macOS accessibility issue due to After Effects not using real OS windows

[probablykasper]

After Effects' main window is not a real macOS window, which impacts accessibility apps.

I use the app AltTab, which simply lets you switch between open windows using a shortcut. The app is not able to properly detect the AE window because of this issue. Quote from my bug report to AltTab:

Then it means AE windows are not real windows. It's a bug on their side. You should open a ticket for them so they fix it. If it affects AltTab, it must affect other accessibility apps.

[...]

To insist again: this is a bug on AE side. It should be reported. Screen readers and other apps are probably broken with AE.

[JohnColombo]

Hi @probablykasper,

Thank you for reporting this issue. We will be investigating this issue for a fix in a future version of After Effects.

Cheers,

- John, After Effects Engineering Team 

[Norson]

Hi, same issue here is makng a time tracking software unuasable as the window tracker can't see the project name in some Adobe apps windows, not only AE. Premiere Pro isn't using a real macOS window either. Can we expect a fix for this soon?

[Nicholas_XP]

Any updates on this @JohnColombo? This problem is still impacting my time tracking software.

[JohnColombo]

@Nicholas_XP Thank you for your patience. We are reconnecting with the Timely team to get more information as we continue to investigate a fix.

In the latest 24.0 version, we made changes to fix hiding behavior on macOS 13 and 14, but perhaps try that version to see if it also affected how other applications see the After Effects windows.

Thanks again,

- John, After Effects Engineering Team

[Nicholas_XP]

Hey @JohnColombo just tried updating to 24.0 and both Premiere and After Effects are still hidden. Attached two screenshots below, first what used to display in Timely (application name, file name, file path), and what displays now (only the application).

  

[JohnColombo]

Hi @Nicholas_XP,

Thanks for following up on this. Timely hasn't gotten back to us with any additional information, but I will message you directly so we can see about moving this forward.

Thank you for your patience 🙏

- John, After Effects Engineering Team 

[mariusorvik]

After Effects' main window is not a real macOS window, which impacts accessibility apps.

I use the app AltTab, which simply lets you switch between open windows using a shortcut. The app is not able to properly detect the AE window because of this issue. Quote from my bug report to AltTab:

Then it means AE windows are not real windows. It's a bug on their side. You should open a ticket for them so they fix it. If it affects AltTab, it must affect other accessibility apps.

[...]

To insist again: this is a bug on AE side. It should be reported. Screen readers and other apps are probably broken with AE.

By @probablykasper

Hi @JohnColombo 

Marius, VP Product at Timely here. We've received your e-mail and are preparing a package with explanations and code snippets you can use. 

This is by far the most reported bug we have, as a large portion of our users are heavy Adobe users. This is also not limited to After Effects, we have reports of the same problem with Lightroom, Photoshop, InDesign, Premiere Pro etc.

PS: For the record we've tried raising this problem with you several times, but haven't heard back, so glad you're looking at it. We'll do what we can to help!

[JohnColombo]

Thank you, @mariusorvik! I've been in touch via email with your team; thank you very much for the clear repro of the issue.

For clarity, I've moved the time tracking isn't into a separate thread here: https://community.adobe.com/t5/after-effects-bugs/time-tracking-software-not-reading-adobe-after-eff... since I can't say for sure it is the same issue affecting the AltTab app in the original poster's report. If the problem turns out to have the same root cause, we can re-merge them.

@probablykasper If possible, please have the AltTab team reach out here and we can connect with them as well.

Thanks again,

- John, After Effects Engineering Team