iPad/iOS apps on Mac not shown in dock, but launching/running invisibly in the background?

Tech Support
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tldr: Apps that also run on my iOS and iPadOS devices (Tapestry, Overcast) are launching silently and invisibly in the background on my Mac and can only be seen or quit from the force quit menu. I suspect this is related to (1) continuity or (2) the apps having permission to do background refreshes in iOS. But, in either case, I want it to stop.

I started noticing this in Sequoia, though it has continued in Tahoe. My Mac would occasionally make little alert noises, though I didn’t recognize where they were coming from or what they related to. Eventually I determined that the noises were Tapestry’s noise for completing and update of its feed. But Tapestry was not open on my Mac—not in the dock, not in the app switcher, no open windows, etc. But the sound continued. I looked in the force-quit menu, and found that Tapestry was somehow running essentially headless. Force-quitting addressed the issue.

But the issue recurs. I will occasionally find that both Tapestry and Overcast are running in this “headless” state, even if neither app has been launched on the Mac since a restart. (I usually don’t notice this until I hear Tapestry’s little alert noise.)

I double-checked all the normal ways I could think that this could happen—confirmed neither app was included in login items, etc. But the issue keeps coming back.

I suspect that either (1) some element of continuity is causing this to happen (I use both apps frequently on my phone and iPad); or (2) it’s some bug in macOS that allows apps that have permission to do background refreshes on iOS to somehow do the same on macOS.

Anybody else see any behavior like this?

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It works as expected on my Mac. Ivory stays in the dock no issues. macOS 15.7.1

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Maybe check that there’s not a tab in your browser in iOS that has either of those apps using a passthrough link?

I keep noticing that Firefox ends up running on my Mac even though I didn’t open it, with a continuity icon on it. Finally figured out it’s if, while on my iPad, I click a link in an email or article to something in Spotify – the link goes to a browser first, then opens the Spotify app. If I don’t notice Firefox running in iOS it will open on my Mac.

It’s not the same thing you’re experiencing but it’s close. And only seems to have popped up since I upgraded iOS – I haven’t upgraded my Mac yet.

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Thanks. It’s not an issue with apps that I choose to launch staying in the dock. Its that apps that I haven’t launched appear to launch in the background, and “headless” (without any indication that they are running except in the Force Quit menu).

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Thanks for the suggestion, but no, there’s nothing like that.

Here’s my ignorant guess:

  1. Apps on iOS can get permission to launch in the background to update their content, but are quickly killed by iOS after a limited amount of time. (You can’t really leave something “running” on iOS in the background.)

  2. These apps don’t have to worry about quitting after they’ve updated themselves because iOS kills them agressively.

  3. macOS doesn’t regulate apps the same way. Things can run perpetually in the background.

  4. Some bug in macOS/continuity has allowed apps that are used to launching silently in the background on iOS to do the same on macOS, but macOS just leaves them running in that silent state.