What the heck is "Liangyan Cai"?

Not sure if you figured it out yet, but the file to remove is "com.audiojingle.soundtree.agent." With more research, I found out it's from the app "Ondesoft iTunes Converter." I have 0 recollection of downloading this app, but the name certainly does look familiar, so I'm assuming you may have downloaded this app, or something similar in the past.

merlin2288 wrote:

I have the same thing running on my computer and suspect (don't know for certain) that it is related to CleanMyMacX. Is that something you run? Again, I'm not sure, but I don't run much that isn't included with my machine.

CleanMyMac is pretty much malware. Delete it.

See this article:

Effective defenses against malware and ot… - Apple Community

And, unlike etresoft, I can recommend their excellent software:

https://www.etrecheck.com/en/index.html

ovelky wrote:

this Liangyan Cai thing is listed on my Sign-in items in my System Settings, yet, when I search for it in my Finder it shows nothing.

You won't find it with a Finder search. For one thing, that is probably the name of the developer. It is encoded inside the executable. It isn't easily searchable in any way. (Oh! I just had a great idea!) A normal Finder search also normally hides any files like this.

How can I find this on my system so I can delete it?

I just happen to have an app that helps people find things like this. However, the Apple Support Community Terms of Use do not allow me to post a link to my own product. Instead, I can give you a link to someone else's product. Here is one of the best Mac anti malware products that does the least damage: https://www.malwarebytes.com/

Like any such app, it isn't perfect. If it finds any malware, it will help you remove it. If it doesn't find any malware, then the file probably isn't malware. But this is not my product, so I can't give you any guarantee stronger than "probably".

ovelky wrote:

I only install Apple approved apps

No such thing exists.

What you are seeing is the name of a developer. I searched for that name and didn’t find anything. That’s a very bad sign. There are a handful of legitimate apps signed by individual developers like this, but literally only a handful. Most legitimate apps are signed by a company name. Most malware doesn’t have any signature at all. But when malware is signed, it is always signed by an individual name like this.

I have this name in my "allow in the background" items too and am trying to narrow it down.

Have you looked in your Library\LaunchAgents and LaunchDaemons (and User\Library ones as well)?

Do you have AudioJingle or DBPowerAmp installed? I'm trying to narrow likely candidates from legit apps I've installed.

ovelky wrote:

Thank you for the “Heads-up” I thought all apps on the Apple App Store were approved ones. I guess I was wrong.

Well, yes and no. There is an approval process for the App Store, but it is much less thorough than people assume. Or rather, the average quality of software is much, much lower than people think. What goes into the App Store is only the best of the best. Sadly, that best is pretty bad.

To get into the App Store, an app has to:

1) at least run once without crashing

2) not be an obvious scam

3) not be obviously illegal

4) not obviously violate any Apple developer agreements

That's a very low bar but too much for many developers.

Unfortunately for you, any app identified with "Liangyan Cai" would most definitely not come from the App Store. You have suggested that you only install apps from the App Store. That is simply not true. You may not have realized it, but you are running something else, something that no one has seen before. It is probably malware.

So what do you do about it now? Difficult question. One problem with the App Store is that some apps simply don't qualify, even if they are legitimate, useful, and high quality. It is technically impossible for any antivirus app to work in the Mac App Store. Yet there are a number of them there. Don't use them, they can't work. The technical limitations that Apple imposes on all App Store apps makes a true antivirus app impossible in the Mac App Store.

You have already been fooled by the malware into installing it. Don't be fooled by the antivirus companies into downloading security apps from the Mac App Store. There is some useful and legitimate antivirus apps for the Mac, but the aren't in the Mac App Store. There are also lots and lots of scam antivirus apps. And there are lots of low quality antivirus apps. Good luck ever uninstalling an antivirus app.

I'm just guessing that this app is malware. I don't really know. I could be some off-brand USB driver for something you bought on Amazon. If you want any definitive information, you are going to have to meet us halfway and provide something more. I realize that this is all that Apple's given you. I'm not a fan of Apple's new Login Items interface in Ventura, but it is what it is. It is now your responsibility to finish the job for Apple and tell us something, anything.

It's the name of the developer of something you installed.

And people usually do, until things go wrong. And they will go wrong, in time.

Never install any app that claims to "tune up", "speed up" or "clean up" your Mac. These apps exist for one reason: to separate the unwary and inexperienced user from their hard-earned money. At best they do very little, at worst, they can damage your OS installation and cause far more problems than they "solve".

ovelky wrote:

I also ran a search in my Finder>Go>Library>Search and this did find about seven files with Chinese (lettering) titles. I deleted these.

Why? I can assure you that malware never, ever uses Chinese characters.

I also realized that I do let one of my fourth-grade grandchildren play games on my computer and this may have been where the problem started.

Quite possibly. One or more of their games probably won't work anymore.

Thank you - I have another Ondesoft product from some old bundle that probably installed it. Time for it to go since I don't actually use that app.

Here is another thread that may be helpful: "Audiojingle"! - Apple Community