> you can't do a silent application launch when logging in on macOS from what I can tell - sole exception being iTunesHelper on older versions You absolutely c

> you can't do a silent application launch when logging in on macOS from what I can tell - sole exception being iTunesHelper on older versions You absolutely can, there's ways for apps to launch without adding a dock icon or windows, this is typically done by menu bar apps, but can also be done by daemon-style services, or by apps meant to do global-style UIs (like a lot of the spotlight replacement apps)