Most apps on my M1 mac load instantly. And there is very little I can do with a loaded app that has no documents open (as opposed to maybe in the MacOS <= 9 era

Most apps on my M1 mac load instantly. And there is very little I can do with a loaded app that has no documents open (as opposed to maybe in the MacOS <= 9 era). But the icons stick around and clutter the dock. Eventually the icons will shrink or I confuse similar icons. If I want an app icon to stay, I can just pin it. Of course you can close the app manually, but that is cumbersome: You close every window with command-W or a click, but have to remember to close the very last window with command-Q. If you select the app icon to quit, it will not just activate the app, but open a new Window. So the best way is to right click the dock icon and close. But then you have to think if there is still an window open or not, so you don't accidentially close it. It's not a big deal, but it is a slight annoyance, just like how you can't close minimized windows. Apple actually implemented auto quitting apps in the Lion era, but removed it (probably because it was to Windowsy?).