Fair enough, use what works for you. Nothing wrong with that at all.
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macOS Tahoe Transforms Launchpad Into App Library
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I always thought Launchpad was a terrible solution on MacOS. Generally I use spotlight search to launch everything anyway, but this makes a much neater view of apps when four-finger pinching...
I don't know. I think most people on here just started out with Snow Leopard.
Looks so much better, even today.
Not really sure… I've been using Launchpad since 2011 and I remember being pissed about not having a search bar, which they added in Mountain Lion. Why not add it immediately?
The tradition of Apple acting as a nanny - "We know better how you should use your device" - continues.
How does it? I can open an app in under a second with spotlight - it's by far the best way to open anything in macOS and iOS/iPadOS for that matter.
LaunchPad just made it look like iPads way of displaying apps which made no sense when we have full finder on macOS.
I mean technically you can open LaunchPad and start typing the app name but it's still not as fast as Spotlight plus you've got to create a new keyboard shortcut for it and Spotlight does just a lot more.
At no point am I typing in any app names... They are exactly where I want / need them. Literally gesture, click. Done
There’s an app for that!
But if this comment section is any indication, people seem to have not like Launchpad
Oh, you think you'd be "allowed" to customize your "personal computer"? You, a mere... user?
To make a fair comparison, you have to measure the time it takes to launch an app such that the timer starts and ends with you in your default position. My default position is one hand on the trackpad and the other hand somewhere, not on the keyboard, so moving both hands from my default position to launch an app using keyboard (command-space, type a few characters, press Enter) takes time, and returning my hands back to my default position also takes time.
Launching an app using the four-finger pinch gesture followed by a quick move of the pointer and a tap on the trackpad takes easily less than a second (maybe half a second) since I can do that from my default position without having to move my hands to the keyboard. And even with a 10x6 grid of apps, the Launchpad icons are still quite large, which helps hitting them quickly with the pointer (and also the fact that you learn to remember where each app is).
Chuckle. Design has drifted into 'style over substance". It is not easier cognitive insight driven like the 80's-90's. During the WWDC 2025 ... the new design is to bring "joy and delight to the experience" (i.e., 'emotional impact') ... not better/deeper cognitive insights. Clip 1 at 8:22
11:29 menu disappear when scroll. Do they come back when stop? Nope. Have to scroll other direction to get them back. ( similar to past move where scroll bars disappear and have to hover in the right place to get them back. )
12:00 the 'clear look' with almost not contrast for elements on screen. That increases readability. More vibrant colorful / 'lickable' screen , but does it really increase comprehension in general? ( a cognitive baseline ) Additictive tactics a slot machine ( gamificaiton) perhaps.
15:49 Camera ... removed controls from screen to make them "easier to find". Just two modes on the screen. To 'find' the others simiply swipe left/right through the list that is not even on the screen! Still there they, just hid it. It is simpiler up until need the additional modes. No left/right 'caret' to indicate there might be something else in the list .. no overt indicator at all. The other controls well just swipe up ( again no caret or invoke menu indicator on screen at all). After learn all the new tricks to invoke a menu then can find the features.
Depends upon what your primary objective is. A device that people are more emotionally attached to so they will hold and interact with it for even longer periods during the day. ( addictive .. ) Then fine. An easier to learn tool, then, not so much. A simpler tool where can skip the features very probably not going to use, then a bit of a coin toss. If never going to learn more about the tool then have achieved simplicity.
Inside of Spotlight. ( screen shot didn't capture cursor next to 'Apps' / 'Applications' . The faded font indication of a text field versus having some contrast surrounding the field to indicate that it is there. ]
59:44
Yes, you didn't. But I have been using Launchpad daily since 2011 and it was the reason why I upgraded to Lion on day 1.
Many other people use it as well.
It's a part of macOS. Why remove it? I don't for example use Home app or iPhone Mirroring or Stickies. Why not remove those? Just because I don't use Stickes doesnt mean it goes out for everyone.
I've been a "normal Mac user" since 2007. I've been using Launchpad from day one when it was introduced. Because it. makes. sense. It's Faster. It's intuitive.
But going by the comments, people aren't using gestures/hot corners like they should have been. Go figure.
Or rather, define "normal". In contrast, I'd go so far and say all the people putting their applications folder in the dock are just holding on to their "Windows Start Menu" ways. And probably only use the default programs. Some of use have MANY apps. I don't wanna have to scroll through them all the damn time.
Oh, we do know. And I indeed sometimes use it when I need that every-once-in-a-blue-moon app that's hidden away in a folder and I don't want to be bothered go looking for it. It's just not easier nor quicker for my daily workflow. Especially since spotlight became so cluttered. Just to give an example:
Whereas in launchpad, it's not only tidy, I know exactly where the icon is located. I don't have to think about the name. I don't have to type; just a quick four-finger swipe + click. From anywhere. For my brain, it's a combination of visual/spatial and muscle memory. For my brain, it's much faster.
You don't have to swipe through four pages of apps if you organize your launchpad in a way that works for your workflow. I have two pages. The first page has all the apps I regularly us, spatially "grouped" by type (I don't use folders, but for example have all the office programs - Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Pages, Numbers, Keynote - on one row, all the messaging/communication apps on one row, anything "coding" on one row, etc). The second page has the often used utilities out and about and everything else is just neatly put away in folders.
Exactly. It's quite amazing to observe how people's brains obviously work differently. Which is totally ok. But also to see how intolerant people are of other people just doing it differently from them and claiming their way is the only and right way.
Maybe read again, if anything, it's probably 50:50. People who don't like Launchpad are those who don't use it. Which is a pretty stupid rationale for demanding it to be killed. There's plenty of dishes I personally don't like. It would be like me demanding it never be served for anyone ever again, even if it may be their favorite food. Instead, you know, I can just continue to not eat it and let others enjoy it if they like. There's no harm to me by them doing that.
I hate it... why does everything have to be hidden behind a "see more" menu these days? And I don't care for dumb AI suggestions, why do they always have to be at the very top? It almost makes it feel like an ad. Hate how you probably can't disable them either.
I'd much rather there be a toggle to see an App grid or list.
I'd much rather there be a toggle to see an App grid or list.
I don’t understand how this is better. I have my apps in launchpad organized a very particular way that makes it very fast for me to see and open exactly the app I want. This takes away my organization and makes my only see the apps smaller or a smaller number of apps at a time.
macOS has over the last few years choked the user’s ability to customize the look. You can only change app icons on third party apps, whereas for a few releases they locked out Apple apps but you could boot into a startup mode and unlock it with a terminal command. That went away. I suspect liquid glass may remove the capability to change even 3rd party app icons.
you can do that with launchpad too, no need to type anything
just do the close three fingers gesture and click on the app you want, the replacement doesnt have an option for folders nor custom order, which is basically what the homescreen on iOS and ipadOS do
I use launchpad like a rube because spotlight is broken on my system and I'm too lazy to learn raycast or whatever. I like having a whole screen of apps and giant icons and I don't know if this is going to be an improvement
