Outgoing network connections

Platforms Mac
#1

I’m wondering about some outgoing connections I’ve been seeing from Infuse.

Why does Infuse need to connect to ntp.org?

Also, these connections happen regularly even after quitting Infuse.

I have had the app closed for at least 12 hours and I can’t find any running Infuse process in Activity Monitor, but the connections still happen.

Infuse LS
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UPDATE

Just to make it clear, I just saw again that Infuse somehow initiates network traffic while no processes related to Infuse are active at all, as seen in the following screenshot where Little Snitch alerts me to an Infuse connection, while Activity Monitor in the background shows that Infuse is not running at all.

Infuse LS AM
Infuse LS AM3030×1534 328 KB

Infuse macOS public beta 6 - updated 4/16/21
#2

Hi Chris, can you please tel me what programs you use to view the outgoing/incoming connections?

Thx Coen

#3

Hi Coen,

Sure, I’m using Little Snitch.

1 Like
#4

If the connections still happen after Infuse is closed then it’s unlikely to be Infuse making the requests. That said ntp.org is for Network Time Protocol so it’s nothing nefarious it just something checking the current time, most likely the OS.

#5

Not saying this is anything bad, but given that these connections only started after opining Infuse and that I haven’t used ntp.org connections in any way, they are definitely from Infuse. Apple uses different servers for automatically setting date and time, but I don’t even have that feature enabled. Deleting the Infuse rules and restarting Infuse asks permission for exactly those connections again. That the connections continue after quitting Infuse is indeed weird and might be a Little Snitch bug, but in the last 5 years or so I haven’t seen behavior like this in Little Snitch and it also only happens with the connections listed for Infuse. Given the beta state of Infuse, this might be something for the developer to look into.

#6

FYI, the connections to ntp.org are temporary.

The pre-release builds expire after 30 days, and Infuse will use ntp.org to keep track of dates.

Once the public version becomes available on the App Store these connections will no longer be present.

#7

@james Thank you for the explanation.

Any idea why the connections persist even without Infuse being open?

#8

Related:

#9

Let’s wait for the release of the final version.
As indicated by James, maybe the connections will stop ^^

I am French … so my English is at the level of a 5 year old child ^^

1 Like
#10

The NTP connections are confirmed by @james to stop in the final release, yes.

But there is currently no explanation or answer for why Infuse connections are active while Infuse isn’t opened/running.

I would at least need an explanation for this behavior to actually keep using it, but it seems that these forums aren’t frequently engaged in by Infuse staff or devs.

#11

Assuming the Mac version is similar to the iOS/tvOS versions, Infuse does periodic checks in the background to see if there is any new video files to be added to the library. This means when Infuse is started up it is more likely to be in sync with your video collection.

#12

That doesn’t seem to be the case, since I have to manually hit the refresh button even after starting Infuse for any changes to be reflected. Additionally, the connections aren’t specifically related to file scans, but include all network traffic of Infuse, like analytics sites (appsflyer.com and appcenter.ms), as well as the ntp.org expiration check.
EDIT: But I also believe now that you are on to something with the iOS/tvOS relationship and background activity.

Just to clarify, I’m just wondering how Infuse technically initiates network traffic, while no process related to Infuse is running, because usually, apps need some background process running to do that. Yet, there is no Infuse activity in Activity Monitor and there are no background processes installed for Infuse either (I also checked launch and login items with KnockKnock app).

#13

As Plasma said, if you close Infuse, it is very unlikely that Infuse is making any connection requests.

#14

Irrespective of likelihood, as mentioned before and shown/proven in the screenshots, that is exactly what is happening and that’s why I’m curious as to how Infuse does that.

Anyone can easily recreate this behavior by quitting Infuse, making sure there are no Infuse processes running in Activity Monitor and checking the network traffic history in Little Snitch’s Network Monitor. In my case, Infuse has been closed for a day, yet the last network traffic it created was 67 minutes ago.

The screenshot (I already posted before) shows a connection alert initiating from Little Snitch while Activity Monitor in the background proves that Infuse is not running. (This can also be easily recreated by deleting Little Snitch Infuse rules and keeping Infuse closed. At some later point, the alert will pop up again.)

#15

Have you looked at “CPU” instead of memory on the activity monitor?

#16

To be honest, if you are worried about such connections, you probably shouldn’t use an app that has built in means to connect to other services…

But back to topic, I have kept infuse closed since the morning, and no connections were made (also verified by LS). I am on the latest beta. So it is something that was either fixed, or it is something your OS initiates. Because it doesn’t happen to me.

#17

Yes, it’s not running, no matter where I look. Mac restarts don’t make a difference.

#18

You are making assumptions.

I keep repeating myself, but again, I’m not worried about an app making outgoing connections, but – to quote myself – curious as to how Infuse does that while not running.

Unfortunately more assumptions about my system or Infuse development that not even an Infuse dev would make at this point (with the currently available information/data). Your N=1 doesn’t prove anything (and neither does mine), that’s why I’m asking here, so that devs can look into that. I’m also not the only person seeing this behavior.

I’m using the latest beta too.

#19

Have you clicked on the allow button in Little Snitch for the themoviedb.org api or just the cancel? It may just have a timer to represent the notice until you do select deny or allow.

#20

Yes, connections are either allowed or denied, never canceled. The one in the screenshot popped up an hour after having quit Infuse.

I can reproduce this very easily by deleting all Infuse network rules in Little Snitch, not opening Infuse at all and after some time, Little Snitch will show an alert because Infuse, even though closed, initiates a connection somehow.

Another way to reproduce this, is to remove Infuse from Little Snitch’s network monitor history (by selecting remove from list) and keeping the network monitor open. It will repopulate at some later point when a connection is made.