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Why do people complain about Launchpad??

madisonfaye

madisonfaye

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 7, 2011
103
0
Canada
It blows my mind to see the number of people complaining about Launchpad


How are people saying its not useful? With a four finger pinch I have all my apps laid out nicely. Sure I could bring up my finder and then applications folder but that takes so much longer. I could even add Applications folder to my dock which offers a similar experience but shows less apps and involves more motion.

How can people possibly complain about this?


EDIT: I am not speaking about people complaining about specific features of it (ie. not being able to remove certain programs off it), some of those people are just as bad with their complaints, however I'm speaking about those complaining about the actual existence of launchpad.

Basically, if you don't like it then don't use it, why complain about it being there?
 
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I bitch about it because there's NO reason why I shouldn't be able to remove icons. I don't want to see a bunch of uninstallers and **** in there.
 
imahawki said:
I bitch about it because there's NO reason why I shouldn't be able to remove icons. I don't want to see a bunch of uninstallers and **** in there.
Click to expand...

Either sort the third party apps in finder and put the un-installers elsewhere or just drag the icons you don't want to see in Launchpad on top of each other and make a 'Not Used' folder.
 
Tomorrow said:
Wow! With a gentle slide of the mouse toward myself, my dock pops up, with all my apps laid out nicely! And I don't have to pinch anything! ;)
Click to expand...


Haha I agree with this, but who wants to put all their apps on their dock?


Also I'm not totally referring to people complaining about Launchpad specific features (like not being able to remove things) so much as people complaining about the addition of Launchpad itself.
 
Wow, just pressing option+space and Alfred pops up. There i can launch all my apps by just typing 2 or 3 characters. I don't have to use mouse gestures or move my mouse at all :p
 
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There is a little app osx daily wrote about that let's you hide any icon from launch pad works great. And when you do need to use that app it is still there under finder. I find launch pad and the ability to organize and hide icons far better than the dock. When used with mission control, desktops, full screen apps and the nes gestures you almost never have to touch the dock and at least for me I work faster and smoother. But everyone is different and I did use two third party tools to improve my use such as the launch pad control and maximizer.
 
Because people are f&#$ed and will complain about anything and everything.. Especially mac users..

Give them choice, thats bad.
Don't give them choice, thats bad too.

It's the western world problem.. Little princess crying that she has same prom dress as someone else.. In a couple of years when they can't afford a calculator, let alone a new machine, they might, just might realise that if they don't like something and have a choice of not using it.. well.. they should stop whinging and not use it.
 
@OP, you might be confusing people complaining that it is "bad" with people saying they find it gimmicky and no more useful than other options that currently exist, especially for a "top-billed" new feature.

My personal preference will always be to use a launcher like quicksilver/alfred/etc as once you develop the hotkey muscle memory, there is no faster way to get to any app your heart desires.

Others who prefer to visually select their applications might find little benefit to launchpad over placing commonly used applications in the dock, and a grid-view stack that points to your applications folder for everything else.

At the end of the day though, if you prefer the aesthetic of launchpad to any of the other options, there's nothing wrong with that. And *most* of us who have other preferred methods realize that its not doing any harm and will just ignore it. It's just another option thats available, and for that I don't think anybody can really complain.

But as I said, I think most of the scoffing comes in reaction to apple's own heralding of it as a major new feature. I'd personally consider resizing windows from any corner, disappearing scrollbars (whether you love it or hate it), and the fact that lion offers a 1-click setup of google accounts for mail, ical and ichat, as more impactful updates to the OS.

To each their own, though!
 
I like it, means I can keep my dock minimal - the way I prefer it - rather than cluttered.

People complain about anything these days, doesn't make them wrong though - it's all just a personal preference.

:)
 
madisonfaye said:
It blows my mind to see the number of people complaining about Launchpad


How are people saying its not useful? With a four finger pinch I have all my apps laid out nicely. Sure I could bring up my finder and then applications folder but that takes so much longer. I could even add Applications folder to my dock which offers a similar experience but shows less apps and involves more motion.

