STS 3.8.3 Mac-OS forgets all settings (and installed plugins) on reboot

Question

So very weird, first time I ever saw this, problem install STS version 3.8.3-release on Macbook Pro running mac osSerria v10.12.3. Here's what's I do:

1. Down load the STS distro spring-tool-suite-3.8.3.RELEASE-e4.6.2-macosx-cocoa-x86_64.tar.gz from https://spring.io/tools/sts/all
2. Move the zip file to my Applications folder
3. Extract the distro. This creates the sts-bundle folder, and; under that, the STS programs exists.
4. I then just run STS. Since this is a first-time I do get the pop-up for selecting the default workspace. I change it to where I want the workspace and I also check the "Don't ask again".
5. Install some plug-ins, do work, everything is normal.
6. I can exit the app throughout the day and, when I go back in all is cool.

Now...the problem... 1. Shutdown the laptop for the day. This is to say I select Apple->Shut Down..
2. The next day I come in, boot-up the laptop. 3. Open Applications and select STS and run STS.

At this point, I get the "Select default workspace" popup again...all my preferences, and installed plug-ins are forgotten, and it's like I'm running the application again for the first time?? It is especially weird that any plug-ins I installed are also forgotten??

I have completely removed STS, and reinstalled several times and it is pretty consistent. Also, I have installed STS on several iMac desktops without issue. This smells like a permissions problem but not errors just...all customized preferences are simply gone.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

The answer to this is App Translocation, which is done by OSX. For details, take a look here, we analyzed this in detail:

STS.app on Mac 10.12.1 always creates a new org.springsource.sts folder in .eclipse