Launch at login category on NSApplication

NSApplication+MXUtilities.h

//
//  NSApplication+MXUtilities.h
//  Mixim
//
//  Created by Joe Rickerby on 15/09/2014.
//  Copyright (c) 2014 Mixim Technology Ltd. Released under BSD Licence.
//

#import <Cocoa/Cocoa.h>

@interface NSApplication (MXUtilities)

@property (nonatomic, assign) BOOL launchAtLogin;

@end

NSApplication+MXUtilities.m

//
//  NSApplication+MXUtilities.m
//  Mixim
//
//  Created by Joe Rickerby on 15/09/2014.
//  Copyright (c) 2014 Mixim Technology Ltd. Released under BSD Licence.
//

#import "NSApplication+MXUtilities.h"

@implementation NSApplication (MXUtilities)

- (BOOL)launchAtLogin
{
    LSSharedFileListItemRef loginItem = [self loginItem];
    BOOL result = loginItem ? YES : NO;

    if (loginItem) {
        CFRelease(loginItem);
    }
    
    return result;
}

- (void)setLaunchAtLogin:(BOOL)launchAtLogin
{
    if (launchAtLogin == self.launchAtLogin) {
        return;
    }

    LSSharedFileListRef loginItemsRef = LSSharedFileListCreate(NULL, kLSSharedFileListSessionLoginItems, NULL);

    if (launchAtLogin) {
        CFURLRef appUrl = (__bridge CFURLRef)[[NSBundle mainBundle] bundleURL];
        LSSharedFileListItemRef itemRef = LSSharedFileListInsertItemURL(loginItemsRef, kLSSharedFileListItemLast, NULL,
                                                                        NULL, appUrl, NULL, NULL);
        if (itemRef) CFRelease(itemRef);
    } else {
        LSSharedFileListItemRef loginItem = [self loginItem];
        
        LSSharedFileListItemRemove(loginItemsRef, loginItem);
        if (loginItem != nil) CFRelease(loginItem);
    }
    
    if (loginItemsRef) CFRelease(loginItemsRef);
}

#pragma mark Private

- (LSSharedFileListItemRef)loginItem
{
    NSURL *bundleURL = [[NSBundle mainBundle] bundleURL];

    LSSharedFileListRef loginItemsRef = LSSharedFileListCreate(NULL, kLSSharedFileListSessionLoginItems, NULL);
    
    if (!loginItemsRef) {
        return NULL;
    }

    NSArray *loginItems = CFBridgingRelease(LSSharedFileListCopySnapshot(loginItemsRef, nil));
    
    LSSharedFileListItemRef result = NULL;
    
    for (id item in loginItems) {
        LSSharedFileListItemRef itemRef = (__bridge LSSharedFileListItemRef)item;
        CFURLRef itemURLRef;

        if (LSSharedFileListItemResolve(itemRef, 0, &itemURLRef, NULL) == noErr) {
            NSURL *itemURL = (__bridge NSURL *)itemURLRef;

            if ([itemURL isEqual:bundleURL]) {
                result = itemRef;
                break;
            }
        }
    }

    if (result != nil) {
        CFRetain(result);
    }
    
    CFRelease(loginItemsRef);
    
    return result;
}

@end

Hello Joerick,

Thanks a lot for your work on this clean snippet !

I have noticed a little problem. I have made a binding

of a checkbox to NSApplication,launchAtLogin and it works like a charm.

If I the checkbox is checked and unchecked, the dock menu reacts to

display the correct setting of "Open at Login", whether it is on and off.

The opposite is not true, if I select open at login in the dock menu, it does not update

in the application's checkbox. Do you have any suggestion to solve this ?

Thanks a lot,

Alfonso Tesauro
[email protected]
Freelance Mac Os X Developer

Hi @fofomaradona,

Sorry I missed your message.

It's not something I've looked at, but I found a function in LaunchServices that will probably do this for you.

/*
 *  LSSharedFileListAddObserver()
 *  
 *  Summary:
 *    Add observer of shared list changes.
 *  
 *  Discussion:
 *    Adds observer of shared list changes. The provided function will
 *    be called when the list has changed (or any item property has
 *    changed).
 *  
 *  Mac OS X threading:
 *    Thread safe since version 10.5
 *  
 *  Parameters:
 *    
 *    inList:
 *      Shared list reference.
 *    
 *    inRunloop:
 *      Runloop to run on.
 *    
 *    inRunloopMode:
 *      Mode for runloop.
 *    
 *    callback:
 *      Function to call when list has changed.
 *    
 *    context:
 *      Context pointer defined by client.
 *  
 *  Availability:
 *    Mac OS X:         in version 10.5 and later in CoreServices.framework
 *    CarbonLib:        not available
 *    Non-Carbon CFM:   not available
 */
extern void 
LSSharedFileListAddObserver(
  LSSharedFileListRef              inList,
  CFRunLoopRef                     inRunloop,
  CFStringRef                      inRunloopMode,
  LSSharedFileListChangedProcPtr   callback,
  void *                           context)                   __OSX_AVAILABLE_STARTING(__MAC_10_5, __IPHONE_NA);

The callback that you pass into this function can then call [NSApp didChangeValueForKey:@"launchAtLogin"] and the checkbox should update automatically through the binding.

Do you have an example with swift 3/4, also LSSharedFileListCreate seems to be deprecated as well as it's related constants... given that... what would be the best approach to accomplish this task?