26.0 launchpad

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

I seriously don't understand what Applications folder in the dock set to grid mode doesn't satisfy here. I guess if you want the folders in a certain order you'll have to name them alphabetically. That's the only downside I can think of. Otherwise, you can do everything you just named.

It likely comes down to workflows.

For perspective, I have a lot of audio workstation software and because of its nature they’re never organised well into the application folder; Launchpad has been ideal for organising them on the other hand. I like being able to group them by developer and purpose, and importantly to know visually where they’re placed. Where some apps have distinctive icons, I use that as the reference.

But if I was someone who didn’t have a more complex workflow, I don’t think the loss of Launchpad would be noteworthy.

 

[Macbookey]

It likely comes down to workflows.

For perspective, I have a lot of audio workstation software and because of its nature they’re never organised well into the application folder; Launchpad has been ideal for organising them on the other hand. I like being able to group them by developer and purpose, and importantly to know visually where they’re placed. Where some apps have distinctive icons, I use that as the reference.

But if I was someone who didn’t have a more complex workflow, I don’t think the loss of Launchpad would be noteworthy.

Same. Lots of plugins and other utilities for Logic and I/O. Simple muscle memory and placement. Finger pinch and tap and done. It’s not a matter of change, it's a matter of whether what is new actually improves the end user experience. For some it will make no difference, and others it adds cognitive overhead. I remember when Launchpad was added it was maligned for the iOSification of macOS. Spotlight hasn’t been great at surfacing the most used stuff consistently in a reliable way. Hopefully, that has improved in Tahoe. Folders on the Dock is a workaround, but it adds visual clutter and is slower than a dedicated first page of most used secondary apps in a gesture driven Launchpad. Let’s see how this pans out and what 3rd party devs might do to fill the void. App Library in iOS is useless, and seeing Spotlight surface things in that way is disappointing. An Android style app drawer with the ability to pin to top would fix this on both platforms.

Whatever happens or evolves, we will adapt get by, but we don't all have to like it, so sending feedback hopefully won’t fall on the usual deaf ears. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[fisherking]

i dunno, i live on logic pro; what do plugins in logic have to do with launchpad?

anyway... we adapt, until apple changes it all up again, and everyone starts to complain again

 

[Macbookey]

i dunno, i live on logic pro; what do plugins in logic have to do with launchpad?

anyway... we adapt, until apple changes it all up again, and everyone starts to complain again

Many of the ones I use also work as standalone apps. I should have been clear about that. Obviously with templates in Logic it has no bearing as loading from there doesn’t require launchpad, but there are many I use a lot as standalone or for preset and IR development, and it is single example but poignant for me personally, as that is when the grid in Launchpad that I have setup will be missed. As you said, we adapt and then they will change things up. Folders in the dock it shall be. Hopefully Spotlight will improve on the Applications section to surface or pin things.

 

[auxbuss]

I believe that's up to the dev of the app (including apple) and just a matter of using the MenuBarExtra API?

Yeah, but you still have Finder and Trash, so you can't get rid of it entirely, atm, even if they did that.

 

[auxbuss]

Same. Lots of plugins and other utilities for Logic and I/O. Simple muscle memory and placement. Finger pinch and tap and done. It’s not a matter of change, it's a matter of whether what is new actually improves the end user experience. For some it will make no difference, and others it adds cognitive overhead. I remember when Launchpad was added it was maligned for the iOSification of macOS. Spotlight hasn’t been great at surfacing the most used stuff consistently in a reliable way. Hopefully, that has improved in Tahoe. Folders on the Dock is a workaround, but it adds visual clutter and is slower than a dedicated first page of most used secondary apps in a gesture driven Launchpad. Let’s see how this pans out and what 3rd party devs might do to fill the void. App Library in iOS is useless, and seeing Spotlight surface things in that way is disappointing. An Android style app drawer with the ability to pin to top would fix this on both platforms.

Whatever happens or evolves, we will adapt get by, but we don't all have to like it, so sending feedback hopefully won’t fall on the usual deaf ears. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I've never used Launchpad, but this helps me understand the problem.

One thing I would add is that Apple haven't developed Spotlight in a way that replaces your need.

I gave up on Spotlight and instead use LaunchBar. With LaunchBar you can't simulate Launchpad, but you can navigate to your folders immediately to make a selection. For example, say you have a folder named VST or Synths or whatever. Typing that name – and you can add aliases – will select that folder, then you can hit return to navigate the list of apps in that folder, or start typing the name (or part of it), then press return to launch the app. LaunchBar remembers your actions much better than Spotlight, so your regular selections make their way to the top of the list very quickly – and stay that way unless you train it differently.

