how does MacOS determine the default ftp application?

Fetch has setup a "URL Scheme" that tells macOS when it sees "ftp://" that it should direct the URL to Fetch.

Google "macOS URL Scheme" and you will find more informaiton.

EtreSoft is correct. macOS had depreceiated ftp as it is not secure. But 3rd party apps can still use it, and in the case of Fetch, setup a URL Scheme to direct ftp:// requests to Fetch. That does not mean Apple still supports ftp.

Dannymac22 wrote:

Hardly. I do Go>Connect to Server, and it flips me right into Fetch. Apple has no problem with me using it. I have no trouble using sftp from the terminal in Mac unix, though there is no ftp app. If Apple didn't want me using ftp, that's an odd thing to allow as part of the OS..

sftp is not the same as ftp. The FTP protocol is not secure. Other than the letters "ftp", sftp has nothing whatsoever to do with ftp. It is completely different.

My question, which you didn't address, was why I get flipped to Fetch. Where is Fetch designated as a default ftp server on MacOS, and is there a way, within the MacOS,to change that default?

Didn't you already mention that? You said, "in Fetch preferences, you can designate a default application". Therefore, the answer to your question is your own statement - "in Fetch preferences".

Is this just a continuation of your previous question? default FTP application? - Apple Community

I recommend you contact Fetch for support with their product.

Dannymac22 wrote:

Ah, VERY helpful. Thank you. It evidently involves editing a Mac prefpane. A simple way to do this is with SwiftDefaultApps. That lays it all out in a nice user interface where you can choose what apps you want to use as defaults for email, ftp, web browsing, new reading and messaging.

It is a little curious that you can do this redefaulting for ftp within Fetch. That is, in Fetch, you can specify a default ftp application that is NOT Fetch, but something else, like Filezilla. Sort of like if MacOS had an option to change the default OS to Windows!

For Macs that support Boot Camp (Intel Macs) you do have the option to default boot into Windows. So it is not so curious a concept.

Dannymac22 wrote:

My question was not HOW to change the default ftp/sftp server

First of all, maybe you should clarify exactly what you are asking about. I assumed it was a typo above, but after the second one, I have to ask, are you talking about ftp clients or servers? That's an important distinction because you are asking, and we are responding, to questions about ftp clients. None of this has anything to do with servers.

it was WHETHER you could change the default in the MacOS.

I answered that above. Apple has officially deprecated ftp. That means there is no answer. There are multiple methods to change the default association with the ftp URL scheme. Some are deprecated and may or may not work. Others are new, but not necessarily related to ftp, which is, itself, deprecated, and regardless of protocol, may not work in some situations. Whether the Fetch developers know anything about any of that is a question you will have to ask them.

You can easily change the default web browser in the MacOS in SysPrefs/General.

That's a self-defining answer. If Apple provides an easy method to change a setting, then you can change that setting. If there is no easy method, but it seems like there was a difficult one in the past, but it involves something that Apple has officially disavowed, then it probably means "no".

And the answer is ... you need to edit a Mac "macOS URL Scheme" prefpane to choose the default application. A simple way to do this is with SwiftDefaultApps, which can be installed in SysPrefs. That lays it all out in a nice user interface where you can choose what apps you want to use as defaults for email, ftp, web browsing, news reading and messaging. I guess Fetch has an option where you can do this for ftp.

Why do you think any of that is true? Did you read that on the internet? The internet isn't true you know.

The SwiftDefaultApps hasn't been updated in years. A quick review of the issues on the GitHub page shows that none of its developers has even responded to any issues in over a year. One of those issues is, in fact, that it doesn't work at all, so there's that.

Not entirely sure how default apps are established in the first place.

The whole concept of "default apps" is quit complicated. You are talking about a URL scheme, which is a very specific kind of association used in a very specific context. Furthermore, you are talking about a very specific URL scheme in that very specific context. This particular specific URL scheme in this specific context in this complicated system has been publicly disavowed and deprecated by Apple. In short, it's not looking good. 😄

Apple has deprecated the entire ftp protocol. They don’t want you using it at all. You would need a 3rd party app like Fetch to even access the legacy preferences for the default ftp app.