Application (null)

Fairly frequently (several times a month), there is a popup on my MBP OS 10.9 about application (null) wanting to access the internet. What is application (null)? And should I block or allow? (I have been blocking, figuring that an app with the name "null" probably doesn't have anything to do anyway!) Thanks.

Application Null does nothing and was created for Android testing. Block it.

Thank you.

Your "signature line" urges "...make a bootable USB thumb drive before running Installer". I have already installed Mavericks, but your suggestion seems sound. After reading your post, I Googled the subject, and came up with a variety of ways to create a bootable USB drive for OS 10.9. Do you have a recommended procedure, and if so, please share it. Thanks.

Follow the procedure as given in MacWorld. Go to this LINK.

harryb2448 said:

Application Null does nothing and was created for Android testing. Block it.

Click to expand...

Not necessarily. Null tells us that the computer can't find the name of the application and/or that it doesn't recognize it anymore. Thus, it could be anything. If someone hasn't done any Android application testing on their machine, then the problem lay elsewhere.

stefanmaine, have you uninstalled any applications as of late?

have you uninstalled any applications as of late?

Click to expand...

Not for a long time.

However ... as I wrote here earlier (see http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/switcher-hangout/304830-mavericks-halloween-scare.html), I had an issue with the MBP which was initially diagnosed as impending hard disk failure. SMARTReporter, which was suggested to me here, continues to report "OK", so I continue using the laptop. But I did notice a slowing down, which I thought probably was attributable to the hard disk issue (SMARTReporter notwithstanding). I asked a second shop, which discounted the likelihood of disk failure, and suggested instead that I run the Disk Utility "Repair Disk Permissions". I did that, and the result has been a noticeable and welcome improvement in performance. And so far, the hard disk seems to be okay.

Since the "Repair Disk Permissions" event, a number of apps have asked for "permission" to go online. I presume that is because the utility removed it? Maybe (null) is among those, although the first (null) requests predated the "Repair Disk Permissions" event. (I think -- but am not certain -- that the (null) requests may have coincided with my installing Hot Spot Shield Elite (https://www.hsselite.com) which I run when traveling.)

Null is not an application - it simply means "not there"/"doesn't exist". Think of it as the equivalent of nil. This is why it's tricky since it's essentially saying "we're trying to run something that now no longer exists but we can't tell you what that is because it doesn't exist." Consequently, it could be anything.

Repairing permissions wouldn't have caused this since that process won't remove anything. So, you can scratch that off the list of things.

Does this happen when you're using an application/opening it? This can occur when a part of an application is missing.

Last week, vansmith asked "Does this happen when you're using an application/opening it?"

The fact is, I have not seen a (null) request to go on the internet since I blocked one at harryb2448's suggestion.

If there is another, I will post it here, but it seems ... at least for the moment ... that (null) has gone to ground.