Participating Frequently

Question

MacOS Adobe Acrobat Helper app

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
September 23, 2024
8 replies
4297 views

I've noticed a strange behavior with Adobe Acrobat over the past couple of weeks. When opening Adobe Acrobat on a Mac, it seems to launch the Adobe Acrobat Helper app instead. I assume this is now part of Adobe Acrobat's structure, but I’m not sure why it's happening. Essentially, when you open Adobe Acrobat, it doesn't launch the main app directly; instead, it opens the Helper app, which is part of the Adobe Acrobat package.

Does anyone know why this is happening?

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David Cardillo, PRH

Inspiring

We use Enfocus Pitstop. The enhanced security in Acrobat will not allow the plug-in to work. So it has to be turned off to enable it.

Turning it off means the Adobe Acrobat Help app launches whenever a PDF is opened — even when launching the main Acrobat app from the Doc or the Finder, the Helper app launches.

Toggling from any other app back to Acrobat creates a lag. The system will hang a moment while it switches to the Helper. Where toggling to the Helper is almost immediate.

S

shaktikeshri

Adobe Employee

Hi @David Cardillo, PRH

There is a known issue with Enfocus Pitstop Pro with Protected Mode ON. It requires to be fixed at Enfocus end.

With Protected Mode OFF, which is default OFF , dual icon will be seen due to limitation in Apple's new Mac OS architecture.

https://helpx.adobe.com/in/acrobat/kb/known-issues-acrobat-dc-reader.html

We'll investigate the hang issue at our end on switching from any other application to Acrobat in PM OFF mode.

https://helpx.adobe.com/in/acrobat/kb/protected-mode-troubleshooting-reader.html

bsmoon

Participating Frequently

This just started happening to me. It started when I turned off "Enable Protected Mode at Startup" in the Security (Enhanced) preference. I turned it off to use a plugin. When I turned it back on it opened correctly.

Maybe try this?

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shaktikeshri

Adobe Employee

Hi @bsmoon

Adobe Acrobat offers extra security by Protected Mode security setting which is ON by default.

But when we disable protected mode, 2 icons will be shown due to a limitation in Apple's new Mac OS architecture.

https://helpx.adobe.com/in/acrobat/kb/known-issues-acrobat-dc-reader.html (Sandbox)

On turning PM ON, dual icon will no longer be there.

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GDH Stefan

Participating Frequently

We also use a plugin (Quite Imposing) so we need to turn of Protected Mode for it to work. When is Adobe going to fix this issue?

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inputdelay

Participant

Uninstalling and reinstalling helped me.

I noticed that as soon as I leave all settings at default, the update works for me too.

does anyone else know what to do? thank you!

#Fix your Input Lag - Ultimate Guide to Low Latency

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GDH Stefan

Participating Frequently

Did you switched to the old interface after reinstall?

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inputdelay

Participant

No, I use the new one

#Fix your Input Lag - Ultimate Guide to Low Latency

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GDH Stefan

Participating Frequently

I am also having ths issue, everything is working fine but why is the helper launcing?

AnandSri

Community Manager

Hello!

I hope you are doing well.

Could you please share a screenshot of the window that opens as Acrobat Helper? Try rebooting your machine, resetting Acrobat preferences, and then restarting the machine to check if the issue persists. Also, when does the Acrobat Helper launch? Does it appear while using any specific tools, when opening a PDF, or during the app launch?

Please ensure you have the latest version installed, check for any pending updates from the Acrobat Menu > Check for updates, install any pending updates, and restart the machine.

Let us know how it goes.

Thanks,

Anand Sri.

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GDH Stefan

Participating Frequently

I know what triggers this problem. After I removed the "com.adobe.Acrobat.Pro.plist" file from the system the problem was solved but when I changed the interface to the old the problem was there again. I hate the new Acrobat interface thats why I want to go back to the old.

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GPGW

Known Participant

I've only just noticed this behaviour too.

Helper seems to function the same as Acrobat, but the name has changed :S

Michał Ziółkowski

Participating Frequently

It's exactly the same for me. Acrobat Helper opens. I don't know why that happens either.

concretenz

Participant

Same for me, have uninstalled / re-installed... works fine up to the point of when Adobe Acrobat does an update (via the app not via Adobe Creative Cloud) - or not watching. Then it all happens again - strange!

Be nice.