There are two types of applications on macOS, desktop applications and menu bar applications. The former are intended for things that are used in the foreground such as web browsers and spreadsheets and can be accessed through the Switcher using CMD+Tab. Menu bar applications, on the other hand, are intended to run in the background. They are not accessible through the Switcher and must be accessed by clicking the app icon in the menu bar. SpiderOak ONE and SpiderOak Groups are designed as menu bar application. (For the purposes of this article, references to SpiderOak ONE also apply to the SpiderOak Groups application.)
There are several advantages in a backup application running as a menu bar application. SpiderOak ONE monitors the files and folders you have selected as part of your backup set (in the Backup tab of the application). When changes are made, SpiderOak ONE queues the changes for backup. For this process to work correctly, it’s important that the application run in the background so that changes are detected and backups made according to the backup schedule you set in the Preferences of the application.
Other popular backup and sync apps for Mac, such as iCloud or Dropbox, also run as menu bar applications.
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