macOS 27 Golden Gate makes it clear when apps are sneakily running in background

Google Gemini for macOS was recently flagged for not being a very good app citizen on the Mac. Apple’s new macOS 27 Golden Gate seems to make an example out of apps like Gemini that sneakily run in the background after a user quits the software.

The most explicit change in macOS 27 Golden Gate is how Apple displays an app on your Dock if it’s still running in the background.

For example, quitting the Gemini Mac app on macOS 26 Tahoe or earlier would just remove the running app indicator from beneath the app, or remove the icon from your Dock. Behind the scenes, Google was still running a process in the background, but this wasn’t abundantly clear.

In macOS 27 Golden Gate, quitting the Gemini Mac app changes the appearance of the indicator beneath the icon from a black dot to a lighter gray dot.

If you place your cursor over the icon, macOS tells you that Gemini is Running in Background.

You can secondary-click on the Gemini app icon and choose Stop Running in Background to kill the process and remove it from your Dock.

System Settings also makes it clear which apps are currently running in the background, even if they’re not in your Dock.

The section is found in General > Login Items & Extensions under Background App Activity. This is where you’re able to toggle background app permission on and off. This also tells you if an app is currently running a background app process.

macOS 27 Golden Gate is available in developer beta. A public beta will arrive in July ahead of the official release this fall.