While some people forget to close an app after using it, others knowingly keep an app open just to take a sneak peek at it while doing other tasks, and this usually applies to the social apps that have made us their slaves. For Mac users, there is now a utility that automatically quits or hides an app after a certain period of inactivity. Quitter, as the name implies, helps you quit the apps on your Mac that have been open for some time but are not used. That way you will only have those apps open that you really make use of while keeping the others closed.
Automatically Quitting or Hiding an App After Inactivity
Head over to the Quitter app page and download the app to your Mac. Double-click on the archive to extract the actual app file and then double-click on the app file to launch it. You will get a prompt asking if you would really like to open the app. Click on “Open.” Later, let the app be moved to the Applications folder by clicking on “Move to Applications Folder” in the prompt on your screen.
The app sits in the menu bar on your Mac, and you need to click on its icon there to pull down the menu. When clicked, you should be able to see a number of options to choose from. Since you have just started to use the app, there will not be any apps in Quitter that are ordered to be closed after certain time. To add a new app, click on the Quitter icon in the menu bar and select the option that says “Edit Rules…”
You will get a dialog box where you can add the apps you’d like closed after a certain time period. Click on the “+” (plus) sign in the bottom to add a new app.
Navigate to your Applications folder and select an app and click on “Add App” to add that app to Quitter.
When an app has been added to Quitter, you should be able to see the options for it. These options include the action that will be performed on the app and the time of inactivity when the action should be performed. You can choose to either quit or hide the app and then set the time in minutes in the following input box. I have chosen to quit the Firefox app if it has been inactive for ten minutes, and here’s how my configuration looks:
Should you ever wish for an app to stay open regardless of the time it has been inactive, you can remove the app from Quitter by clicking on the app name and then clicking on the minus sign.
Conclusion
If you happen to launch many apps on your Mac but forget to close them because another app is keeping you busy, you can use the above guide to help you close any inactive apps.
