In macOS 27 Golden Gate, Apple has added a useful improvement to the Mac that gives you clear insight into when apps remain active in the background. With this step, Apple wants to prevent background processes from continuing unnoticed.
Until now, this was often difficult to see for many users. An app simply seemed closed, while all kinds of tasks could still be running in the background, for example for synchronization or other auxiliary processes. In macOS 27, the system immediately reports this, so that you immediately know that an app is still active.
This is how you recognize an app that remains active
If an app remains active in the background, you will now see it in the Dock. The black dot under an app then changes into a gray, more transparent indication. This shows macOS that the app has not stopped completely, but is still doing something in the background.
Even if you hover the mouse pointer over the app icon in the Dock, you will see that the app remains active. It’s a small adjustment, but one that makes it much clearer what’s happening behind the scenes.
Insight into running apps in the background
Users can see more quickly which apps continue to work after closing and immediately receive a clear explanation. This makes it easier to recognize and understand background processes and to stop them immediately if necessary.
This is a useful addition, especially for Mac users who install a lot of apps. Sometimes you don’t have a clear view of which apps are accessing background activity, and this new view ensures you stay informed about what’s going on in the background.
Stop background process on your Mac
If you see that an app still remains active, you can easily close it completely and also deny access to background activity.
- Click with the secondary click (right mouse button) on the app in the Dock
- Then choose ‘Stop running in background‘.
- The background process will be terminated immediately
- The active status disappears from the Dock
You will mainly perform these steps for apps that remain active for an unnecessarily long time or do more than you expect. It is normal for some apps to remain active in the background for a while to sync, but if it takes too long you can take action. This way you keep control over what’s running on your Mac, without having to search in Activity View or System Settings first.
Manage apps in the background
Do you want to see which apps have been running in the background and have access to them? Then you can check this via ▸ System settings ▸ General ▸ Login items and extensions. You can then go to ‘Background app activity‘ check which apps have recently performed tasks in the background and you can also override access with the switch behind the app.
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