EA App "Open on startup" toggle broken; no entry in Task Manager
Bug Report Form
Application: EA App (Desktop Client)
Platform: Windows 10 / Windows 11
Component: Application Settings → Startup Behavior
Severity: High (User control violation, unintended persistence)
Status: Unresolved
Description:
The "Open on startup" toggle switch within the Application Settings interface is non-functional. When the user attempts to disable the setting, the toggle either reverts to the "enabled" state immediately upon leaving the settings menu or fails to prevent the EA App from launching automatically after system reboot or user logon.
Expected Behavior:
Disabling the "Open on startup" option should prevent the EA App from launching automatically during system startup. The setting should persist across application restarts and system reboots.
Actual Behavior:
• The toggle appears interactive but produces no persistent effect.
• The EA App continues to launch on startup regardless of the setting state.
• No corresponding entry exists in Windows Task Manager → Startup tab to manually disable the behavior.
• Setting the "EA Background Service" in services.msc to Manual or Disabled does not resolve the issue; the application circumvents this control.
• The application re-initializes startup persistence mechanisms without user consent.
Steps to Reproduce:
1. Install EA App.
2. Launch EA App.
3. Navigate to Settings → Application.
4. Locate the "Open on startup" toggle.
5. Set the toggle to the off (disabled) position.
6. Close the settings window and exit EA App completely.
7. Restart the system or log out and log back in.
8. Observe that EA App launches automatically despite the setting being disabled.
Troubleshooting Performed:
• Uninstalled EA App completely.
• Restarted the system.
• Reinstalled EA App fresh.
• Repeated the steps above.
• Issue persists after clean installation.
Additional Context:
The application exhibits behavior consistent with unauthorized persistence mechanisms commonly associated with unwanted software. Specifically:
• The startup setting cannot be modified through standard user-accessible controls.
• The application bypasses Windows-native startup management tools (Task Manager Startup tab).
• The application ignores service-level configuration changes intended to limit background execution.
This lack of user control over application behavior raises significant usability and compliance concerns, particularly regarding system resource management and user consent under standard software transparency expectations.
Suggested Fix:
• Restore functionality to the "Open on startup" toggle to reliably enable or disable automatic launch behavior.
• Ensure the setting respects Windows Startup API standards, registering or deregistering a startup entry in the appropriate registry path or shell startup folder.
• Remove any undocumented or override mechanisms that re-enable startup behavior without explicit user authorization.
System Information:
• OS: Windows 11 Pro (25H2)
• EA App Version: 13.661.0.6174 (106694-85bc9572a9)
• Account Type: Local Administrator
