is there a dictionary of "Background Items"?

[rb24]

I've now started looking seriously at the allowed "background items" list in 13.2.1

A few were easy to turn off:

- google updater - I'd long ago uninstalled anything google
- ambrosia software - sadly SnapProX died a long time ago
- istatmenus - no longer use that

etc.

However there are lots of items that simply have no idea what they are or if they should be there at all.

And then there are others that maybe are useful but optional. For example there's a "GotoMeeting" thingy: I have the app but almost never use it. Does it really need something running in the background all the time?

So is there a list or dictionary of these items somewhere on the net?

Or any advice on how to "debug" the items?

Or should be make our own list?

 

[bogdanw]

There can’t be a dictionary, because there are thousands of apps that can add “background items”.
To debug, look into ~/Library/LaunchAgents, /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons.
As Apple explains:
~/Library/LaunchAgents Third-party agents that apply only to the logged-in user
/Library/LaunchAgents Third-party agents that apply to all users on a per-user basis
/Library/LaunchDaemons Third-party system daemons
https://support.apple.com/guide/ter...d-apdc6c1077b-5d5d-4d35-9c19-60f2397b2369/mac
Remove login items to resolve startup problems on your Mac https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/remove-login-items-resolve-startup-problems-mh21210/mac

 

[rb24]

Thanks. That's quite helpful.

I think the obvious concern is that there's something running in the background that has no legitimate purpose transmitting information, spyware of some kind. Would not know how to identify that.

 

[bogdanw]

Try KnockKnock https://objective-see.org/products/knockknock.html

 

[rb24]

That was helpful too. Thanks!

KnockKnock helped me to remove some Adware classified as malware by lots of entities. Is it OK that Knockknock the application hasn't been updated for nearly 2 years? I guess it just checks an online database...

 

[bogdanw]

Yes, it checks the items found on https://www.virustotal.com
You can use virustotal too, to check the apps downloaded as dmg/zip files.

You can also use BlockBlock https://objective-see.org/products/blockblock.html
to prevent unwanted background items.

 

[rb24]

The virustotal.com website is quite cool: can use it to scan suspicious phishing URLs that arrive by e-mail or iMessage. In fact it would be quite good if OSX incorporated this as a feature.