Are Installed Applications Useable by All User Accounts?

Question

Level 5

4,757 points

Are Installed Applications Useable by All User Accounts?

More specifically, I have an administrative account as does the other primary user of a Macbook Pro running Snow Leopard. If I install an application using my normal admin account, is this app also visible and useable by the other admin user? If there was a nonadmin account on this Mac, would the app be useable there also?

If I want to install an app that is visible and useable only to me in my admin account, can that be done? Or do I have to be working from a nonadmin account to install apps visible only to me?

Any clarification would be helpful and appreciated!

Thanks,
Steve M.

iMac 21.5 inch, 3.06 GHz, 4GB RAM, 1TB HD, Mac OS X (10.6.4), OWC Mercury Elite 1 TB HD (FW/USB), APC UPS

Posted on Apr 5, 2011 9:21 PM

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Answer 1

Niel

Level 10

726,935 points

Apr 5, 2011 9:26 PM in response to Steve M.

If I install an application using my normal admin account, is this app also visible and useable by the other admin user? If there was a nonadmin account on this Mac, would the app be useable there also?

If it's put in a location the other accounts can access, yes. Otherwise, no. Any administrator account can authenticate to root and therefore access any nonencrypted file on the system.

If I want to install an app that is visible and useable only to me in my admin account, can that be done?

See above.

(57671)

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Answer 2

Steve M. Author

Level 5

4,757 points

Apr 5, 2011 9:48 PM in response to Niel

Thanks for your reply. If I am in my administrator account and I install an application into the Applications folder, is it then visible and useable by other users?

If I am in a nonadministrator account and I install an application into the Applications folder, is it then visible and useable by other users?

I'm still a bit confused.

Thanks,
Steve M.

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Answer 3

Niel

Level 10

726,935 points

Apr 5, 2011 9:53 PM in response to Steve M.

Any application put into the Applications folder at the top level of the drive is usable by all accounts. In some cases, it may need to have registration details reentered when run from an administrator account.

(57672)

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Answer 4

Király

Level 6

10,017 points

Apr 5, 2011 10:54 PM in response to Steve M.

Any app installed in the Applications folder can be run by any account. It doesn't matter who installed it.

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Answer 5

Steve M. Author

Level 5

4,757 points

Apr 6, 2011 8:33 AM in response to Niel

So, if a user wants to install an application visible to and useable by only him/her, where should that be installed?

Thanks to all for your help.

Regards,
Steve M.

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Answer 6

KJK555

Level 4

2,900 points

Apr 6, 2011 11:52 AM in response to Steve M.

Install to that user's home directory, simply create a $HOME/Applications folder (~/Applications),
and install the user's private apps there.

Note:
Users will not need admin privileges to install their own apps inside of their respective home directories.

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Answer 7

Király

Level 6

10,017 points

Apr 6, 2011 5:00 PM in response to Steve M.

You can put in anywhere in your home folder. But in rare cases an app won't run properly if it is installed somewhere other than where the developer expects it to be installed.

Probably the best thing for you to do is to just install everything in /Applications, and use Parental Controls to restrict access for non-admin accounts.

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