How can people possibly complain about this?
Click to expand...
Just because you like the feature means people who don't like it shouldn't express an opinion? I am neutral on Launchpad because we can still use other ways to launch apps, but I do feel its a method that works better for touch screens.
 
KittyKatta said:
Touchscreen Mac = Zero Launchpad Complaints
Non-Touchscreen Mac = Many legitimate complaints

This idea that the world are whining over everything is silly. IF a feature makes sense then people accept it, but if a feature requires rewiring decades of muscle memory on how to scroll or launch apps then it's not a surprise people would voice an opinion.

To me, my issue isn't that Launchpad exists because I'm a fan of multiple ways to do tasks. My issue is this idea that we're NOT supposed to have discussions on a discussion board when we see something we don't agree with simply because "Apple knows best".
Click to expand...

I still do not why people hate it. You can add things to it or remove any thing you do not like by draging the app to the trash.




Also may be you should read more about OS X Lion and Mission Control .

http://www.tuaw.com/2011/07/20/mac-os-x-lion-and-mission-control/
 
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nec207 said:
Drag it to the trash.
And done.
...
You can add things to it or remove any thing you do not like by draging the app to the trash.
Click to expand...
I can only remove applications purchased from the Mac AppStore. That's my biggest problem with Launchpad...

I took the time to rearrange, sort, and hide unneeded icons into folders that I had to create, name, and arrange in a logical way. I'm trying to use and like Launchpad, I really am, but I too find the other ways of opening/managing apps to be "better."
 
The reason I don't like it (although this is the first time I've thought to b* about it here) is that it is rather lame; it shows a lack of imagination at Apple. Way too iPhone-y. I don't use it, but here we are like decades after the first Mac OS's and we still haven't got anything better than piles of icons. Someone needs to think different. Like rather than icons and program launches, you just start typing, drawing, talking, communicating, surfing etc and the computer figures out how to do it and "opens" the appropriate tool. James Kirk didn't have to mess with icons 40 years ago, why are we still doing it? :rolleyes:

Use Launchbar. Way more efficient and versatile.

Rob
 
mrgraff said:
I can only remove applications purchased from the Mac AppStore. That's my biggest problem with Launchpad...

I took the time to rearrange, sort, and hide unneeded icons into folders that I had to create, name, and arrange in a logical way. I'm trying to use and like Launchpad, I really am, but I too find the other ways of opening/managing apps to be "better."
Click to expand...

If you want to remove iTunes or iCal from the computer click and drag it to the trash like any app.
 
nec207 said:
If you want to remove iTunes or iCal from the computer click and drag it to the trash like any app.
Click to expand...

Not from Launchpad, you can't. Or are you advocating that I use some other method ;)

Actually, you can't simply delete iTunes or iCal (if I even wanted to) either since they're required by OS X. Deleting those apps requires Terminal and even then, it's not a task for the casual user.
 
madisonfaye said:
It blows my mind to see the number of people complaining about Launchpad


How are people saying its not useful? With a four finger pinch I have all my apps laid out nicely. Sure I could bring up my finder and then applications folder but that takes so much longer. I could even add Applications folder to my dock which offers a similar experience but shows less apps and involves more motion.

How can people possibly complain about this?


EDIT: I am not speaking about people complaining about specific features of it (ie. not being able to remove certain programs off it), some of those people are just as bad with their complaints, however I'm speaking about those complaining about the actual existence of launchpad.

Basically, if you don't like it then don't use it, why complain about it being there?
Click to expand...

I use it all the time on my Macbook air...its awesome
 
The idea of launchpad is pretty cool, I have to admit.. that's why I've been trying to use it (even though using spotlight is ultimately going to be better and faster probably).

I just wanted to test out one of the new features after upgrading to Lion just now.. but of course this is a pretty old install, so I have lots of applications already installed. 6 pages worth. So, I'll spend some time rearranging them. The problems with Launchpad quickly become very clear.

