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Ask HN: Is this an example of an Apple dark pattern?

by shartshooter on 1/13/25, 4:04 AM with 3 comments

Lately I've gotten into creating music and use tools like Logic to generate .wav files.

Every time I open a new .wav file it defaults to Apple Music.

If I go to a given file and right click and select "open with application" I'm able to choose VLC. Great right?

Except, that ONLY applies to that specific file. The prompt at the top of the Finder says "Choose an application to open the document “my_wav_file.wav”."

Shouldn't I be able to EASILY set VLC as my default for every .wav file that I open?

This feels like a dark pattern. Apple is making it counterintuitive for me to set a default application that is not Apple's and I'm guessing that files I upload to Apple Music somehow end up on their servers and are processed by them(maybe that's a bit of a tin-foil stretch, but you get my point).

  • by thatxliner on 1/13/25, 4:06 AM

    You can, if you press Get Info, you can set the default application for ALL files of that type

  • by amelgares on 1/13/25, 6:49 AM

    Option-Right click on a file in Finder and choose "Always open with". To discover options like this, in any menu hold down the option key to see menu items change.

  • by cratermoon on 1/13/25, 4:34 AM

    As other comment noted, it's under Get Info. It's hidden a bit but it's been like that for decades.