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Feature · child's Mac

Background updates

Only for a Mac whose account isn't an administrator — usually a child's. Switching this on once, with a parent there, lets Hubbub install its own updates from then on.

In macOS it's called
Allow in the Background
Where to find it
System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions
Who's asked
Only Macs where your account isn't an administrator — usually a child's Mac. Everyone else can skip this page.
Who needs to be there
Someone who knows the Mac's administrator password, usually a parent. Once.

What Hubbub uses it for

  • Installing Hubbub's updates by itself, with no password prompt each time.
  • Reopening Hubbub after midnight if it was quit during the day.

What it never does with it

  • Installing or changing anything other than Hubbub itself.
  • Getting administrator access for the person using the Mac — they still can't install other apps.
  • Reopening Hubbub silently: the daily recap says when it happened.

Turning it on

Step 1: Click Set up now — with the administrator at the keyboard

After setup, Hubbub shows a screen called Let Hubbub update itself on any Mac where it can't install updates on its own. It explains what's about to happen before macOS asks anything.

Not there right now? Click Not now — Hubbub keeps working. The next time an update is waiting, a banner offers Set up background updates.

Hubbub's “Let Hubbub update itself” screen: what it does, who needs to be here, and what happens next, with a picture of the Allow in the Background switch, and Set up now and Not now buttons.

Step 2: Switch Hubbub on under Allow in the Background

System Settings opens to General → Login Items & Extensions. Under Allow in the Background, turn on Hubbub's switch, then type the administrator's name and password when macOS asks.

System Settings, General → Login Items & Extensions: under “Allow in the Background”, Hubbub's row is highlighted with its switch on. Other items are drawn as blank placeholders.
Illustration of macOS — the wording and layout shift a little between macOS versions, and your list of apps will differ.

Step 3: Hubbub notices by itself

While you're in System Settings, Hubbub waits for the switch. If you closed the window too early, Open System Settings again takes you back.

Hubbub's “Finish in System Settings” screen: find Hubbub under Allow in the Background, switch it on, enter the administrator password; “Waiting for the switch…”, with Open System Settings again and Finish later buttons.

Step 4: Done

Background updates are on. From now on Hubbub keeps itself up to date — no password needed.

Hubbub's “Background updates are on” confirmation.

If you skip it, or switch it off later

Hubbub keeps working, but every update stops and waits for an administrator's password. Until someone enters it, Hubbub stays on the version it has, and a banner says it can't install the update on its own — with a Set up background updates button that brings this screen back.

Questions people ask

How do I tell if this Mac's account is an administrator?
Open System Settings → Users & Groups. An administrator account says Admin under its name; a Standard account doesn't. On an Admin account Hubbub never shows this screen.
macOS showed a notification about a background item. Is that Hubbub?
Yes, if it names Hubbub — macOS announces every app that adds one. It's the item this page is about.
Why does Hubbub reopen after midnight?
So a quit in the afternoon doesn't quietly end focus help for good. It happens once, after midnight, and the daily recap mentions it.

Stuck, or something on screen doesn't match what's described here? Email support@77sparx.com and we'll walk you through it.