GoblinSettings›Overlapping Apps lists apps on your Mac with features Goblin also has. It helps you try those features and decide which apps to keep. A match describes a shared feature, not a promise that Goblin replaces everything the other app does. Nothing here removes, quits or changes an app by itself.
Find apps that overlap with Goblin#
- Open Settings›Overlapping Apps. The page is headed Already in Goblin.
- Wait for Checking installed apps… to finish.
- Read each card: the app's name and location, the shared features and a note about the differences.
- To narrow the list, type in Search apps or features or pick a feature from the menu that starts at All features.
- To check again after installing or removing an app, click the refresh button (Refresh installed apps).
Goblin checks application bundle information locally in /Applications and your user's Applications folder. It does not upload app contents or usage. Matches use a catalog of known bundle identifiers, so an app that isn't in the catalog can share features without appearing here. Firewall comparisons are hidden when this build can't offer the firewall. If nothing matches, the page says No known overlaps found.
The banner on General#
When Goblin finds matches, a banner across the top of Settings›General says so: it names up to three apps (and counts the rest) and lists the features Goblin already has, with a Compare button that opens this page. Apps you marked Keep both aren't named. Close the banner with its × and it stays closed until the apps it names change.
Try a feature in Goblin#
- On an app's card, find the feature you use.
- Click Explore in Goblin beside it.
Goblin opens that feature. Setup or permissions may still be needed there. Try the workflows you use before deciding what to keep.
Import options… appears only for supported apps and editions. It opens the feature's existing import settings, where you review the options and use the normal confirmations. Opening a comparison never imports anything.
Keep both apps#
- On the app's card, click Keep both.
Goblin remembers your choice and stops suggesting that app. The card stays on this page with Keeping both. To change your mind, click Reconsider on the card and the app is reviewed again.
Turn off suggestions#
While you use a matching feature, Goblin can show a small suggestion in the active Settings window.
- Switch Suggest overlapping features while I use Goblin off at the top of this page.
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Suggest overlapping features while I use Goblin | Allows a contextual suggestion while you use a matching feature in the active Settings window. | On |
Suggestions are limited to one per session, one per app family and one every seven days. In a suggestion, Explore in Goblin opens this page on that app, Not now dismisses it for that app (the comparison stays here), and Keep both — don't suggest this app again saves the same choice as Keep both.
Review an uninstall#
Warning: Removing an app does not cancel its subscription. Cancel that with the app's seller first if you pay for it.
- On the app's card, click Review uninstall….
- Goblin checks the app's current identity and location, then opens Disk›Applications with only the application selected. Saved settings, history and other related data stay unselected unless you choose them.
- Review what will go, then remove it as you would any other app. The normal protected-app and system-extension checks still apply.
See Uninstalling apps for the removal review.