Can I reflow all the apps to just fill the first pages once I've grouped half the applications into groups? nope. I have to drag things around interminably. It's completely unintuitive.

Can I combine two groups together? nope.. that would make it a bit better since then I could do things page by page and then combine.

Can I select more than one app at a time to make arranging my apps not horrifyingly slow? nosir!

Furthermore it's reaally bad at naming groups of apps (I've got untitled for about 80% of the groups I created). And when you want to rename it, you have to go INTO the group to do it. My UI instincts say I should click the name of the group and be able to rename it (that's how things normally work) but if I do that, it closes launchpad, because it thinks I'm clicking on the desktop.

Is the hold an icon to make the icons jiggle useful? nope. it looks stupid.. and doesn't actually offer any functionality.. other than, as far as I can see, the ability to remove apps that have already been uninstalled (that's the only apps that have Xs on mine anyway).

Dragging the icons around is extremely tedious on a big screen with a mouse or trackpad. Especially when you are trying to put an app into a group that is at the end of a row and it keeps reflowing the app list so the group you want is now at the beginning of the next row, then you go toward that and it pops back to where it was before... and you get caught in a game of cat and mouse..

As people have mentioned, the multiplicity of uninstaller apps is a problem. with no simple way to get rid of them (and dragging them all across multiple pages into a wasteful 'not used' folder is *not* simple :p). it's ugly and frustrating.

I wanted to get all my most used apps on the first page, maybe in groups, maybe not.. see what it was like.. and then fiddle from there and see if it could be enjoyable.. but accomplishing anything organizational is such a horrible experience I'm just going to give up.

Oh and yes Launchpad is for people with new systems who've bought all their apps through the appstore.. but to make it so horrible to use for other situations, well.. certainly makes me feel like complaining!

If there are ways around the shortcomings that are currently irking me I'd be happy to try them out, so please fill me in.
 
madisonfaye said:
It blows my mind to see the number of people complaining about Launchpad

How are people saying its not useful? With a four finger pinch I have all my apps laid out nicely. Sure I could bring up my finder and then applications folder but that takes so much longer. I could even add Applications folder to my dock which offers a similar experience but shows less apps and involves more motion.
Click to expand...

Launchpad was created for people who are more comfortable with an iPad or iPhone than an actual computer.

For novices or people very used to iOS devices, it may be a wonderful feature. For those of us who are a bit more performance driven (for me, Spaces is king, for others, Exposé), it's a LOT faster to use a shortcut launcher or just keep your most used icons in the Dock.

I personally find it pretty pointless - but that's just for my own workflow. I'll never use it.

One thing I *don't* like about Launchpad is when you download an app from the Mac App Store, as soon as the download starts, it shoots you into Launchpad without asking. WTF? Thanks Apple, but I don't want to see it - THIS is why I'd like to just disable the whole thing and be done with it.
 
madisonfaye said:
Haha I agree with this, but who wants to put all their apps on their dock?
Click to expand...

Strictly speaking, I don't have ALL of my apps in the dock - but I need to use an app that isn't in my dock maybe twice a month. Spotlight is an easy enough shortcut for me to find the app I want those two or so times a month.

I also have my applications folder in my dock, if I want to see ALL my apps at a glance I can simply click that - but that's even more rare for me.
 
My trouble with Launchpad is that it's broken! Here are a few major problems that prevent me from using it:

• Can't remove many applications. There is no "x" when I enter Jiggle Mode
• Can't move applications out of groups. Once they're in a group, they're stuck.
• New applications are automatically places on screen 2, even though there's plenty of room still remaining on screen 1.
• Can't create groups with only one application, even though I know future apps will accompany it
• Can't rename a group by clicking its name, I must first open the group and edit the name. Goes against the OS "instinct"


These aren't features I don't like, they are serious bugs that prevent me from using the bloody thing. Fix
 
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