Here's a look at the issues that affect the Hancom Viewer app (even the one available in the App Store) and Hancom Office 2014 VP on the macOS Sonoma, and also how I ended up biting the bullet and upgrading to Hancom Office 2024.
Issues with Hancom 2014 on macOS Sonoma
Ever since updating this Macbook to Sonoma, I haven't been able to use the desktop version of Hancom Office VP 2014 Mac.
Doing some Googling and Navering shows that I'm not alone. Some folks even since October have had the issue of a hanging app that's frozen upon launch. I waited to upgrade out of Ventura since all the documentation suggested 2014 version is only officially supported through Big Sur. And those early adopters of Sonoma seem to have proved my choice wise. But last week I finally upgraded and was met with the same issues still.
Even tried a full wipe of 2014VP and reinstalled. I didn't have the package file anymore, but on the main Hancom site you can check your purchase history and it shows your serial number and a link to redownload if need be. But that reinstall had same issue. I'm guessing it might be a Rosetta issue. That app is obviously older and runs Intel code, and Activity Log showed it at a constant 99% CPU usage. No matter what I tried, it would always hang like this.
Worse, even the Hancom Viewer available from the store was hanging. Makes sense, since it's basically the same app.
As a workaround, I went back to using the web version of Hancom Docs. It does most of what I usually need so it wasn't a huge issue. I was hopeful Hancom might issue an update or something, but since they officially list this version as dead, not likely:
So what to do?
Use Hancom Docs online
If you need to view or even edit an HWP document, the near full experience is available for free on https://www.hancomdocs.com where even with a free account you can view/edit online.
But what's interesting is that you can also download the full Hancom Office 2024 local installer package from here, even via a free account. Check out that link in the corner:
Look closely:
That downloads the full ~700MB installer file.
Now if you are not on a paid account, the app will run, but show ads in the top bar and you'll have to run it in "offline" mode. No problem. It just acts basically as a viewer now. So you will easily be able to open, view, print HWP files with the full compatibility of the latest version.
But if you want the full version, you'll need to ensure you're logged into the Hancom Docs website with a paid account.
Upgrading to Hancom Office 2024
With all this hassle and the clear realisation that I have already spent an extra year or two milking use out of a dead product, I went ahead and did the paid upgrade which I wrote about before.
I will officially say that I bought my own personal subscription at ~7,000won/month. I will officially say that this subscription allows instal on 5 devices. I will unofficially say that you in theory could team up with some other workers on your team who the boss considers "non critical" and therefore unworthy of being put on the office's plan, leading you to fend for yourselves and account share. In theory.
Anyway after signing-in on that other (paid) account, the downloaded version asked me to restart, and then logged me in and everything functioned great.
I even like the updated icon:
One thing you may struggle with is that this version is currently only available in Korean (i.e. no English support in the app itself). Of course you can type in English, but all program menus will be Korean only. I'm not going to lie, this makes it a little tricky as there is some very specific terminology but common sense, visual cues, and combining Korean terms you already know makes it very usable.
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