Open app in background from Terminal

terminal

I'm trying to open an app in the background from the Terminal by using the -g or --background flags like so

open -g -a Franz

Unfortunately, the app isn't opening in the background. I've also tried the j flag, which is supposed to hide the app, according to the help:

Usage: open [-e] [-t] [-f] [-W] [-R] [-n] [-g] [-h] [-b <bundle identifier>] [-a <application>] [filenames] [--args arguments]
Help: Open opens files from a shell.
      By default, opens each file using the default application for that file.  
      If the file is in the form of a URL, the file will be opened as a URL.
Options: 
      -a                Opens with the specified application.
      -b                Opens with the specified application bundle identifier.
      -e                Opens with TextEdit.
      -t                Opens with default text editor.
      -f                Reads input from standard input and opens with TextEdit.
      -F  --fresh       Launches the app fresh, that is, without restoring windows. Saved persistent state is lost, excluding Untitled documents.
      -R, --reveal      Selects in the Finder instead of opening.
      -W, --wait-apps   Blocks until the used applications are closed (even if they were already running).
          --args        All remaining arguments are passed in argv to the application's main() function instead of opened.
      -n, --new         Open a new instance of the application even if one is already running.
      -j, --hide        Launches the app hidden.
      -g, --background  Does not bring the application to the foreground.
      -h, --header      Searches header file locations for headers matching the given filenames, and opens them.

The app opens in the foreground as if the I had simply called

open -a Franz

Any idea why this doesn't work and an alternative?

Best Answer

If you call the command open with --hide it works (at least in Sierra MacOs). For instance

open -a /Applications/Skype.app --hide 

Also, the j flag helps some

open -gj -a /Applications/Skype.app