Do I need Adobe launch agents and daemons

[chloem56448998]

Hi all,

I'm trying to clean up my mac and wondering if I need the following Adobe launch agents and daemons, to if see they can and / or should be removed if not required and whether there is any benefit in doing so.

I have the following:

Launch Agents:

    [Not Loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist

    [Other] com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a23d420d.plist

    [Running] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist

    [Running] com.adobe.GC.AGM.plist

    [Not Loaded] com.adobe.GC.Invoker-1.0.plist

Launch Daemons:

    [Loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist

    [Loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (

    [Running] com.adobe.acc.installer.v2.plist

    [Loaded] com.adobe.agsservice.plist

    [Loaded] com.apple.installer.osmessagetracing.plist

User Launch Agents:

    [Loaded] com.adobe.GC.Invoker-1.0.plist

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers....Stuart

[Test Screen Name · Accepted solution]

If you remove any of these part of Creative Cloud may stop working, including possibly licensing, updating, and problem solving. I suggest you NOT try to tidy up installed apps, it often ends in tears. We do not have details of what all the hundreds of bits do.

[chloem56448998]

Thanks so much. I thought I best check.

I'll do exactly what you say and leave things well alone!!

Cheers!!

[Gilles Le Pors]

Dear Test_Screen_Name,

When, out of nowhere and without any explanation, some of those bits (com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper) tries to access an external drive and an alert pops up, what is one to do?

Yours Sincerely,

Gilles

[Test Screen Name]

I suggest you accept it. Catalina warns about all sorts of normal things. The fact is, your computer is packed with Adobe software which could do anything. Why would you suddenly mistrust a tiny bit of it and stop it from doing its (unknown) work?

[Rick Stare]

"Why would you suddenly mistrust a tiny bit of it and stop it from doing its (unknown) work?"

Why?? Because the name "com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper" just doesn't sound legit. And because we are constantly warned not to mindlessly allow unknown agents to access or change things on our computer. This popped up on my iMac Catalina today, and I am totally suspicious of it. I got burned allowing an update of Flash a while back; it installed malware. So color me suspicious, and not 100% trusting that Apple has everything under control. 

[Test Screen Name]

Calling it com.adobe.something is what Apple say should be done. I can see that, while SMJobBless Helper makes perfect sense as a programmer, it isn't going to make much sense to most people. Certainly, anyone could create malware and call it com.adobe.vital.service, so the name proves nothing. And Apple don't provide a quick easy way to check the signature on a service, which is a pity. But you contradict yourself - you say we shouldn't trust unknown agents - but you're here because you know that it's part of an Adobe product. So long as this is the real, official Adobe product I'd trust it (at least, there is no difference in trust between say Photoshop and these services). You are right to be vigilant, though - countless millions of sites are waiting with attacks disguised as a Flash update, and it sounds as if you were hit. The fact is that Apple actively encourate setting up launch service based daemons/services, and in some cases they absolutely require it. Those times it is absolutely required include those apps which need to use SMJobBless, ironically.

[paulhov]

He is not contradicting himself because it's very difficult to tell the difference between what's real and what's fake if you're not a coder. He is not 'here because he knows it's part of an Adobe product' like you are saying. He has no clue like most people and that's why he asked.

The name has nothing to do with it. You are very behind on scams if you believe having a 'trustworthy name' makes something trustworthy. I would suggest keeping up with scam news. 

[Test Screen Name]

You have a good point; fakes will impersonate something real as closely as they can, so I recommend always checking the digital signature.

[Mervyn5E95]

what happens if you've already deleted those launch agents and daemons by accident? is there any way to get them back? re-installing the app doesn't work for me.

[Mervyn5E95]

what happens if you've already deleted those launch agents and daemons by accident? is there any way to get them back? re-installing the app doesn't work for me.

[Tapper]

Hi. I compiled a Google Doc list of all Adobe Launch Agents and Daemons along with the file contents to show what they do. The only Adobe apps I have installed on my Mac Mini M1 are Acrobat Pro Continuous Release 23.003.20284 and Bridge 2023. Here is a link to the color formatted list for easier reading. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fKUYPZuROK0J2ps3O1BM4h3EbxMwPgn7XJSPpODE5I8/edit?usp=sharing 

I really dislike having all these processes running and would like to make an informed decision on what I can disable.