“Open application without windows” is not the same thing as “background task.” When I run PostgreSQL on my Mac, it doesn’t show up in the application switcher,

“Open application without windows” is not the same thing as “background task.” When I run PostgreSQL on my Mac, it doesn’t show up in the application switcher, because it’s not an application. I find it convenient to be able to have an application with no windows. The big reason is for applications with longer startup times—unfortunately, something we don’t have a good solution for. The other thing I like about it is that I can close a document and create a new document without figuring out if I need to reopen the application after closing a document. Closing a window only closes the application for cases where that makes sense (System Preferences).