I don't know how you organise your apps, of course, but I can imagine having folders named, say, reverbs, compressors, synths, etc. and LaunchBar would take you there reliably and quickly.

Of course, LaunchBar can do a lot more, but my prime use case for moving to it was for my common selections to remain at the top of my query results, something that Spotlight simply doesn't do reliably.

 

[Macbookey]

I've never used Launchpad, but this helps me understand the problem.

One thing I would add is that Apple haven't developed Spotlight in a way that replaces your need.

I gave up on Spotlight and instead use LaunchBar. With LaunchBar you can't simulate Launchpad, but you can navigate to your folders immediately to make a selection. For example, say you have a folder named VST or Synths or whatever. Typing that name – and you can add aliases – will select that folder, then you can hit return to navigate the list of apps in that folder, or start typing the name (or part of it), then press return to launch the app. LaunchBar remembers your actions much better than Spotlight, so your regular selections make their way to the top of the list very quickly – and stay that way unless you train it differently.

I don't know how you organise your apps, of course, but I can imagine having folders named, say, reverbs, compressors, synths, etc. and LaunchBar would take you there reliably and quickly.

Of course, LaunchBar can do a lot more, but my prime use case for moving to it was for my common selections to remain at the top of my query results, something that Spotlight simply doesn't do reliably.

Thanks for the tip. I know of Launchbar, but it’s going to be time to try it. Same experience with Spotlight as a launcher. It isn’t reliable enough in my experience over the years to depend on fully. Hope to see it improve. Alfred much better, but the trackpad gesture and muscle memory in Launchpad is something I’ll have to replace as will others that loved having it.

 

[Killerbob]

PSA - the workaround enabling LaunchPad still works in Beta 2.

If you are looking for a good alternative, look at QAL Pro... It's only $3-4, and it does most things LaunchPad does, and some things even better.

 

[fisherking]

Thanks for the tip. I know of Launchbar, but it’s going to be time to try it. Same experience with Spotlight as a launcher. It isn’t reliable enough in my experience over the years to depend on fully. Hope to see it improve. Alfred much better, but the trackpad gesture and muscle memory in Launchpad is something I’ll have to replace as will others that loved having it.

you can get to your apps with the same gesture that opened launchpad, and/or command-spacebar. i find myself using the trackpad gesture most of the time...

 

[Macbookey]

you can get to your apps with the same gesture that opened launchpad, and/or command-spacebar. i find myself using the trackpad gesture most of the time...

Good to know. Thanks. I will likely use quick keys a ton as well, as I love that aspect of Spotlight in Tahoe.

 

[anthony131]

So, not having Launchpad is going to, at least, hold me back from installing the new OS when it's released. If there's not an equally efficient solution to organizing and launching apps at the flick of a finger, I may not upgrade at all.
In this short video, you can see I have launchpad set as a shortcut in the bottom left corner. Like I do on my iPad, I have folders for categories of apps - Music, Photos, Browsers, Utilities, etc. This is the fastest way for me to open apps - in some cases, faster than accessing the app already in the dock.
I've yet to see a really good example of all the ways Tahoe offers to open applications. Could someone direct me to some screenshots or videos that show this? Spotlight access is too slow in my opinion - I use this sometimes to find files but it rarely works. Or, could someone share a third party app that does the same thing as Launchpad so I can accomplish the navigation shown in this video?
I'm not sure why Apple has adopted the Microsoft method of making things increasingly less user friendly but I'm hoping that disabling auto-update on all my devices buys me some time until they figure out how to get back to being the user experience company.

 

[nathansz]

So, not having Launchpad is going to, at least, hold me back from installing the new OS when it's released. If there's not an equally efficient solution to organizing and launching apps at the flick of a finger, I may not upgrade at all.
In this short video, you can see I have launchpad set as a shortcut in the bottom left corner. Like I do on my iPad, I have folders for categories of apps - Music, Photos, Browsers, Utilities, etc. This is the fastest way for me to open apps - in some cases, faster than accessing the app already in the dock.
I've yet to see a really good example of all the ways Tahoe offers to open applications. Could someone direct me to some screenshots or videos that show this? Spotlight access is too slow in my opinion - I use this sometimes to find files but it rarely works. Or, could someone share a third party app that does the same thing as Launchpad so I can accomplish the navigation shown in this video?
I'm not sure why Apple has adopted the Microsoft method of making things increasingly less user friendly but I'm hoping that disabling auto-update on all my devices buys me some time until they figure out how to get back to being the user experience company.


