close app with the close button

[Tom Foolery]

I love my mac and i would never go back to pc. but there are still a few things that just don't make sense. one of these things is when i press the red x on an app i want it to close. i understand this feature for programs such as word or safari the purpose being that i might want to open up another window with different content. but why would i want itunes to stay open if i close the main window, if i don't want to see it i would hide it or minimize it.

it doesn't make any sense. is there any way i can set programs to close when i click the x

 

[clevin]

u can file a bug report to apple, if there are enough ppl complaining, they MIGHT add an option in next version of OSX.

 

[scaredpoet]

Considering this is the way it's been since the 80s, I doubt it'll change.

Just remember: -Q quits the app. It's not that hard to learn. I did it.

 

[theLimit]

Yet another thread about this. It's been debated till the cows come home dozens of times. I hope that learning to click Quit instead of the X is easier than learning to search the forums before posting.

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

I normally wouldn't post in a thread like this (beating a very dead horse) but his argument about itunes is moronic! iTunes makes the most sense to stay open after all the windows are closed, it plays music! you don't need a window open to listen to music.

 

[Tom Foolery]

iTunes makes the most sense to stay open after all the windows are closed, it plays music! you don't need a window open to listen to music.

first of all i just used itunes as an example it could be any app, and second you can do that, maybe your new to mac, it's called hide, Command-H

it just doesn't make any sense. why would anybody need to keep an app open when they close the window, i know there are some exceptions

and i know about Command-Q but the x is just easier somtimes

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

it also isn't up to apple. it's the developers of those applications, they can choose to have their application quit when the windows are closed or not.

OS X is good enough about memory management that it shouldn't matter very much if an app has been left open or not.
Why not give an example (that makes sense) of where an app should quit when the window is closed?

 

[Tom Foolery]

^^^^^^^^^^

see edited post

 

[theLimit]

I like that apps stay open when I close a window I'm working in. When I close my Safari window, I don't want that 2GB download that was halfway through to cancel. When I close my iTunes window, I don't want the music to stop playing. When I close my Mail window, I don't want it to stop checking for and notifying me of new mail. When I close a Finder window, I don't want every open file on my system to close (like in Windows when Explorer quits). And if mousing is easier than keyboard shortcuts sometimes, just click AppName -> Quit AppName. It's still one quick single click, make it a habit and you'll be faster at it than clicking the close window button in no time.

 

[clevin]

it also isn't up to apple. it's the developers of those applications, they can choose to have their application quit when the windows are closed or not.

thats an unfair excuse. yes they can, but they need to write extra code for it. Most developers won't bother for it.

just like windows, click "x" will quit app, developers of the apps can choose not to close it when users click "x", but that need extra codes for that as well.

This is a question of generality, "which understanding of x button should be default", or "should apple consider offer options in this case". we shouldn't use exceptions as an excuse.

I do not hold any opinion on this, and Im fully aware that this problem has been asked so many times, nobody here will give any solution. The discussion here will eventually turns into flaming war without meaningful ideas.

So, Its very SIMPLE:

go file a feedback to apple, if enough ppl demand it, apple will change it, if not, let it be.

Improvement of the OS is aided by demanding users, not by unconditional praises.

 

[flopticalcube]

So, Its very SIMPLE:

go file a bug to apple, if enough ppl demand it, apple will change it, if not, let it be.

Improvement of the OS is aided by demanding users, not by unconditional praises.

Its not a bug, its the way things are designed to work. I would not call it an improvement.

 

[clevin]

Its not a bug, its the way things are designed to work. I would not call it an improvement.

lol, i think there might be some misunderstanding about what is a bug.... I guess I check bugzilla.mozilla.org too often, there, the bug can be, anything they want to change, new feature to add, old feature to delete, .....

I think a "feedback" to apple should be more proper in above post.

