What with all these helper apps asking for permission to install?

The Skype "helper app" is actually an updater that appears when a new version of Skype has become available. When you update Skype it will go away until the next update is available. Otherwise, you can just quit the helper when it appears.

You can uninstall the Mountain helper with the Mountain Helper Uninstaller - see the Mountain FAQ.

Avid has a KB article about the ProTools helper -> https://avidtech.my.salesforce-sites.com/pkb/articles/en_US/Knowledge/install-a-new-helper-tool-prompt

Eric Strausser wrote:

What are these new additions to the base apps functionality

They're not new. The only new part is that Apple is now requiring apps to ask permission to do this.

why was it not installed along with the base app

In most cases, a separate "helper" app is needed because the app wants to have super-user permissions on your computer. Sometimes, they have a separate update check app to make sure you are always running the latest version.

can I block or allow it permanently so I don't have to continuously stop what I'm doing to enter my password.

Ideally, don't install any app that demands these kinds of extras.

Someone else might mention this, so I'll do it first. In macOS Ventura and later, there is a new panel in System Settings that allows you to control these background tasks. However, I don't recommend that you use this new system. Most apps haven't been designed to support this. Those few that do support it actually resist it. If you don't want to run an app, don't run the app at all or any part of it.

Also, what happens If I just block them?

Block them how? You can use that new interface in Ventura, but clever apps will get around this.

Pro Tools, Skype and Mountain are the ones that Im currently frustrated with. Every time I boot up and or launch these apps I have to authorize the installation of the same helper app I authorized yesterday. I'm starting to feel like something is wrong with my system.

Hard to say. I don't use any of those tools so I can't comment on how they should behave. Generally speaking, this new architecture of demanding user permission is by design. Hopefully, those apps that abuse the process will quietly go out of business.

Either in a bad way or just a dumb way. Is it a setting?

Yes and no. See above. The problem here is that you installed these apps for a specific purpose. How much did you spend? The more you spend, the more rights you should (in theory) have to dictate how it should work. But when the app is free, you are the product being sold to marketers. You have no rights in those cases. If you don't give them full control, they simply won't work.

Has my system become compromised?

No. Please don't go there.

This can not be how things are meant to work.

This is how things are meant to work. It's what's called a "dark pattern". Big corporations are fighting each other for an ever-shrinking slice of the gullible marketplace that still has money to spend. You can resist, but the more you resist, they less interested they will be. The idea is that the app simply goes away. So if you don't want to run it, just uninstall the entire thing. (Assuming you can uninstall - totally different question and problem.)

There has to be a smart solution to this small, but repetitive, annoyance.

Sadly, no. The era of rational actions and responsive customer service is over and won't be back in our lifetimes.

The idea of a Helper App conjures notions of training demons stealing our work flow data to train the T9 to cut Dialog or FX or to Mix for theaters or home entertainment systems.

That’s not the kind of help those things provide. They “help” the app get updates or check that you are a licensed user or communicate with other apps. They aren’t helping you.

Eric Strausser wrote:

I'm looking at the Allow in the Background pref. Was not aware that was there.

Sorry about that. But I knew you would find it eventually.

Guess I'll probably have to contact the companies and enquire directly about the constant request to install these helper apps... over and over again.

I doubt you'll have much luck there.

I don't have a good answer for you. In the past, I would have said to just wait. Eventually those kinds of intrusive apps would go out of business and everyone would realize that iOS-style apps (where these helpers are impossible) were the way to go. But I was too naïve. With coffee and human nature, it is best to go dark early and often. What has happened instead is that 3rd party apps lobbied governments to force Apple to allow these same kinds of "helper" apps on iOS. So it's actually going to get much worse.

Though, just to dip my toe in the dark waters, our union reps are currently negotiating against AI inclusivity in my industry.

That's hilarious!

The idea of a Helper App conjures notions of training demons stealing our work flow data to train the T9 to cut Dialog or FX or to Mix for theaters or home entertainment systems.

Pretty hard to ban something they already do. Even Apple does this. Recent versions of macOS have all kinds of background ML models constantly running the background. And you can't turn those off. Sometimes, perhaps due to bugs and/or 3rd party interference, they will sometimes run wild and take over the computer. Another good reason to never run the fastest version of macOS. Ventura is pretty stable now. I would still be running Monterey if I could. As a developer, Apple can force me to upgrade to Ventura, but even Apple knows better than to require people to use Sonoma.

Anyway, I'd just like to not have to install these helper apps every time I use the program.

My official recommendation is to simply avoid such apps. This kind of consumer behaviour is what has directly destroyed the market for many inexpensive 3rd party apps.

But you can go with Apple's dark pattern and disable the helpers. You just have to be responsible, self-confident, and avoid the lies and misinformation. That means that you have to acknowledge that certain apps simply won't work properly if you disable those helpers. Then you'll have to either do as you're told and turn them on or choose some other app. If you want to stand your ground, you'll have to remember that truth is dead. If you disable a helper and the app stops working, the developers will all blame Apple. Certainly, Apple does have a lot of bugs. But when there is a dispute between 3rd party developers and Apple, the problem is truly Apple's fault maybe 5% of the time. You just have to wait for the worst apps to go out of business. Hopefully, the ones that adapt and silently fix their code will be the ones that you spent your money on.