Screensaver Closing Browsers

[jamesacoker]

We are in the process of recreating policies and configuration profiles in preparation for a new lease cycle later this year and I have been testing on a couple of M1 machines using my login and have had good results. I just set up one of those MacBooks for another user and even though the screensaver is disabled it will still eventually come on and when it does it will close out of any browser that he has open. Has anyone seen anything like this before? We haven't found that any other app behaves this way, just browsers...

[AJPinto]

I would try to replicate the issue with more than one device. If its a single device it could be some setting. Have you tried turning off the Screen Saver Configuration Profiles to this one device and see what it does when you configure the Screen Saver manually?

I have noticed that macOS Screen Saver configuration profiles to be iffy at best the past couple of years. Some times they work, some times they don't. MacOS enabling its Screen Saver does not close any applications. MacOS logging out or rebooting could have that behavior, but no the Screen Saver. 

[jamesacoker]

I probably should have specified in my original post, this is the second MacBook I have tried with the same user… I did just get confirmation from him that it also closes other apps as well. Is there a possibility that instead of going to screen saver it is just rebooting?

[AJPinto]

Hrm. It does seem like it in the very least the user is being logged out, there is a configuration profile that does just that which could be enabled.

[jamesacoker]

I didn’t realize that! One that logs out when the screensaver would normally play? Or logs out after a certain amount of time?

[AJPinto · Accepted solution]

Screensaver can be enabled with the Energy Saver payload or the Login Window payload. The login window payload also has a "log user out after" option you can configure. If you are using the Loin Window payload, its configured to log the user out after 30 minutes by default.

[jamesacoker]

That is probably it! That box was checked... Now I don't specifically remember checking it but obviously I did. Unchecked it and I will follow up with the affected user now! Thanks!

[rohitshah]

Using the login payload all the apps are also being closed is there any script for that?