Monterey Terminal.app Version 2.12 (443)

Hi - I noticed that with macOS Monterey 12.0.1 and the new Terminal.app that is included in the OS that if you launch Terminal and then launch another application, Terminal stays on top and then I have to CMD+TAB to get to the new application I just launched. I am also a developer, so, when I launch an app from terminal it also comes up, but in the background. This is completely new behavior and different from the prior major version of MacOS. In fact, I have not seen this behavior in the past 12 years. I looked to see if there were any new settings that would allow me to toggle this behavior on or off, but could not see anything different. Any ideas? Was this a deliberate change or a regression in build 443 of Terminal.app 2.12 over 2.11 in Big Sur?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.4

Posted on Nov 8, 2021 7:16 PM

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RenaissanceNomad Author

Level 1

8 points

Posted on Nov 11, 2021 7:15 PM

I figured it out. It is definitely a bug in the latest version of Terminal.app that comes with Monterey. The bug is with "Secure Keyboard Entry". I removed my com.apple.Terminal.plist from ~/Library/Applications/Preferences. Then I launched Terminal.app which forced it to create a new .plist file. This stopped new apps from going into the background behind the terminal window and rendered them normally (in the foreground, and in the order they are launched they get focus). Then I chose the Terminal menu and selected "Secure Keyboard Entry" and from that point on apps began going into the background again behind the terminal window with the terminal window staying in focus. It was not, as I had originally suspected, a change to the .plist format between 2.11 and 2.12 but is actually something that has been introduced in the way that Secure Keyboard Entry now works.

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21 replies

Nov 9, 2021 10:35 AM in response to VikingOSX

Interesting... M1 mac?

I do not see it in my Intel 16", just trying to see what is different.

I also tried changing the default shell from bash to zsh to see if that was involved, but no.

It all still works normally for me.

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,458 points

Nov 9, 2021 10:38 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

It is a new M1 Pro MBP that was migrated during setup with a Time Machine backup from an M1 mini running Big Sur 11.6.1, and where the Terminal application behaves normally — behind launched applications.

VikingOSX

Level 10

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Nov 9, 2021 11:15 AM in response to etresoft

I do use homebrew for a limited number of utilities and have never had any issue with it interfering with any application in the several years I have been using it. I have looked at all processes running in Monterey's Activity Monitor and let it be known that there is an Apple-owned Monterey process named fud.

Because I am on an M1 mac, homebrew goes into /opt/homebrew/* and it only runs interactively when I use it. I do have that homebrew PATH in my ~/.zshrc, but not ~/.zshenv or ~/.zprofile. As you recall above, I eliminated these three dotfiles, formally quit Terminal, and rebooted both normally and into Safe Boot mode, and throughout all of that, the Terminal steadfastly remained frontmost with no access to my Zsh dotfiles.

Nov 9, 2021 12:00 AM in response to RenaissanceNomad

I launched an app from Terminal (open /Applications/Safari.app/) and I got Safari in foreground and Terminal in the background.

VikingOSX

Level 10

123,458 points

Nov 9, 2021 10:24 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Yes.

Nov 9, 2021 10:56 AM in response to etresoft

OK - I made a backup of /Library/Preferences/com.apple.Terminal.plist and removed it from that directory and then fired up terminal this forcing it to create a new default plist file. Then I launched Safari and it came up in the foreground properly. So there must be a new setting in the new Monterey .plist files that toggles this behavior. I will audit and diff both versions of the file and see if I can spot anything. This is very odd as I have used the same plist across at least the last 4-5 major versions of macOS without any issues.

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Monterey Terminal.app Version 2.12 (443)