Messages app not quitting automatically on new MBP

[jk73]

I have a new MBP with Touch Bar that is great, but for some reason, when I close my Messages window, the app doesn't automatically quit like it always did in every version of the OS I used on my 2012 MBP. The macOS is totally up to date on my new MBP, so that's not the issue.

Anyone else seeing this? Any clue as to the cause or fix? Thanks.

 

[sidewinder]

My Messages app does the same thing. Is this new behavior?

 

[bcave098]

I have a new MBP with Touch Bar that is great, but for some reason, when I close my Messages window, the app doesn't automatically quit like it always did in every version of the OS I used on my 2012 MBP. The macOS is totally up to date on my new MBP, so that's not the issue.

Anyone else seeing this? Any clue as to the cause or fix? Thanks.

What versions did you use on the old computer? On my Macs, with 10.12.2 it doesn't quit automatically.

 

[jk73]

Same versions on old and new. I just started using the new MBP a couple days ago, which I updated to 10.12.2 as soon as I took it out of the box.

It was common for Messages to occasionally not auto-quit going back to when it first was introduced, but I've never encountered the problem as a persistent thing.

It seems like someone mentioned that some sort of Messages bug might be contributing to the 2016 MBP battery-life issues — something not properly logging out or shutting off? — but I don't know much about how these things work under the hood.

 

[fisherking]

if you just close the window, the app stays open... so new messages can come in. if you want to quit it, just quit it. seems logical...

 

[jk73]

The app never needed to be open for new messages to come in. For years, closing the Messages window resulted in the app auto-quitting.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

The app never needed to be open for new messages to come in. For years, closing the Messages window resulted in the app auto-quitting.

Never worked like that for me, back to Lion. Red dot closes the window but leaves app running. If you want to quit the app, Command-Q.

 

[fisherking]

The app never needed to be open for new messages to come in. For years, closing the Messages window resulted in the app auto-quitting.

that may be (i don't have notifications on). either way, now it's: close and still be available, or quit to quit.

 

[jk73]

that may be (i don't have notifications on). either way, now it's: close and still be available, or quit to quit.

Well, it wasn't that way on my 2012 rMBP as of three days ago. Closing the app triggered an auto-quit.

 

[Ritsuka]

Since a few years ago an app can tell the system that can be closed automatically if the system needs the resources. So macOS is free to decide to keep it open or not. Probably your new mac has got more resources and doesn't need to quit it like before.

 

[jk73]

Really? If true, that makes a lot of sense, and might explain it. My 2.7/512 GB 2016 MBP packs a lot more punch than my 2012 base model rMBP (which was a great machine for almost 4.5 years).

I was afraid it was some sort of bug. Elsewhere on this site, I've read about some sort of problem with a macOS process not properly quitting or ending, which has supposedly affected 2016 MBP battery life. I thought maybe this Messages-not-quitting issue was part of that, but perhaps not. Thanks.

 

[AlanShutko]

Yes, I think Ritsuka is right. I haven't seen Messages quit on this or my older machine, but both have had 16GB. So it's probably Automatic Application Termination which was introduced in OS X Lion, which decides whether it needs to terminate app based on memory usage.

 

[jk73]

Excellent. Thanks very much to everyone for the info.