What is sociallayerd?

So I don't back up a lot of stuff to my iCloud. There is no reason to back up stuff I rarely use. So I am pretty on top of what is being saved. I only check it when I add a new app. Today I checked because

I changed my Apple ID password and there was sociallayerd being backed up. It wouldn't tell me what

it is and what app it's associated with. I saw another post here about it, but it must have been too old

because I couldn't see any of the replies. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

iMac 24″, macOS 12.5

Posted on Aug 3, 2022 1:57 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 5, 2022 8:10 AM

Thanks for reaching out, Just-Brandy.


It sounds like you were noticing an app being backed up that you aren't familiar with. We can help.


In this case the "sociallayerd" is not actually an app, it is a system process launched by macOS.


System processes are a little different in that you cannot remove them as they are required for your device to function. In the same way using a photo editing app isn't the same thing as an image file being edited with it, a system process usually works with other data but isn't the actual data itself - its just the program manipulating the data in the background.


Just like all system processes, "sociallayerd" isn't something you need to be concerned about since it is supposed to be there, and you definitely don't want to remove as it may cause your device to work incorrectly or stop working altogether.


You can check out this article for more information about what is and what isn't backed up in iCloud:



Hope that helps!


Take care.






1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 5, 2022 8:10 AM in response to Just-Brandy

Thanks for reaching out, Just-Brandy.


It sounds like you were noticing an app being backed up that you aren't familiar with. We can help.


In this case the "sociallayerd" is not actually an app, it is a system process launched by macOS.


System processes are a little different in that you cannot remove them as they are required for your device to function. In the same way using a photo editing app isn't the same thing as an image file being edited with it, a system process usually works with other data but isn't the actual data itself - its just the program manipulating the data in the background.


Just like all system processes, "sociallayerd" isn't something you need to be concerned about since it is supposed to be there, and you definitely don't want to remove as it may cause your device to work incorrectly or stop working altogether.


You can check out this article for more information about what is and what isn't backed up in iCloud:



Hope that helps!


Take care.






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