Getting the list of visible apps (think: Force Quit) in macOS via Python and PyObjC

visible_apps.py

#!/usr/bin/env python3
#ref: https://gist.github.com/pudquick/eebc4d569100c8e3039bf3eae56bee4c

from Foundation import NSBundle
import objc # pip3 install objc
CoreServices = NSBundle.bundleWithIdentifier_('com.apple.CoreServices')     

functions = [
    ('_LSCopyRunningApplicationArray', b'@I'),
    ('_LSCopyApplicationInformation', b'@I@@'),
]

constants = [
    ('_kLSApplicationTypeKey', b'@'),
    ('_kLSApplicationForegroundTypeKey', b'@'),
    ('_kLSDisplayNameKey', b'@'),
]

objc.loadBundleFunctions(CoreServices, globals(), functions)
objc.loadBundleVariables(CoreServices, globals(), constants)

kLSDefaultSessionID = 0xfffffffe # The actual value is `int -2`
kLSCurrentSessionID = 0xffffffff # The actual value is `int -1`

app_asns = _LSCopyRunningApplicationArray(kLSDefaultSessionID)
app_infos = [_LSCopyApplicationInformation(kLSDefaultSessionID, asn, None) for asn in app_asns]
visible_app_infos = [x for x in app_infos if x.get(_kLSApplicationTypeKey, None) == _kLSApplicationForegroundTypeKey]
visible_apps = sorted([x.get(_kLSDisplayNameKey) for x in visible_app_infos])

print(visible_apps)

See also: https://gist.github.com/pudquick/eebc4d569100c8e3039bf3eae56bee4c?permalink_comment_id=4442405#gistcomment-4442405