Now that the Mac App Store has been snuck installed onto your machine alongside Mac OS X 10.6.6, you might be wondering – is there some way to remove that monstrosity of an application from my Mac? While it’s not officially supported, it does seem like Apple has taken this scenario into account.
The Mac App Store will most likely be accepted and used by most Mac users without much problems. Most people apparently don’t care about ugly and inconsistent user interfaces, and the added benefit of central control over your applications will most likely make those that do accept it as a necessary evil. However, there will inevitably be people like me who don’t want to have anything to do with the Mac App Store, and just want the damn thing to go away.
Since I was looking into cleaning up my Mac anyway (I needed iTunes to go away, since I don’t use it and hate it with a passion), I decided to see what would happen if I were to remove the Mac App Store as well. It’s quite easy to remove both iTunes and the Mac App Store; while Apple lists a 29-step (!) instruction set for removing iTunes, I just used AppCleaner, which seems to have worked just fine. I will still fine comb the file system with the 29-step guide by my side to make sure everything got deleted, though. Yes, Mac OS X looks good from a distance – but try and do something not approved by Cupertino and you’re in a world of hurt.
I decided to delete the Mac App Store in the same way, and it seems as if it has worked. You can just drag the Mac App Store binary onto the AppCleaner window, and it’ll find the associated files of the application outside of its bundle, and delete them as well.
It seems as if Apple has somewhat thought of this scenario (maybe they had enterprise users in mind?), since upon reboot, the menu entry in the Apple menu has changed back to its pre-10.6.6 state, where it pointed to Apple’s Mac OS X software download page. However, as you can see in the shot below, upon trying to open an unsupported file type, the dialog still shows the newly added “Search App Store”-button. Clicking this button does nothing.
Overall, I haven’t yet encountered any issues, but of course, this being unsupported means you could still potentially run into problems. I am personally not happy with the Mac App Store being snuck onto my machine without any way of telling Software Update not to, or without an officially supported option to remove the darn thing.
Well, Apple got one thing right. (Actually having the “find something to open this” implemented in a way that has at least some chance of working without being a 3rd-party website unknown to the users who need it)
Ubuntu already suggests installable packages if you type an unrecognized command. (I think it’s a Debian feature they inherited but I’m not certain)
It shouldn’t be too hard for someone already familiar with the system and the social environment of the Debian project to extend APT to index MimeType lines in .desktop files and extension<->mimetype associations in whatever files hold those so a desktop association or patch can suggest installable handlers when you double-click an unrecognized file type.
Of course, on the other hand, “unrecognized” is a much smaller category on Linux, given that, if you don’t have extension-based handlers installed, most filetypes get picked up as Zip or GZip or XML or plaintext by the header check.
Edited 2011-01-10 23:38 UTC
But honestly Thom, I think “monstrosity” goes just a little bit too far.
I guess you’ve never tried to use either A: Matlab on any platform, or B: any QT application on OSX.
But I guess we can’t touch this sacred cow QT around here, the moment I say anything the slightest bit negative about QT, I get modded down.
Professionalism is too much to ask for, on a blog.
hey, QT doesn’t break as many rules as this app does. QT doesnt center the window buttons!
And what exactly is wrong with centering the window controls, especially on a Mac where they’re never going to be stuck to a screen corner? I know they control the window itself rather than program functions, so they shouldn’t be confusable with action buttons, but looking completely different, being a matched set, having their color set system-wide, and reserving the leftmost area should be enough to accomplish that.
And as for the other most common complaint – that back/forward match the title bar’s color – again, what’s actually wrong with that? The App Store is a prepared content showcase, much like a physical Apple Store, and making the app itself look boring (like an all-white room) is an effective way to put emphasis on the items on display.
If your application looks ugly using Qt… it is not Qt’s fault…. Qt uses Cocoa as backend when running in the Mac. As far as I know, Skype uses Qt on the Mac and it is a very nice application.