View attachment 2522827

I just don't see how that's faster then opening an app in 3 to 6 keystrokes with Alfred or spotlight

looks super tedious

it guess it depends on if you are a keyboard person or not

 

[fisherking]

So, not having Launchpad is going to, at least, hold me back from installing the new OS when it's released. If there's not an equally efficient solution to organizing and launching apps at the flick of a finger, I may not upgrade at all.
In this short video, you can see I have launchpad set as a shortcut in the bottom left corner. Like I do on my iPad, I have folders for categories of apps - Music, Photos, Browsers, Utilities, etc. This is the fastest way for me to open apps - in some cases, faster than accessing the app already in the dock.
I've yet to see a really good example of all the ways Tahoe offers to open applications. Could someone direct me to some screenshots or videos that show this? Spotlight access is too slow in my opinion - I use this sometimes to find files but it rarely works. Or, could someone share a third party app that does the same thing as Launchpad so I can accomplish the navigation shown in this video?
I'm not sure why Apple has adopted the Microsoft method of making things increasingly less user friendly but I'm hoping that disabling auto-update on all my devices buys me some time until they figure out how to get back to being the user experience company.


View attachment 2522827

works perfectly. with either the trackpad gesture, or command-spacebar, i get to my apps. and it's fast as well... (& again, there are other ways of organizing apps; the dock, a folder in the dock...)

 

[dmccloud]

So, not having Launchpad is going to, at least, hold me back from installing the new OS when it's released. If there's not an equally efficient solution to organizing and launching apps at the flick of a finger, I may not upgrade at all.
In this short video, you can see I have launchpad set as a shortcut in the bottom left corner. Like I do on my iPad, I have folders for categories of apps - Music, Photos, Browsers, Utilities, etc. This is the fastest way for me to open apps - in some cases, faster than accessing the app already in the dock.
I've yet to see a really good example of all the ways Tahoe offers to open applications. Could someone direct me to some screenshots or videos that show this? Spotlight access is too slow in my opinion - I use this sometimes to find files but it rarely works. Or, could someone share a third party app that does the same thing as Launchpad so I can accomplish the navigation shown in this video?
I'm not sure why Apple has adopted the Microsoft method of making things increasingly less user friendly but I'm hoping that disabling auto-update on all my devices buys me some time until they figure out how to get back to being the user experience company.


View attachment 2522827

I'm not sure how the changes translate to being less user-friendly. If anything, the new Spotlight addresses many of the deficiencies of Spotlight to date. But here are some videos and articles going into more detail on the Spotlight improvements...

Everything You Can Do With Spotlight (Lifehacker)

Get a First Look at Mac OS Tahoe (MacRumors)

Everything You Can do with Spotlight in Mac OS Tahoe (MSN)

Hands-On With Mac OS Tahoe 26 (The Verge)

 

[dsemf]

I just don't see how that's faster then opening an app in 3 to 6 keystrokes with Alfred or spotlight

looks super tedious

it guess it depends on if you are a keyboard person or not



View attachment 2522902

I suspect a major factor depends on the hardware. A desktop with a mouse/touch pad vs. a laptop with the integrated touch pad makes a big difference. I use a MBA on my lap. To use the keyboard I have to move my hands up. What is curious, is that I use cmd-space to launch Activity Monitor or Disk Utility. And cmd-tab to switch between apps, most of which are running full screen, although I do have 4 desktops which are accessed using 3 finger swipe.

ds

 

[nathansz]

I suspect a major factor depends on the hardware. A desktop with a mouse/touch pad vs. a laptop with the integrated touch pad makes a big difference. I use a MBA on my lap. To use the keyboard I have to move my hands up. What is curious, is that I use cmd-space to launch Activity Monitor or Disk Utility. And cmd-tab to switch between apps, most of which are running full screen, although I do have 4 desktops which are accessed using 3 finger swipe.

ds

in this case I was using MacBook Pro on desk

I switch desktops with ctrl-arrow

my hands usually always on the keyboard, I also use a mouse and number pad, (or a mouse and mx master keys when I'm at home in clamshell. I've never really jived with the touchpad

 

[Killerbob]

I just don't see how that's faster then opening an app in 3 to 6 keystrokes with Alfred or spotlight

looks super tedious

it guess it depends on if you are a keyboard person or not

No, no, no. As has been said multiple times, if you know what app you need to open, you are right - it is equally fast to just open Spotlight and start typing its name.

HOWEVER, I have over 250 applications installed on my Mac, and often I do not remember the specific tool I know I need to use - just its functionality (I am a photographer). Please have mercy on old folks like me, who simply cannot remember every app's name. I have my apps sorted into functional folders and have these properly labelled. I never have more than 35 apps in one folder because it then becomes two pages.

It's to the point that I use LaunchPad Manager to sort LaunchPad out to my exact liking, and I have the layout saved as a config file that I can migrate from Mac to Mac.

 

[nathansz]

No, no, no. As has been said multiple times, if you know what app you need to open, you are right - it is equally fast to just open Spotlight and start typing its name.

