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MacOS Windows focus bug
- Thread starter cryohellinc
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I've had this problem in the very recent past and couldn't nail down what was causing it until I read more about it. Surprisingly, I found the culprit (sort of) because of some comments in, of all places, the Apple Discussion Forums—which is normally of no use whatsoever in problem solving.
Many apps use Sparkle, or some other framework for checking for updates. Whatever is used by Alfred, Bartender and other various apps, is in a loop of constantly stealing focus to check for updates–even though the "check for updates" process is a faceless process.
When I turn off the app's "Check for Updates" feature (or quit the app completely), the problem goes away instantly.
Finding which program is causing the problem is the hard part. You just have to go through one-by-one until you weed-out the problem. For me, it was the latest version of Bartender, which I had just installed (which made it easy to decide where to start looking).
I don't know if this will solve the problem for everyone, but it's worth trying... because this was one annoying problem to have.
Many apps use Sparkle, or some other framework for checking for updates. Whatever is used by Alfred, Bartender and other various apps, is in a loop of constantly stealing focus to check for updates–even though the "check for updates" process is a faceless process.
When I turn off the app's "Check for Updates" feature (or quit the app completely), the problem goes away instantly.
Finding which program is causing the problem is the hard part. You just have to go through one-by-one until you weed-out the problem. For me, it was the latest version of Bartender, which I had just installed (which made it easy to decide where to start looking).
I don't know if this will solve the problem for everyone, but it's worth trying... because this was one annoying problem to have.
Thanks for sharing your observations! For me the problem was also in Bartender, but I did not manage to find out that it was the "Check for Update" feature.
I turned it off and voila! Problem gone!
Great! Hopefully this is the simple solution until these apps get themselves sorted out.
No,
I disabled all auto updates in all of my apps.
Also quit apps: Bartender, Stream Deck app, iStat Menus
Still CoreServicesUIAgent stealing focus. Insane!
I disabled all auto updates in all of my apps.
Also quit apps: Bartender, Stream Deck app, iStat Menus
Still CoreServicesUIAgent stealing focus. Insane!
After some days I also must admit that disabling AutoUpdate did not do the trick. The problem reappears after some time and I still have to quit Bartender completely.
Even when I close Bartender, CoreServicesUIAgent still stealing focus, but less frequently. It must be something else.
I tried closing more apps and don't use external mouse, but still happening.
In one timeframe I tought it's causing Apple Messages app, but not. I'm hopeless.
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Solved for him (and you?), but it's more than likely a coincidence or similar bit of code. I don't even have TestFlight installed, and never have, and I still see the issue on multiple Macs.
This is some serious BS. I also do not have testflight installed.
I'm trying to think of the last "annoyance" bug we've found in the OS that Apple has just plain ignored forever (or at least, several OS upgrades).
Totally serious... can anyone refresh my memory here? I'm not talking about major bugs, but little annoyances like this one that just seem to never get fixed... until some years later they just all of a sudden go away.
The only thing I can think of is the way Apple apps like Pages, Keynote, News, etc. all seem to open with a tiny square window floating in the middle of your giant screen about 80% of the time.
[Update:]I forgot... the Finder Window Size thing... UGH!
Totally serious... can anyone refresh my memory here? I'm not talking about major bugs, but little annoyances like this one that just seem to never get fixed... until some years later they just all of a sudden go away.
The only thing I can think of is the way Apple apps like Pages, Keynote, News, etc. all seem to open with a tiny square window floating in the middle of your giant screen about 80% of the time.
[Update:]I forgot... the Finder Window Size thing... UGH!
I have this happen when connected to my LG monitor or when I'm not connected. Doesn't make a difference for me.
It seems this bug/"feature" has a few known areas of infiltration; software and hardware. I wiped my computer clean and have been very minimal in my approach to installing software so I eliminated the known software causes which just left me with hardware. When you're not using your LG monitor are you using any peripherals, i.e. Logitech mouse, etc.
No, when I'm not connected to my monitor, I'm just out and about just using the laptop itself, nothing else. Sometimes I'll connect to a USB hub to connect some Blue Yet USB mics..
We need to start compiling a list of apps that everyone who is affected uses and find commonalities. Even if it's not the same apps they might use some shared library. I still have periodic times where it happens but 98% reduction since upgrading my monitor firmware. I'll start:
- Slack
- Signal
- Safari
- wezTerm/iTerm2 (I've noticed some issues when terminal apps are open)
- Intellij IDEs
- 1Password
- ProtonMail Bridge
- Adobe Cloud Suite
I recently experienced a very nasty situation with Macos, I have never had it before. I was on the latest beta of macOS 15 Sequoia. During a work meeting, my screen and all monitors went dark - the computer became unresponsive and then turned off. After a reboot, it boots me into the boot menu of Macos. Basically everything got wiped, thankfully I had all critical data backed up in the cloud. So I guess don't use Beta versions for work (one of the reasons I am using Beta versions is due to this bug discussed in this thread. Alas it is still not fixed.)
Long story short - I reinstalled Clean Sonoma 14.6.1. Guess what? Without any additional software, just a clear system - the bug is still there.
So don't waste your time searching for the app that is causing it—it's a fundamental issue introduced by Apple at the base software or even firmware level, and they refuse to fix it for some reason.
It is the most annoying issue I have experienced with MacOS, and the only solution that helps me get by daily is
github.com
With those settings:
Perhaps anyone else has some updates? How do you guys get by? I'm still baffled that YEARS later, the issue is still there. I wonder how Apple developers work with their system - all use one-screen laptops?
Long story short - I reinstalled Clean Sonoma 14.6.1. Guess what? Without any additional software, just a clear system - the bug is still there.
So don't waste your time searching for the app that is causing it—it's a fundamental issue introduced by Apple at the base software or even firmware level, and they refuse to fix it for some reason.
It is the most annoying issue I have experienced with MacOS, and the only solution that helps me get by daily is
GitHub - sbmpost/AutoRaise: AutoRaise (and focus) a window when hovering over it with the mouse
AutoRaise (and focus) a window when hovering over it with the mouse - sbmpost/AutoRaise
github.com
With those settings:
Perhaps anyone else has some updates? How do you guys get by? I'm still baffled that YEARS later, the issue is still there. I wonder how Apple developers work with their system - all use one-screen laptops?