Avid Carbon Central 'invisible' when hidden

[mickglossop]

I like to keep my desktop clear by hiding any applications I don't need constant access to.

The problem is that Avid Carbon Central doesn't seem to follow the Apple rules.

1 - When an active app is 'Hidden' it should still show in the dock with a small black dot beneath its dock icon.

2 - When an active app is 'Hidden' its icon should should still be displayed when using the Application Switcher function.

Neither of these is true for Avid Carbon Central.

Consequently, if you hide it, you have no way of knowing if it's active; a state which is essential before running Pro Tools. If you start Pro Tools and Avid Carbon Central is not running, PT will select the wrong Playback Engine, as Pro Tools | Carbon Expanded won't be available.

So it helps to be able to quickly check that Avid Carbon Central is running before running Pro Tools. If you've hidden it, you can't check its running status.

I guess that this is a bug? It would be nice to have it sorted so that Avid Carbon Central is aligned with every other Mac application.

[dominicperry]

If it’s running, it’s in the menu bar at the top of the screen.

Dominic

[mickglossop]

Thanks Dominic.

True - the icon does appear in the top menu bar, but it's microscopic, and barely visible in dark mode.

I have to ask the question: why can't Avid Carbon Central behave like other apps?

[BScout]

It's a no-win situation.

Many people don't like background apps/services taking up space in their dock. It's been an often requested item to do that for Eucontrol/Eucon to remove it from the dock. Just looking at my top bar: dropbox, streamdeck, soundflow, carbon copy cloner all do not have dock items.

So it isn't a case of "every other Mac application." A lot sensibly do not sit in the dock. The general thinking is if you use the Carbon, you have to have that app running so it should be a startup item just left to do its thing out of the way.

[mickglossop]

Thanks for your comments fellas.

Does anyone else have anything to say on this issue?

[eightamrock]

Originally Posted by mickglossop

Thanks for your comments fellas.

Does anyone else have anything to say on this issue?

I prefer background apps to not be in my app switcher and also not appear in my application tray. I think its also fairly standard behavior for most apps that run in the BG for them to only appear in the menu bar. Dropbox, 1password, etc, all do this.

[eightamrock]

One option is to make it configurable in the preferences, I think Adobe does this (hide when minimized) or something like that.

[mickglossop]

I love user-configuration. It's a good way to (try to) keep everyone happy.