Re: [Q] How to add a program as a login item after installing?

FROM : Jens Alfke
DATE : Sun Jun 22 18:36:11 2008

On 21 Jun '08, at 11:21 PM, JongAm Park wrote:

> Well, in my case, we wanted to avoid such workflow.
> We want installing & running the special app to be transparent from 
> users.


The best thing you can do to avoid extra workflow is to *not use an 
installer*. It's best if the user can simply download your app, copy 
it to their disk if necessary, and launch it. Mac OS X has all kinds 
of features designed to avoid the need for an installer in most cases.

I would find it much nicer to double-click the app and, on the first 
launch, be asked if I want to install a login item. This is simpler, 
friendlier and safer than an installer. Seeing an installer tells me 
that this application is going to potentially splatter things all over 
my disk, that could change the behavior of the system or other apps, 
and might be difficult to remove.

Also: When I download a new app I have not yet committed to using it 
full-time, so I don't want it setting itself as a login item. If I use 
the app for ten minutes and decide I don't like it, or it's not worth 
the price, I want to quit it and not see it again. It annoys me if it 
comes back the next time I log in. (This means that, even if I say No 
to installing the login item at the beginning, there should be a 
checkbox in the prefs that I can turn on later to make it a login item.)

—Jens