Delay-Start
Delay-Start is a lightweight macOS utility that lets you delay the automatic launch of other applications at login or startup. Users add apps via a simple plus-sign interface, set a timer (in seconds), and the utility will launch those apps with a specified delay after login completes. It is useful for users who need applications to start in a particular sequence, such as ensuring dependencies load before dependent apps, or staggering resource-intensive startup tasks to avoid overwhelming the system at boot time.
AI Recommendation
1 suggestionDelay-Start is an Intel-only application with no native Apple Silicon build. The app was last updated in 2012 (version 1.1) and shows no signs of active development — there have been no meaningful releases, bug fixes, or architecture updates in over a decade. The Intel build continues to run under Rosetta 2 today, but Apple is removing Rosetta 2 in macOS 28 (September 2028), so this app will stop launching entirely on that release and any newer version of macOS. With just over two years until the deadline, you should begin looking for an alternative now. Modern login-delay utilities include Platypus (which can wrap shell scripts to delay app launches), LaunchControl (a graphical LaunchAgent/LaunchDaemon editor that offers fine-grained startup control), or simply creating a LaunchAgent plist with a Delay key — all of these solutions run natively on Apple Silicon and offer more flexibility than Delay-Start's fixed interface. If your workflow is simple and you only need to delay a few applications, LaunchControl is the most user-friendly drop-in replacement.
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