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Questions tagged [services]

OS X Services allow sharing data and capabilities across applications. They are invoked by the user either through the active application menu's "Services" submenu or via keyboard shortcuts, typically to act on the data selected in the currently active application.

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What are the hostnames that Apple products contact for location services?

I need to give location access to some apps on macOS and iOS so they can scan wireless networks, that's a thing now. I do not want system services or other apps to make location queries to Apple's ...
Vita's user avatar
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0 answers
13 views

Automator Quick Action to duplicate "Copy Link" in the service menu?

I open www.themoviedb.org and search for a movie. The webpage has a tab called "Media" that contains thumbnail links to cover art images. If I click a thumbnail it opens the target file in ...
Scott Smith's user avatar
1 vote
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98 views

What is the proper way to stop and restart a service that is a "bundled daemon"?

There are some recent apps, e.g., Cisco Secure Client / AnyConnect VPN service, where the service cannot be stopped/started using the LaunchControl.app. For more control over what's running on the ...
HanSooloo's user avatar
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1 answer
324 views

Disabling services (daemons, agents) with launchctl

I want to get rid of some system services completely. I turned off sip with csrutil disable. Then following command sudo launchctl disable com.apple.cloudphotod Gave me an unexpected answer: ...
Andrew Orlow's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
160 views

How can I use launchctl to send a signal to a service?

As you can already see in the text below and screenshot of the terminal, whenever I try to send a signal to a service I have given Not privileged to signal service. and Could not kickstart service &...
Gurhan Polat's user avatar
1 vote
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405 views

What is "Open and Save Panel service"?

I put my computer to sleep and everything was normal, but when I woke it up again, the CPU and fans started to run at 100 %. This is what I saw in Activity Monitor: What is this and why does it use ...
d-b's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
65 views

How to debug Services issues

I am trying to add a ⌘ Command T shortcut for opening a terminal session in a given directory on macOS but for some reason after I put the shortcut in Keyboard Shortcut and then Service. When I press ...
CupOfGreenTea's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
495 views

How to Remove Unnecessary Services from Folder Menu in macOS Sonoma?

After updating to macOS Sonoma, my folder context menu is cluttered with many services I don't use. How can I remove these unnecessary services?
oruchkin's user avatar
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Services: make pop-up containing selected text as part of URI

I’d like to create a lookup for words/phrases not available in "Look-up" or "Translate" (Greek, for example). This requires making the selected text part of the URI.  But it seems ...
WGroleau's user avatar
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330 views

How to stop sharingd, unsolicited, acceptance window from spawning and disappearing instantly every time the computer starts?

I have been living with this for a long time, but now (hope with your help) I am committed to solve it because it doesn't look quite normal. Why this window of this sharingd process, shows up at boot ...
nostromo's user avatar
  • 197
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2 answers
735 views

Leave SSH daemon running permanently

I, for some reason, cannot seem to find a google search which actually answers this question. I have a mac, and I would like to have the ssh daemon running in the background at all times, so I can ssh ...
ExecutionByFork's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
62 views

Can the Services menu be edited to have submenus by editing a plist (without Automator)?

I can edit a binary plist with Xcode or convert it to XML and edit that as text.  Never used Automator and don't want to bother until such time as I cannot accomplish a goal with a tool I already know....
WGroleau's user avatar
  • 5,130
1 vote
0 answers
709 views

Create a shortcut for an item on services menu in Ventura

I installed a translation app that does better translations than Apple’s built-in translator or translate.google.com.  It added an option to the global services menu to translate selected text.  Since ...
WGroleau's user avatar
  • 5,130
0 votes
1 answer
45 views

TextEdit’s "Orientation Layout"

Just discovered a very nice feature of Services on the context menu.  In TextEdit, selecting Orientation Layout→Vertical rotates the text and characters 90° clockwise, keeping the window geometry the ...
WGroleau's user avatar
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2 votes
4 answers
4k views

Shortcut to translate selected text

any hint on how to create a keyboard shortcut to translate a selected text in Safari (or, even better, in any app?)
Mart R's user avatar
  • 83
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0 answers
79 views

How to set up a dummy service that runs at certain hours of the day?

I use a program called Jiggler to prevent my MacBook from going to sleep. However, I only want Jiggler to do this between certain hours of the day, such as 9-5. Jiggler doesn't have such a setting in ...
Dommondke's user avatar
  • 142
2 votes
1 answer
721 views

Interpretation of system services on iPhone [Arrows (hollow, purple and gray)]

I use an iPhone 11 for work and I share my location with friends and family. I currently have the following results: Can I safely conclude that in the last 24 hours no one has verified my location ...
Jacob's user avatar
  • 123
2 votes
1 answer
88 views

Set Date Modified to oldest of selected files in Finder?

