4 ms·

The first time I discovered that "dragging an icon to the trash" was one of the few ways to uninstall an application on Mac, my mind was a bit blown. I was stru

The first time I discovered that "dragging an icon to the trash" was one of the few ways to uninstall an application on Mac, my mind was a bit blown. I was struggling so hard to find an "Add/remove programs" equivalent or an uninstaller.

layer8 5y ago
I believe it’s because that literally just deletes the application file/directory, there’s no hook for application-specific uninstall routines.
- not2b 5y ago
  Remember when the way to eject a floppy or other removable disk on a Mac was to drag its icon to the trash? That was weird.
  - dhosek 5y ago
    With OS X (maybe even OS 9?) the interaction was changed so that when you dragged a disk to the trash can icon, the icon changed to an eject icon (⏏), but it seems that this has been removed at some point in the last 18 years since when I went to check it, it doesn't happen anymore. On the other hand, the disk icon now has an eject button next to it in at least some Finder views.
    - dingdingdang 5y ago
      Exactly, wave goodbye to any attempt at user consistency. Same with Win10, it launched 7 years ago and they still haven't made the the new UI standard. Try changing user passwords or system sounds or..etc. In all honesty find Linux Mint with XFCE far less mental grind than either of the predominant platforms. It has a rough edge here and there but that's it - things in general stay in place. As a result I dedicate more time to end result of my computing rather than the medium.
- weikju 5y ago
  there kindof are, though it's very inconsistent. For example, yesterday I installed the AdGuard app, which adds a proxy and some Extensions.. When I finally realized I didn't need it and it was a paid service, and I really just needed the free AdGuard DNS, I dragged the icon to the trash.... And that also prompted me to confirm that it would delete the proxy and the Extensions that were installed. I remember a few more apps being like that. So there ARE hooks, just not used universally. AND it won't delete personal files or preferences related to the app, which is what users are expecting these days when they delete an app, UNLESS it's an app installed from the App Store, because those store prefs and data in a different folder than regular apps..
  - layer8 5y ago
    > And that also prompted me to confirm that it would delete the proxy and the Extensions that were installed. I would be interested if someone could point me to the mechanism used for that (triggering application-specific uninstall logic upon dragging the application to the trash).
    - weikju 5y ago
      Good question, I unfortunately have no idea of the mechanisms for this, I just know they exist and have encountered them before as a user...

layer8 5y ago

I believe it’s because that literally just deletes the application file/directory, there’s no hook for application-specific uninstall routines.

not2b 5y ago
Remember when the way to eject a floppy or other removable disk on a Mac was to drag its icon to the trash? That was weird.
- dhosek 5y ago
  With OS X (maybe even OS 9?) the interaction was changed so that when you dragged a disk to the trash can icon, the icon changed to an eject icon (⏏), but it seems that this has been removed at some point in the last 18 years since when I went to check it, it doesn't happen anymore. On the other hand, the disk icon now has an eject button next to it in at least some Finder views.
  - dingdingdang 5y ago
    Exactly, wave goodbye to any attempt at user consistency. Same with Win10, it launched 7 years ago and they still haven't made the the new UI standard. Try changing user passwords or system sounds or..etc. In all honesty find Linux Mint with XFCE far less mental grind than either of the predominant platforms. It has a rough edge here and there but that's it - things in general stay in place. As a result I dedicate more time to end result of my computing rather than the medium.
weikju 5y ago
there kindof are, though it's very inconsistent. For example, yesterday I installed the AdGuard app, which adds a proxy and some Extensions.. When I finally realized I didn't need it and it was a paid service, and I really just needed the free AdGuard DNS, I dragged the icon to the trash.... And that also prompted me to confirm that it would delete the proxy and the Extensions that were installed. I remember a few more apps being like that. So there ARE hooks, just not used universally. AND it won't delete personal files or preferences related to the app, which is what users are expecting these days when they delete an app, UNLESS it's an app installed from the App Store, because those store prefs and data in a different folder than regular apps..
- layer8 5y ago
  > And that also prompted me to confirm that it would delete the proxy and the Extensions that were installed. I would be interested if someone could point me to the mechanism used for that (triggering application-specific uninstall logic upon dragging the application to the trash).
  - weikju 5y ago
    Good question, I unfortunately have no idea of the mechanisms for this, I just know they exist and have encountered them before as a user...