I haven’t owned a Mac for a couple months now, but when last I used it Skype for the Mac wasn’t a QT application. Other than the mobile versions, it was the only one that hadn’t become QT-based yet. Has this changed recently?
As for QT using Cocoa, perhaps that’s true of later versions of QT, but there are a lot of early QT4 apps and all of the QT3 ones that sure as hell didn’t use Cocoa as their backend. They didn’t act like Cocoa apps at all other than having the global menubar and basic window management. If QT actually uses Cocoa controls for its widgets now when possible, that’s a welcome change indeed.
Wrong!
A: The Skype UI is absolutely 100% pure native Cocoa, there is NO QT on Skype for Mac (source, have a friend who works there)
B: QT technically only uses Cocoa to create a raw empty window. After that, it does all of its own event handling, drawing, etc. QT uses Cocoa almost exactly like opening a raw X11 drawable. (source, looked at the QT source code)
Ok, I read that somewhere some time ago, but I could not assert that and I think your source is more valid than mine.
In this link:
http://doc.trolltech.com/4.6.2/qtmac-as-native.html
They say that they use the HIThemes API provided by Cocoa to render their widgets instead of using their own renderers.
As a fellow QT hater, I get your point
Thats pretty heretical language around here. Such forbidden thoughts are liable to get one burned at the stake.
Seems like the OSAlert doctrine is:
1: Apple is evil, every comment should be directed towards taking the piss out of Apple. Steve Jobs is the Devil.
2: Its sometimes OK to to say negative things about Microsoft, but never in the same context as Apple. Specifically, is encouraged to say negative things about .net, as saying anything positive about .net would imply that QT is not perfect.
3: QT shall be revered above all else. QT is the alpha and the omega.
OSAlert’ doctrine is what you make it to be.
http://www.osnews.com/submit
You are completely right here, Qt is the alpha and the omega
“Snuck”, Thom, really? Other than the fact that it point blank tells you it’s being added as part of the 10.6.6 update?
“forced upon” perhaps; but there’s no sneaking — Apple practically trumpeted it from the rooftops that 10.6.6 includes the Mac App Store.
It may tell you, but what if you want the security parts of the update without this excuse of a program for Apple to sell you things?
…but it’s not beautiful either, it’s just an App.
If the App Store ran slowly, then that would be a different story.
The store allows you to install apps with no need to worry about serial keys, migration to other Macs you might have, the install process, upgrades and so on. What more could you want? (You know MS are hard at work trying do the same thing – I hope so anyway).
If you want to see ugly, run a lot of Java Apps on the Mac, esp. those ported from other platforms.
I think the UI works quite well and is obviously designed to be kept to a minimum. As for consistency, if I remember correctly, the Mac App Store is designed with 10.7 in mind, so if anything, you will have a taste of what is to come now (just like FaceTime)
The only concern I have is if this will become the *ONLY* way to install apps onto a Mac but to be honest, I’m not too worried about that.
Your English has been poisoned.
“Application”, “program”, or “even operating system ‘feature'” are all valid.
‘App’ is slang/jargon for things installed via an “App store”.
The antidote is well known, but seems to be rarely used by those with this variety of diction-poisoning: a dictionary.
Thanks for defining how everyone else should use their language oh great one.
Personally I do understand that “app” mean “application” which would also be the equivalent of program.
And regarding the dictionary it’s most likely outdated and don’t contain the word app .. So there you go
Yeah, but the other way around is confusing. Recently a news site announced that a certain hospital had developed an application, and it took a while before I realized they had created an app.
But they are the same? So why do you find it confusing?
It’s not advanced enough applications for you?
Only applications written in C and assembler counts, everything else is “scripts”?
They are the same technically, but not functionally. If a hospital developes an application, that’s meant for internal use, to aid hospital personal, or at most to interface with the “customers” via a webportal. If a hospital develops an app, that’s for use by “customers” for their personal use (but with functionality linked to the hospital’s function). That’s a whole world of difference.
