. Running this app might put your PC at risk.

More info
Run anywayDon't run

Run anyway is hidden until you click More info. The first screen offers only Don't run, which is why the warning stops most people even when they meant to continue.

Do not take our word for it

Check the file yourself

Everything below is checkable by you, in a couple of minutes, without trusting anything on this page. That is deliberate. We would rather hand you the means to check than ask you to believe us.

Scan it with 70 antivirus engines

VirusTotal runs a file through around 70 antivirus engines at once and publishes the result at a permanent address. Here is the report for this exact build. You can also upload the file yourself and get the same page.

View the VirusTotal report
Check the fingerprint

Version 0.56.1 of the installer has this SHA-256 fingerprint. If the file you downloaded produces anything else, it is not the file we published.

e90ae2086ef81b8d5be78e323dff2c21d57e306b4b2c5104e529137bda45fd51

Run this in PowerShell, in the folder you downloaded it to:

Get-FileHash .\SparkStream-Setup.exe -Algorithm SHA256

The download itself comes from our public releases page on GitHub, where every release is listed with its file size and its own checksum.

The install itself

What running it actually does

It installs for you, not for the machine

SparkStream installs under your own user account and never asks for administrator rights, so it cannot touch anything outside your account. It is a single installer with nothing bundled alongside it, no toolbars and no other software.

No account needed to install

You connect your Twitch account from inside the app when you are ready, and only then. No card is needed for the free version, and most of what SparkStream does is free.

Still not sure? That is a reasonable place to be with an unsigned installer from a company you have not heard of. The Trust centre sets out exactly what the app stores and what our server ever sees, and you can ask us anything at hello@sparkstreamapp.com. A person answers.