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6 reasons the loss of Launchpad sucks

fisherking said:
if the app was in the Utilities folder, you most likely put it there
Click to expand...
Except it wasn't and I didn't. The app is only considered a "utility" by Spotlight, because its developer set LSApplicationCategoryType to public.app-category.utilities (Even though it is listed under the Developer Tools category in the App Store). This isn't user-adjustable.

edit: for the record, this is what I was referring to:
browsing__cq3db4q06sae_large_2x.jpg
 
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I use Launchpad all the time and honestly I don't think it's all that great.. Organizing and making folders by dragging the icons is tedious. But it was by far the best way to have an organized overview of all the apps you don't remember the names of, but know the functionality/icon/location.

I'd have 0 issues adopting the new Apps app, if only they allowed us to MANUALLY make the filter categories at the top and allocate which apps go into which category... It's beyond me how they didn't implement this.
There's a bunch of apps that aren't categorized logically and probably won't ever be.
And there's also a bunch of "junk" that needs to be installed for certain things, but rarely need to be opened. Having to see and scroll passed these every time I need one of the apps I forgot the name of is such a regression of functionality. Being able to manually add apps to a filter category would probably already be enough for me to not care about losing Launchpad anymore.
 
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DDT said:
I'd have 0 issues adopting the new Apps app, if only they allowed us to MANUALLY make the filter categories
Click to expand...

Just in case: The Apps app itself doesn't do much. Inside of it are a few lines of code that open Spotlight and invoke the Applications search function. So your feature requests are basically addressed to Spotlight.
 
They could've improved Launchpad by:

1) having a mission control style view (by gesture or shortcut key) where you see all the pages in miniature and you can drag icons from page to page and re-arrange the pages

2) having a plain alphabetical listing that you can toggle on (again by gesture or shortcut key_) when that's what you want to see. Basically the new Apps app but fullscreen and keeping folder structure intact.

But they nuked it instead.
 
Bildschirmfoto 2025-10-07 um 20.09.08.png

sooo..here we are.
I´m a mouse user. I clicked category "creativity" and instantly knew it was wrong.
And now? Why is the menu hidden? Why is there no "x" at the end of the input field to delete my input?
I´m forced to use my hands to delete my false input with backbutton on my keyboard.

In old launchpad I never have to use my left hand. Never.
 
tomtattoo said:
View attachment 2564984
sooo..here we are.
I´m a mouse user. I clicked category "creativity" and instantly knew it was wrong.
And now? Why is the menu hidden? Why is there no "x" at the end of the input field to delete my input?
I´m forced to use my hands to delete my false input with backbutton on my keyboard.

In old launchpad I never have to use my left hand. Never.
Click to expand...
Hover over the icon in the upper-left corner. It'll change to a back arrow.
 
ok, at least this is kinda neat and works with the Apps view:

mastodon.social

Mario Guzmán (@marioguzman@mastodon.social)

Attached: 2 images If you ship an app for macOS, please do this! I hardly see this at all with Mac apps. In your info.plist, add `MDItemKeywords` and the value is a list of keywords for your app separated by commas. This will show up in your More Info window for your app under “Keywords”. Why...
mastodon.social mastodon.social

Still requires developers to pick sensible keywords though...
 
I've only been using Tahoe for a couple days, but I already hate this new Apps-launcher.

It seems to only show Apple's own apps and the only way to find 3rd party apps is to search for them?

Also, when I search "Telegram", nothing shows up, even though I have Telegram and it's in the Applications folder?
 
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WilsonNM said:
I've only been using Tahoe for a couple days, but I already hate this new Apps-launcher.

It seems to only show Apple's own apps and the only way to find 3rd party apps is to search for them?

Also, when I search "Telegram", nothing shows up, even though I have Telegram and it's in the Applications folder?
Click to expand...
something's up, as 3rd-party apps all show here. have you rebooted?
 
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None of this matters because I think majority of users were using it as their gateway to launching the apps (hence the name). And the truth is launching any app from spotlight is MUCH faster and is the way forward. Apple is not Microsoft so they don't leave things behind for no reason and then have 10 overlapping tools all meant to do the same thing. So this had to go. 👀

If you REALLY need or want it, no one is stopping you from using 3rd party launchpads.
 