Splitting some hairs there, don’t ya think? If I write a program, It can be called a program, an application, an app, a proggy, or whatever. It’s still just a bit of executable code that runs when called.
Again, that’s from a technical point of view. I was arguing from a functional point of view, from which the difference between an app and a “normal” application is as huge as between post-it and a novel.
In your mind, perhaps, but again, that has no basis in reality.
You’re not even speaking for the general population. Anyone with a reasonable number of synapses firing knows that ‘app’ is jargon for ‘application’.
Cheese-on-rice and crispy crappers, this is frustrating…
So Firefox is an app and not an application?
Just curious, where did you get those definitions from?
My guess: an orifice.
From a functional point of view, application and program are identical, so by that logic, so is app, which is just short for application.
You’re not arguing from a functional point of view. You’re arguing from your own ideas of what this and that word should mean. Which is yours, and wrong. And then you tell others that their understanding of how to use the words are wrong just because they aren’t using them as you do.
That’s… not what those words mean.
You’ve come to think of it that way, but those definitions have no relation to the reality of their origins or uses.
Let’s not start a linguistic war here, shall we? To the general public, “app” means something different than “computer program”, and why shouldn’t it?
Since you’re one of the few here with this strange view, I wonder what you know about the general public? Your family?
If a member of the general public asks a sensible, knowledgeable, person what an “app” is, they will get the answer that “it’s short for computer application, that is, a computer program” and the general public will answer “Aha! Nice to know!”
You are right that was a rather bold, and somewhat unsubstantiated statement, but that’s at least what the Dutch media seem to use, and what I hear from people I interact with. Words change meanings, whether or not you like it.
Then perhaps you should be posting in Dutch.
You like trolling don’t you?
Dude, that makes no sense.
You said it’s common in the Dutch media, so if you want to apply mob-rule here, you should be posting in Dutch.
I
Regarding that case, you have the chance to put it all stright by just referrering to Apple’s own application (since 2008) for trademarking the concept “App Store” – a place where you can buy COMPUTER SOFTWARE and other stuff for your phones, pods, pads and – COMPUTERS!
Nope.
False.
You don’t get to just _decide_ what the majority thinks.
Why does it mean that? Why can’t a hospital develop one for their patients / anyone?
Which kinda is what they did, if you found it confusing be cause it wasn’t internal
I’d quote Louis CK here, but it would probably get me banned.
So I’ll just shorten it to “Shut up”, as your post amounts to “NYEH!!”
“App” isn’t in the dictionary, because it isn’t a word.
It’s slang, jargon, gibber-jabber, marketing, brainwashing…
Edited 2011-01-11 16:19 UTC
That sentence alone more or less disqualifies you from this discussion, doesn’t it?
It’s an abbreviation, not a word.
Sigh. Sure. Abbreviations aren’t words. You have no clue what the term “word” means, do you?
“App, as a short form for “application”, has been used since dinosaurs roamed the computer.
Visicalc and Lotus 1-2-3 were often called the first “killer apps” for MS-DOS, and ever since Linux appeared on the desktop people have been complaining about the lack of “killer apps”.
The only thing it has to do with “app store” is that the a-s is a method for distributing app(lication)s.
True the word wasn’t coined by Apple. But apart from “killer apps”, which is imho more of an idiom, it wasn’t used much, while nowadays the mainstream audience (and that’s probably not you, OSAlert readers) recognizes it as specifically referring to a small application for a smartphone or other mobile device.
Idiots who don’t understand that applications and programs is the same as programs and applications may think so. And so do you.
An iPhone app is an iPhone program. End of story.
You are referring to the majority of people as “idiots”. It’s clear where you’re coming from.
You are not in the majority, thankfully.
Most people know it’s jargon/slang/abbreviation.
It is not jargon or slang, as it is the official name used by Apple, and so mainstream that Microsoft appearently wants to use the name “AppStore” as well. And yes, of course it is an abbreviation. But that doesn’t mean that it is semantically equal to the full word.
