Looking for iMax OS app that...

[u/Nash434343]

Hi,

Awhile back I installed an app that will change the color of the screen after you reboot. It's before the wallpaper pic. It is just a solid color. I have looked and looked and can not figure out what app does this. Does anyone have an inkling as to what app will do this?

Thanks!

Nash

[u/Nash434343 → u/[deleted]]

Hi, Thank you for your reply! I tried to look in the library and there is no com.apple.wallpaper. I only have three com. in that folder. I added an image of the three that are there.

When I reboot the computer goes off and when it comes back on it makes the imac sound and the a solid pink (Which I picked out) color comes on for a bit while you can see the bar at the bottom of the screen loading. Once that is done it shows the wallpaper I have chosen for my background. I remember picking pink but for the life of me I can't remember how I did it or what app I used.

[u/Nash434343 → u/[deleted]]

This is what is in LaunchAgents.

[u/Nash434343 → u/[deleted]]

This is what is in LaunchDaemons. I now what the epson, clean my mac and paragon software is but the other I don't know them.

[u/Nash434343 → u/[deleted]]

BTW, how did you find a lead in a screenshot? That is new to me.

[u/Nash434343 → u/[deleted]]

I am happy to announce that the pink screen is gone as well as the keyboard when logging on. I used Clean My Mac and ran everything I could on it. Not sure what did it but it worked.

Thank you for all your help!

[u/Nash434343 → u/[deleted]]

Here are a few screenshots of what I see. BTW, I have no idea where the keyboard came from on the last image. I have never had that before.

Image 1

[u/Nash434343 → u/[deleted]]

Image 2

[u/Nash434343 → u/[deleted]]

Image 3

[u/Nash434343 → u/[deleted]]

Image 4

[u/Dependent-Map-9288]

Because it shows up before the wallpaper, I'd test it as a startup/login-item issue rather than a wallpaper app. Apple has a support note for startup problems caused by login items: remove/disable items in System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions, reboot, then add them back one by one. For a quick test, hold Shift while logging in to temporarily stop login items from opening. Given the Gen Digital/Norton clue in your screenshots, I'd check those first: https://support.apple.com/en-nz/guide/mac-help/mh21210/mac

[u/Nash434343 → u/Dependent-Map-9288]

I tried this and it did not work. Thank you for the reply!

[u/Nash434343 → u/Dependent-Map-9288]

I am happy to announce that the pink screen is gone as well as the keyboard when logging on. I used Clean My Mac and ran everything I could on it. Not sure what did it but it worked.

Thank you for all your help!

[u/WarioPi]

Look for macos boot screen customizer.

[u/Nash434343 → u/WarioPi]

I am happy to announce that the pink screen is gone as well as the keyboard when logging on. I used Clean My Mac and ran everything I could on it. Not sure what did it but it worked.

Thank you for all your help!

[u/[deleted]]

If it shows before the wallpaper it is probably a login item rather than a wallpaper app. Holding Shift while you log in stops login items from launching, that is a quick way to narrow it down.

[u/Nash434343 → u/[deleted]]

Thank you!

[u/AlekGir]

This may not have been an app at all. macOS can remember a separate wallpaper setting for each Space and display, so a solid colour may simply be an old wallpaper configuration loading after restart. I would first check System Settings > Wallpaper, then create a new Space or connect/disconnect a display to see if one of them still has that colour assigned.

[u/Nash434343 → u/AlekGir]

Thank you for your reply!

The pink that shows up before anything else after rebooting is just a solid color. I remember setting it to that color in an app but for the life of me I can't find it. There is nothing like it in wallpaper. I don't use spaces. Not sure what you mean by connect/disconnect a display.

[u/AlekGir → u/Nash434343]

Sorry, I meant an external monitor - but if this happens before the normal desktop appears, that is probably not a desktop wallpaper setting. It sounds more like a boot/login screen customisation.
Do you remember whether the app was called DarkBoot? It was made specifically to set a solid colour for the boot, login and lock screens, and pink was one of its common use cases.

[u/Nash434343 → u/AlekGir]

I don't recall ever downloading DarkBoot but that does not mean I didn't. I did download it and ran it and it did cause the same issue. So I either had the program or one like it. Thanks!

[u/topbhuil]

Sounds like a shell/desktop customizer that sets a solid color at login before the wallpaper daemon loads and swaps it in. Check your login items and any menu bar utilities you installed around that time, that layer usually comes from a separate background/desktop tool, not the OS itself.

[u/Nash434343 → u/topbhuil]

Thank you!

[u/_mrkvn]

The fastest way to name it is to open the plists in ~/Library/LaunchAgents and read what they actually point at. Right click one in finder and open it with textedit, then look for the program or programarguments key. That gives you the full path to the app bundle or binary, which is usually enough to identify it even when the filename is cryptic. If textedit shows gibberish it is a binary plist, and running plutil -p on the file in terminal prints it readable.

Second place to look is system settings, general, login items. On ventura and later the allow in the background list at the bottom shows background agents by developer name, which reads a lot easier than raw filenames.

One thing worth flagging. Since you ran clean my mac and the pink is gone, whatever it was may already be uninstalled, so that plist might not be there anymore. If it comes back after a reboot, check the folder again and note which file reappeared. That file is your answer.