 

[Tom Foolery]

I like that apps stay open when I close a window I'm working in. When I close my Safari window, I don't want that 2GB download that was halfway through to cancel. When I close my iTunes window, I don't want the music to stop playing. When I close my Mail window, I don't want it to stop checking for and notifying me of new mail. When I close a Finder window, I don't want every open file on my system to close (like in Windows when Explorer quits).

like i already said there are some exceptions, however all of these apps have can be hidden which accomplishes the exact same purpose.

or am i wrong

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

thats an unfair excuse. yes they can, but they need to write extra code for it. Most developers won't bother for it.

just like windows, click "x" will quit app, developers of the apps can choose not to close it when users click "x", but that need extra codes for that as well.

This is a question of generality, "which understanding of x button should be default", or "should apple consider offer options in this case". we shouldn't use exceptions as an excuse.

I do not hold any opinion on this, and Im fully aware that this problem has been asked so many times, nobody here will give any solution. The discussion here will eventually turns into flaming war without meaningful ideas.

So, Its very SIMPLE:

go file a bug to apple, if enough ppl demand it, apple will change it, if not, let it be.

Improvement of the OS is aided by demanding users, not by unconditional praises.

should we just have a mod close the thread instead of it getting any worse?

 

[callmemike20]

I find that the programs that don't close when I hit the X are the ones that I want to stay open (Mail, iTunes,Safari, and even Word so I don't have to wait 10minutes for it to load). The ones I really want to close usually close when I hit the X. So, I don't see any problem with it.

 

[HLdan]

I think the OP is exaggerating just a bit. He's mentioning there are other apps with this unnecessary behavior but that's not at all true. There are only a few apps in OS X that remain running when closing the last window and it makes perfect sense that they do.

Most 3rd party apps do the same thing, if the program has no functionality in itself after closing the last window it will quit. Apple works on a logic system, Windows does not.

Now the only thing I would say is a bit weird is the distinction between closing the window and hiding the app, they both seem to do the same thing except for web browsing. Hiding maintains the current browser window and closing looses the content, don't know why Apple did it that way but it is a bit weird since the other apps don't do that.

 

[clevin]

should we just have a mod close the thread instead of it getting any worse?

thats up to mod, on one hand, I do feel this topic will not produce anything, on the other hand, everybody got right to complain things they don't like. If it stays open hopefully ppl will be at least civil...

I think Im done in this thread tho..

 

[Tom Foolery]

I find that the programs that don't close when I hit the X are the ones that I want to stay open (Mail, iTunes,Safari, and even Word so I don't have to wait 10minutes for it to load). The ones I really want to close usually close when I hit the X. So, I don't see any problem with it.

your missing the point you can do that with the hide function, so why would it matter if they made all apps close with the x.

 

[theLimit]

We all know you can hide apps with Command + H, and that you can quit apps with Command + Q. So why does it matter that devs don't make all apps close with the X button? It's worked this way for nearly 25 years, and 99% of users are perfectly fine with it, why should it be changed?

 

[Daveoc64]

We all know you can hide apps with Command + H, and that you can quit apps with Command + Q. So why does it matter that devs don't make all apps close with the X button? It's worked this way for nearly 25 years, and 99% of users are perfectly fine with it, why should it be changed?

Because it's a hindrance for some users.

Particularly those switching from ANY other OS that doesn't do it.

It doesn't need to be changed it could be an option.

But I doubt it will happen.

 

[callmemike20]

your missing the point you can do that with the hide function, so why would it matter if they made all apps close with the x.

I think YOU are missing the point. Like someone else mentioned, this is just how Mac OS works. Since the X is easy to hit, it should do the more beneficial function. If the program should stay open, have the X hide it so that I don't have to remember to do cmd H. If the program should be closed when I hit the x, then just close it instead of making me hit cmd q.


Oh...and you said you would never go back to PC which implies that you are a switcher. So, I have some advice. Get your mind off windows. Mac OS does not work the same way. The best thing to do is forget everything you know about windows. It makes the transition much easier. An X in windows usually closes the app, and that is what you want back. The fact is that Mac doesn't work that way. It's a completely different OS.