You’re getting too upset to post in clear English.
Take your medication, have a drink, a smoke, or something, and try again.
I hope so. Anything else would be pretty sad
Slang.
Jargon.
Abbreviation.
This is a bit like removing Windows Update from Windows. I just don’t see how recovering 15MB makes a difference.
I don’t think of iTunes as a music player and App Store as an inconvenience. I think of them as core pieces of OS X. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think removing them is really asking for a problem somewhere down the line.
You got it wrong! It’s about freedom to remove everything. I bought it, it’s my product, I can do whatever I want. Reason why Linux is so Awesome is because I can remove kernel and stuff, That’s the Power of Open Source! Apples evil businessmen are trying to force us use all kind stuff, but choosing Linux I can do whatever I want because Linux is so Awesome.
Try removing your kernel and see how far you get….
I remove kernels all the time.
Granted they are the older kernel, after an update has installed a new kernel. You test the new kernel, and if everything is okay, then you remove the old kernel to keep the bootloader clean.
The fact that you can tweak and test kernels in this way is awesome, and yes, Linux is Awesome.
I think you’re trying to be sarcastic but I can’t really tell.
App Store itself consumes 7.4MB !! on my MBP. So… how much have you cleaned up your Mac by ditching App Store?
All the dust in my house also does not take more space than around 5 square cm. I still want it gone though.
Thom,
After the weekend, Americans are all trying to take the hate speech down a few notches. The information presented didn’t have to be so over the top.
It is useful advise on how to remove the applications but it didn’t seem that difficult to do, so why so much drama?
It isn’t wise to complain here on Thom’s blog.
I’m talking about ones and zeros, not people. Comparing them seems rather tasteless.
Okay
You are right.
Peace
I wanted to hate the App Store (probably been reading this site too much…
but honestly… I mean, a few icons have moved position, big deal. It does what it sets out to do, if it offends your eyes remove it from the dock.
I browsed about and found 2 new (free) apps I was interested in and I installed them with no drama, and pleased I did. I’m on the verge of laying out money for a 3rd I discovered that otherwise would have gone unnoticed to me. So the developer is a winner too.
I agree if you don’t want it, you should be able to uninstall in an easier fashion than perhaps currently, but apple/macos is by no means the worst OS in this regard.
I’m a command line junkie for the majority of my work and home computing on linux and mac. However I’m more than happy to use anything that makes life simple and easy. app store fits that model.
And why shouldn’t you? App Store is just an app like every other app. Cmd + Backslash and it’s gone in less than a second (don’t try it with Linux/Windows). After all it’s not Windows where you have to hack the registry to get rid of MS specific apps. Also it doesn’t affect the Mac performance in any way or annoys you with prompts and there are no background tasks running (maybe except the “check for updates” task).
<kidding>The Linux kernel like the XNU kernel does not even know about icons. Thus you have no need to remove them.</kidding>
Using the Gnome Desktop you simply move icons into the paper basket to remove them. No cyptic key combination is needed to perform this task.
pica
Didn’t get it.
Those “icons” on Mac are actually directories — UNLIKE on Windows, GNOME or KDE. You can see it, if you execute a “ll /Applications” and see that every “icon” has an “.app” suffix which classifies an app directory with an app-specific directory structure.
…of course you can move those “icons” to the trash bin as well.
Edited 2011-01-11 14:56 UTC
I’m not sure if you’re trolling or not…
Anyway, Here’s how I “got rid of*” the App Store after browsing it a few times.
1. Click-hold on the App Store icon that was deposited on my dock.
2. Drag it up until it turned into a little “paper ball”/”poof”
3. Let go.
* Obviously I didn’t really remove it from my system, but if I did want to, I could drag it from the applications folder to the trash, and not need a keyboard shortcut. Though Thom’s way is more thorough, I find it’s easier to just get it out of my way.
Yes, explicitly dragging an application from the application directory into the bin is the way to go. And should IMHO be the only way to do it.