I'm trying to write a shell script to use in a Service I'm creating in Automator to change the "Date Modified" of all files selected in Finder to the date of the oldest modified file ...
Max Well's user avatar
  • 299
0 votes
1 answer
357 views

How to add version to an Automator service workflow

I have a workflow which is installed as a Service. It is used to call code in my AppleScript applet. The Service has one action: a "Run AppleScript" action. I update the Service quite often ...
Garry's user avatar
  • 21
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0 answers
241 views

How to add "Open in Safari" to Chrome right-click menu?

When I'm in Chrome, I'd like to be able to right-click on some links and choose "Open in Safari" from the Services submenu. As a security precaution, how can this be done without relying on ...
Eliot Sykes's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
4k views

Running Launchd Services with Non Root User on macOS

I am building a launchctl service which can run a java service. I am able to create launchctl service with root user and test start/stop/status/automatic start at reboot use cases. I am struggling ...
SRJ's user avatar
  • 143
0 votes
2 answers
39 views

Does a service exist to open selected filename from the Terminal in an app?

I know I can do an open -a Textmate FILE or open FOLDER by typing, but is there already a text service so that a name can be Ctrl-clicked to "Open in Finder" or "Open in Editor"? A ...
godDLL's user avatar
  • 113
3 votes
0 answers
735 views

How to force a service shortcut to override an application one?

I want to have a global "send to omnifocus" shortcut. I have enabled it and set via Keyboard -> Services. Unfortunately, it seems to conflict with some default shortcut in the Apple Mail. ...
Almad's user avatar
  • 131
2 votes
2 answers
190 views

Changing text via a Services-based Perl shell scripts in Shortcuts on macOS 12 Monterey

I have a handful of Automator actions that I'm trying to port to Shortcuts. One of them works like this: I select some text in an app. I right-click the selected text and select Services → Prefix ...
adiabatic's user avatar
  • 223
2 votes
2 answers
5k views

Keyboard shortcut to stop an Automator service (Quick Action)

I have a Watch Me Do automator service / quick action that uses pause and a long running loop to repeat the actions when I am away. I have created a keyboard shortcut for the service But since it uses ...
Vikash Balasubramanian's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
146 views

Remove 'Search the web' / 'Search with Google' service

How would you remove 'Search with Google' from the right-click menu? The setting in System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts has no effect at all. Uninstalling Safari just turns 'Search with ...
Michael's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
605 views

Change path of file before running a command in automator

I created a service in automator to open a file via quicklook, using the below code qlmanage -p "$@" I'm able to open the selected file via quicklook. But I want to open a different file ...
Hither Joe's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
99 views

Showing a macOS service in the menu

I have written a simple Automator workflow which process selected text. It does the job, and is available from most applications in the Service menu in the Text group. I have one application, the ...
Manngo's user avatar
  • 3,595
9 votes
1 answer
16k views

What is com.apple.MobileSoftwareUpdate.UpdateBrainService doing?

What is com.apple.MobileSoftwareUpdate.UpdateBrainService? I have it running and using a lot of CPU resources. (about 300% CPU core in top) I also found out it would mount a partition at /System/...
sgon00's user avatar
  • 2,404
0 votes
2 answers
99 views

Service to underline plain text with a line of dashes

I am looking for a text service that I can call from a plain text editor (BBedit for example) and will operate the following modification: Before: This is a line of text After: This is a line of text ...
A.G.'s user avatar
  • 706
1 vote
1 answer
434 views

Problems starting vnstat installed with brew

After installing vnstat with homebrew: brew install vnstat and opening it, i got following error: Error: Failed to open database "/usr/local/var/db/vnstat/vnstat.db" in read-only mode. The ...
Leon D's user avatar
  • 171
0 votes
1 answer
6k views

What service to restart after modifying /etc/sudoers for macOS to make changes active without reboot?