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SmOgER said:
None of this matters because I think majority of users were using it as their gateway to launching the apps (hence the name). And the truth is launching any app from spotlight is MUCH faster and is the way forward. Apple is not Microsoft so they don't leave things behind for no reason and then have 10 overlapping tools all meant to do the same thing. So this had to go. 👀

If you REALLY need or want it, no one is stopping you from using 3rd party launchpads.
Click to expand...

True, and apple should also remove the following apps because there are so many 3rd party alternatives.
Calculator
Calendar
Chess
Clock
Contacts
Dictionary
Find My
Freeform
Home
Mail
Maps
Music
News
Notes
Passwords
Photo Booth
Photos
Podcasts
Preview
Reminders
Safari
Shortcuts
Stickies
Stocks
System Settings
TextEdit
TV
Voice Memos
Weather

Honestly, Spotlight is so damn good Apple should just unsign raycast because what's the point of letting it get in the way forward?

SmOgER said:
None of this matters because I think majority of users were using it as their gateway to launching the apps (hence the name) Apple is not Microsoft so they don't leave things behind for no reason and then have 10 overlapping tools all meant to do the same thing. So this had to go. 👀
Click to expand...

I am so deeply curious as to why you think Launchpad had to go if the majority of users were using it to launch apps...?
 
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SmOgER said:
And the truth is launching any app from spotlight is MUCH faster and is the way forward.
Click to expand...
When I read this, my head explodes - really. Much faster than active corner and one click?

I have to hold a plenary for launchpad:
In Oct 15 I switched from Windows to Mac with my first mini.
There were some moments where the brilliance of Apple shined through, but espacially when I discovered launchpad and active corner.
Actice corner: what a nice concept! Super fast and intuitive! Wow, that is something I bought a Mac for.
Launchpad: Owning an iPhone since 2012 I was ofc used to homescreens. And now I have this on my Mac.
Created my folders, ordered my apps and all this with big icons, good to see, good to reach. Perfect!

Until Apple invented app library (when I gave up sorting my apps into folders), I never used spotlight - not on my phone, not on my Mac. Why? Starting spotlight, typing letters, pressing enter? With my right hand always on my mouse? Never.

I will never understand to prefer predefined folders and an alphabetical list over folders and apps IN MY OWN ORDER! It is beyond my imagination.

A small hope I have: After deleting the swipe gesture on the watch, they brought it back...perhaps launchpad also will come back...perhaps.

For me, deleting launchpad is one of the worst moves Apple ever made.
 
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tomtattoo said:
When I read this, my head explodes - really. Much faster than active corner and one click?

I have to hold a plenary for launchpad:
In Oct 15 I switched from Windows to Mac with my first mini.
There were some moments where the brilliance of Apple shined through, but espacially when I discovered launchpad and active corner.
Actice corner: what a nice concept! Super fast and intuitive! Wow, that is something I bought a Mac for.
Launchpad: Owning an iPhone since 2012 I was ofc used to homescreens. And now I have this on my Mac.
Created my folders, ordered my apps and all this with big icons, good to see, good to reach. Perfect!

Until Apple invented app library (when I gave up sorting my apps into folders), I never used spotlight - not on my phone, not on my Mac. Why? Starting spotlight, typing letters, pressing enter? With my right hand always on my mouse? Never.

I will never understand to prefer predefined folders and an alphabetical list over folders and apps IN MY OWN ORDER! It is beyond my imagination.

A small hope I have: After deleting the swipe gesture on the watch, they brought it back...perhaps launchpad also will come back...perhaps.

For me, deleting launchpad is one of the worst moves Apple ever made.
Click to expand...
I've tried to make all apps window open from a hot corner and this lead to it constantly being opened by mistake. Either when I'm looking for my mouse pointer or when I'm working in that area of the screen. It doesn't really work, in my opinion. And yes, if your palms are next to the keyboard (always the case when using a MacBook with no external input devices), spotlight can be faster and easier. You do not have to move the mouse and try to hit the app you need or scroll anything. You just type the first letter or 2 of the app and hit enter. This is faster than visually scanning the list, scrolling if you need to, finding the icon, moving the mouse pointer there and clicking.
 
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