I have a friend using OS X since 10.3 and he often has the problem of suddenly vanishing applications. But the way he is using his computer is quite “unique”. He clicks on everything that moves or opens. This sometimes yields into unwanted results.
Maybe, he better should get a system from Sirius Cybernetics Corporation
Because, for him, I am a computer expert per se, he thinks it is my duty to reinstall these applications. At the moment this is my only relation to OS X.
pica
So you can remove only the shortcut (of any app) but not the actual app.
I read the original article the other day, the entire time just amazed at how people can get completely upset about the tiniest little thing. The App Store is FAR from being the worst piece of software I have ever seen, either functionally or aesthetically. And it works quite well, as I am quite familiar with its processes after having used iTunes and the App Store on my iPad/iPhone, with which I am also quite pleased and use them every day.
And so, in MY opinion, which in reality is no less and no more valid than Thom’s, I must conclude that the subject of this original post is based solely on one person’s opinion of the aesthetics of an application, not the functionality. App Store is NOT the only method to install software on one’s Mac, so if you don’t like it, don’t use it. It doesn’t take up enough space on today’s terabyte hard drives to even be noticeable. Remove the icon from your Dock that you find so objectionable also based on past posts and move on…..please!
Except that Thom has already stated here that he owns a MacBook Air with a small capacity. In an era where 2TB discs are common, having a 64GB ssd justifies that “search for space”… I think.
It depends what he does with it. When I was not playing a lot of recent games nor storing large amounts of videos on my computer, its 60GB were more than enough. In fact, I had two OSs installed with 30 GB for each.
On the other hand, now that Windows and OSX alone take more than 12 GB, when you add up a reasonably big music library (~10GB) and some large third-party applications… 30GB are certainly not enough anymore. So I wonder if for someone who crunches more disk space than me, 64 can be considered enough.
are you also allowed to do it. I do not know the end user licence agreement coming along with OS X 10.6.6. What does it say?
For example if you are registered as an Oracle developer, you may download an 11g database. You are also allowed to use this database for development and testing purposes. But you are not allowed — even though it is technically possible — to use it in production.
pica
The only monstrosity is how OS/News is going down hill.
Thom was proven wrong even before he thought up this article. How many apps have been downloaded on iDevices? The MacStore is going to be just as popular percentage wise (taking into account the number of devices for each platform).
If you don’t want it, drag it off the Dock by holding your mouse button down and dragging it up and then let go. My guess, even if you don’t want to admit it, is that you’ll be using the MacStore to get applications. Maybe not this week or next month but with a couple or a few months you will start getting more and more of your applications off the MacStore.
How about some real articles.
Edited 2011-01-11 20:37 UTC
So it’s popular.
Bush was voted into office at least once.
Popular != good.
Sounds like a frightening perspective, the way you say it
“We haf vayz of making you use Mac Store !”
Edited 2011-01-11 21:41 UTC
Ok, last time I commented it was over Thom’s political rantings. Gave OSAlert a break. Come back and find this. My god, if Thom hates so much about his Mac why the heck is he using one? Sure, Apple does things that I don’t always approve of, and the UI of the App Store is pretty bad. But the utter disdain in his article makes me feel like he’d be better off not using a Mac, or at the very least stop writing about them.
I miss the early days of OSAlert. Quality reporting and journalism.
Because up until the Mac App Store, Apple only had their iOS devices to dictate. The concern I have is if developers make enough money selling applications with this distribution method, eventually this will be the default way of buying all OS X software.
I do not want this to be the only way to buy applications in the future…I want a choice of where I buy things.
I could not agree more, if that happens then I will be looking elsewhere. But that’s not something Thom addressed in his rant…
That is an awfully astounding column you’ve posted.Thanks a lot for that a fantastically amazing post!
http://www.caphatshop.com“title=”New New Era Hats
There should be an opensource “appstore” on the Mac OS X ! With a proper verificationprocess of the content. Like Bodega etc..
Fink, MacPorts.