 

[HLdan]

Because it's a hindrance for some users.

Particularly those switching from ANY other OS that doesn't do it.

It doesn't need to be changed it could be an option.

No, it doesn't need to be an option as it's not really a hinderance depending how you look at it. My best friend just bought his parents their very first computer and it's the new iMac. They will learn all their computing habits on a Macintosh.

Now if they ever jump on a PC at some time they will wonder why ALL apps quit each time they close the window? They will see this as a hinderance because all they've used is a Mac so why should Apple change the Mac behavior? Microsoft won't change the Windows behavior.

This is my last post on this as well and I hope others don't feed into as I have, it's only gonna help the OP's post count to the marketplace.

 

[kuwisdelu]

your missing the point you can do that with the hide function, so why would it matter if they made all apps close with the x.

You're missing the point. There's a big difference between "hiding" and "closing" a window. It just happens that these two actions get confusing with an application like iTunes, which is the one you're talking about.

With most applications, closing the window means you lose the content that window held, and are done with it, i.e. closing a document in Pages or Word means you're done with it and it's gone until you open it again, or closing a Safari of Firefox window means you're done viewing those web pages. The reason it doesn't close the application, too, is what if I want to use it again very soon, but I'm done with that particular content? I don't want to remember to leave a document open in Pages or Word or always have a photo open in Photoshop if I'm not using it, but might want to return to the application soon. Say I'm editing photo 1 in Photoshop, then I finish. I close photo 1 and take a break for lunch. I don't close Photoshop however, and after lunch I come back, open photo 2 and continue editing. If Photoshop closed, I'd have to wait for it to open again simply because I closed photo 1, but I'm not done with Photo shop.

Hiding on the other hand, means you do not lose the content. I have a document open in Pages and hide it, to look up something in Safari: the Pages document stays open. When I'm finished looking something up in Safari, I go back to my Pages document that I'm working on. It would be quite annoying if hiding meant I have to reopen the document as if I had closed it. Hiding an application is nothing like closing the window.

...except with iTunes. iTunes is an exception in this case, because there's really only one window that can ever be brought up, and it displays the exact same content each time. That's why with iTunes closing the window is practically the same as hiding it. With other applications, hiding saves your content, and closing means you're done with the content. With iTunes, there's only one set of possible content that comes back each time, so it seems like closing=hiding. Furthermore, the reason iTunes stays open when you close the window is that it retains functionality after the window closes--if you had to keep the iTunes window open to play music, it would be pretty useless. You could argue that you should just hide the window instead of closing it, and then closing it would quit iTunes, but this would be inconsistent. And since when is there anything wrong with having two ways of doing something?

 

[Steven.nevets]

i have only just recently heard about hide, and this thread is the first time i heard the shortcut. i have used macs all my life. i don't actually NEED cmd-h though, because the x does what i want.

also, when i am done with an app, like mail, firefox, i want to close the window, but then easily open it up fresh again. i don't want the old window, i want a new instance of the app, without quitting. now i close firefox with the x, but when i need my browser again, i just click the icon and it's up instantly, without having to reopen.

 

[theLimit]

i have only just recently heard about hide, and this thread is the first time i heard the shortcut. i have used macs all my life. i don't actually NEED cmd-h though, because the x does what i want.

also, when i am done with an app, like mail, firefox, i want to close the window, but then easily open it up fresh again. i don't want the old window, i want a new instance of the app, without quitting. now i close firefox with the x, but when i need my browser again, i just click the icon and it's up instantly, without having to reopen.

Exactly! That has been my point all along. The X does what is natural for most users (that aren't thinking in terms of MS Windows). I've never heard a native Mac user ever have a gripe about closing windows vs. quitting apps, only switchers seem to feel that it's broken or needs more options.