What's the service that needs to be restarted after modifying /etc/sudoers for macOS in order to make changes active without a system reboot?
ylluminate's user avatar
  • 5,491
4 votes
2 answers
597 views

Hide the source code for an Automator quick action / service

I have created an Automator quick action. The quick action listens for highlighted text on any application and runs some shell script based on the highlighted text. The quick action can be triggered ...
Omkar Joshi's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
47 views

Keyboard Shortcut for Automator Service

I have a word count 'services' called with LMB and scrolling down to the services menu. I'd like to have a keyboard shortcut for it since I use it very often. All of the answers I see require that the ...
mig's user avatar
  • 101
1 vote
1 answer
250 views

How to use `click` in a shortcut? (Run a service when clicking a link)

Is it possible to run an Automator service with an alternate click, e.g. ⌘ + ⇧ + Click? This kind of combination is built into browsers with ⌘ + Click typically opening a link in a new tab. I have a ...
Unrelated's user avatar
  • 555
0 votes
1 answer
457 views

Service only application

I want to build a simple service that will allow me to keep any app window always on top or always on the same screen, when switching desktops. Is there a way to build a global MacOS service-only ...
uloco's user avatar
  • 1,005
1 vote
0 answers
28 views

Access text services via code

Is there a way to access text services such as these through either Applescript or terminal commands?
Sati's user avatar
  • 153
0 votes
0 answers
33 views

Has Safari stopped forwarding link URLs to system services when using the link's context menu?

I seem to recall being able to right-click a link in Safari and use a system service from the context menu in order to send the actual link target URL to the service in question. Nowadays when right-...
Andreas's user avatar
  • 2,134
0 votes
0 answers
31 views

Keyboard shortcut to a Service is not respected when Emacs is open (Emacs takes precedence)

I defined the keyboard shortcut Cmd-Ctrl-5 to a Service via System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts -> Services. It should work globally and indeed works well except for when Emacs is ...
mathlete's user avatar
  • 162
0 votes
0 answers
159 views

Can a faulty MacBook be replaced for a brand new one?

7 months I ago I bought a new MacBook air 2019. Just recently the trackpad of my MacBook stopped clicking. As in, the haptic feedback from the clicking randomly stoped working. I sent my laptop over ...
EPIC Tube HD's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
234 views

MacBook Pro - Mechanical Popping/Clicking Sound

I keep on getting this Popping/Clicking sound randomly throughout regardless of whether the speaker is on or not. The sound seems to be coming from the physical machine, perhaps the screen or the ...
Patent's user avatar
  • 1
1 vote
1 answer
297 views

I'm trying to make a service to archive a folder using tgz. I can't get this to work

I'm trying to learn to build services on my iMac running High Sierra. I open system preferences and then I click on Keyboard. From there I click on the Shortcuts tab. I get the window shown below. ...
Natsfan's user avatar
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0 votes
0 answers
305 views

Change order of services during startup or login

I've read of ways to change startup services' order of execution for Ubuntu. I'm hoping it's possible and simple to do it in macOS as well. I was thinking something like this. My objective is to ...
Darrel Holt's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
749 views

How to uninstall mySIMBLHelper service installed by SIMBL for MAC

I wanted to install Atop which required SIMBL to be installed. Nothing at the process stated that SIMBL 0.7.5 wasn't compatible with Mojave 10.14. It started to pop confirmation if I want it to ...
DiegoJArg's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
55 views

Automating opening a PDF from Preview.app in preferred PDF editor

When having a PDF file open in Preview.app, I'd like to click a menu item or keyboard hotkey to open the same file in my preferred PDF editor (f.x. PDF Expert). I suppose it could be done by creating ...
poplitea's user avatar
  • 111
1 vote
1 answer
237 views

AppleScript to massage URLs

I want to have a Services menu item that takes the selected text (a URL) and escapes the percent character and the # character: Replace % with \% Replace # with \string# I copied and edited an ...
Peter Grill's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
336 views

Files and Folders services do not appear

I'm running macOS Catalina 10.15.2. I enabled "Files and Folders" in Services under Shortcuts in the Keyboard tab and I enabled all services under Files and Folders. The services do not appear in ...
Dmitri Gekhtman's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
147 views

Services menu polluted by apps from another installation

Reinstalled 10.15, signed into icloud, had previous 10.13 on another partition for a while. 10.15 is a clean install. The apps that provide those services haven't even been installed. ~/Library/...
seeker_of_bacon's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
2k views

Are apsd, ntpd, mDNSResponder, trustd, netbiosd necessary for macOS functioning?

I'm seeing 5 processes with network activity ( sending/receiving bytes ). I'm not sure whether these are normal occurrences? List of processes apsd ntpd mDNSResponder trustd netbiosd I researched a ...
Space Code's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
98 views

"service" not showing up

I installed the GlobalProtect VPN on MacOS Darwin 18.7 I cannot remove it. It is attempting to start but does not succeed. It appears in the output of ps aux 518 5.6 0.3 6093596 112332 ?? S ...
Bob Yoplait's user avatar

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