HOWEVER, I have over 250 applications installed on my Mac, and often I do not remember the specific tool I know I need to use - just its functionality (I am a photographer). Please have mercy on old folks like me, who simply cannot remember every app's name. I have my apps sorted into functional folders and have these properly labelled. I never have more than 35 apps in one folder because it then becomes two pages.

It's to the point that I use LaunchPad Manager to sort LaunchPad out to my exact liking, and I have the layout saved as a config file that I can migrate from Mac to Mac.

That’s a lot of apps!

You could accomplish something similar I guess by putting your apps into separate titled folders within the applications folder. You could then pin the application folder to the dock and set it to display as grid

You could also navigate those folders from the Alfred input (or maybe spotlight?)

 

[anthony131]

works perfectly. with either the trackpad gesture, or command-spacebar, i get to my apps. and it's fast as well... (& again, there are other ways of organizing apps; the dock, a folder in the dock...)

I’m not following. Are you saying it’s just as easy to do the new thing that no longer does the thing I want to keep doing and I have to do something else that’s less easy and intuitive?

 

[anthony131]

I just don't see how that's faster then opening an app in 3 to 6 keystrokes with Alfred or spotlight

looks super tedious

it guess it depends on if you are a keyboard person or not



View attachment 2522902

Yeah. I realize we’re talking about fractions of a second but a decade+ of muscle memory is hard to break. You’re using multiple fingers and several keystrokes on a keyboard where I use one finger and a trackpad. On top of that, there is no reason to get rid of Launchpad.
Should we assume they’ll soon be getting rid of the grid of app icons across all their other devices?

 

[anthony131]

I'm not sure how the changes translate to being less user-friendly. If anything, the new Spotlight addresses many of the deficiencies of Spotlight to date. But here are some videos and articles going into more detail on the Spotlight improvements...

Everything You Can Do With Spotlight (Lifehacker)

Get a First Look at Mac OS Tahoe (MacRumors)

Everything You Can do with Spotlight in Mac OS Tahoe (MSN)

Hands-On With Mac OS Tahoe 26 (The Verge)

Launching apps from spotlight takes significantly more effort than moving a finger on a trackpad and clicking it. I’m not sure how you get more user-friendly than using your eyes and one finger to trigger events. FWIW, I used to be a die hard Alfred user, until Launchpad came along.

Thank you for the links (two of them are the same article). Aside from actually doing the one thing it’s always supposed to have done, none of the new spotlight features interest me.

Hopefully some there party restores Launchpad. Then (maybe) I’ll update to the new OS. Really not much that’s compelling to me.

 

[anthony131]

I suspect a major factor depends on the hardware. A desktop with a mouse/touch pad vs. a laptop with the integrated touch pad makes a big difference. I use a MBA on my lap. To use the keyboard I have to move my hands up. What is curious, is that I use cmd-space to launch Activity Monitor or Disk Utility. And cmd-tab to switch between apps, most of which are running full screen, although I do have 4 desktops which are accessed using 3 finger swipe.

ds

I don’t think so. At least not the way I have it set up. Putting a short cut to Launchpad in the bottom corner means that, regardless of what hardware I’m using, it’s effortless to bring up Launchpad from a trackpad or mouse and I don’t have to touch the keyboard to open an app.
Because the UI is multi windowed (not command line), I’m always moving things around on the screen. My natural position for laptop or desktop is left hand on keyboard (thumb on cmd, middle on tab) and right hand on trackpad.
If there is no longer a way to launch apps from a grid of icons (that ii’ve organized myself, thank you) and I have to instead type or scroll or otherwise move my fingers more than the two strokes needed to open apps now, I may have to reteach myself the most basic positions and actions needed to use a computer.
Because Apple chose, for no reason, to remove something as they are often making a habit of doing now.

 

[fisherking]

i do the same gesture i did with launchpad and get spotlight; start to type an app name, hit return, and am working. simple.

 

[nathansz]

Launching apps from spotlight takes significantly more effort than moving a finger on a trackpad and clicking it. I’m not sure how you get more user-friendly than using your eyes and one finger to trigger events.

For me it’s much easier to just type the keys

My hands are usually already on the keyboard and I don’t even need to

 

[Killerbob]

You could accomplish something similar I guess by putting your apps into separate titled folders within the applications folder. You could then pin the application folder to the dock and set it to display as grid.

Then I’m running out of dock space. A dock that already is full of my most used apps.

My whole point is… We all have different ways of working and socialized workflows, and it is wrong of Apple take something away that works, and replace it with something incredibly inferior.

For now LaunchPad as we know it still exists and works, and if Apple removes access, I will need to use yet another 3rd party solution like QAL Pro to make up for Apple’s bullying attitude.