Because as an application launcher it's entirely too slow and inefficient. Launchpad is a "feature" that didn't make workflows or the experience any easier or better. That is why people complain about Launchpad.
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Why do people complain about Launchpad??
- Thread starter madisonfaye
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Because as an application launcher it's entirely too slow and inefficient. Launchpad is a "feature" that didn't make workflows or the experience any easier or better. That is why people complain about Launchpad.
So when I want to launch an app i don't use often me swiping to launchpad and clicking the icon isn't simpler than going up to spotlight, typing in photo booth, then waiting?
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.
The Launchpad replaced the app folder on the dock .And why would apple not allow you to remove apps ? That makes no sense .
In SL it was a breeze to install or remove apps by click and drag.
what's the big deal? if someone doesn't like it, there are numerous other ways to get to their apps. if you DO like it (i do), it's easy enough.
swipe, click, in.
whatever works...
swipe, click, in.
whatever works...
You seem to be on a mission to prove the efficiency of Launchpad. So great, you love it and you can keep on using it.
Not sure if you want me to answer this second question since you are quick to discard all other responses, but yes, it is simpler (for me, and others) to use spotlight to launch apps.
You say:
"...going up to spotlight" - There is no going up. It's cmd spacebar.
"typing in photo booth" - Try just the first 2 maybe 3 letters.
"waiting" - Not sure about your system, but results are instantaneous.
Visualization is great and all, but it would take a great deal of memorization to remember the exact location of every app in Launchpad in order to find it and launch it as fast as a couple of keystrokes. And if you are launching an app in Launchpad so much that you remember it's precise location, it should probably be in your dock.
Again, you love Launchpad and find it useful so use it. But you asked why people complain about it and you got plenty of responses. Each user has different abilities and some prefer to speed of a keyboard shortcuts, while others prefer mouse clicks. To each his own.
Agreed, it makes no sense, but that's how limited Launchpad actually is.
You still can in the SL way, just not from Launchpad.
Because it places useless stuff like uninstallers and application system folders, rendering it completely useless to me. Why would I want to use something that is supposed to be streamlined and easy to use, when in reality it's cluttery and doesn't let me remove items that weren't bought from the app store.
Good enough reason?
Good enough reason?
Why are people complaining? Because not only does it suck but it signifies the dumbing down (a.k.a. iOSing) of Mac OS X. Some of us who think that real computers should operate one way and telephones should operate in another way are not comfortable with the blending of the two systems.
Clearly all you guys posting over and over again that you cannot remove apps from Launch Pad that were not purchased from the App Store didn't read my post. There is a small free utility that allows you to control exactly which apps show in Launch Pad and which ones do not WITHOUT actually uninstalling them. The hidden apps are still available via Spot Light or Finder as they are today, just hidden in Launch Pad. This, coupled with the ability to make folders IMHO makes the swipe to Launch Pad easier and more intuative when using the other new gestures for navigating over the SL method. The point behind Launch Pad and Mission Control is as much about changing the way you intereact with the OS than it is change for the sake of change from Apples POV IMHO.
Anyway, this little utility solves 90% of the complaints here. As for new apps loading into Launch Pad, well it is an app, apps go in the app folder and Launch Pad shows apps in the apps folder, seems 100% acceptable and logical to me. I wouldn't want apps installing where ever they want and Launch Pad searching my HDD for apps to show.
Now before anyone says "well why didn't Apple make this an option to begin with" ....we all know that almost all of us use these small utilities to improve the way we use the OS because of Apples decisions, this one is no different and very useful.
As for the rest that just don't like or get Launch Pad, fair enough, but that doesn't make it bad or good, just a preference, which is personal. For me, I find Launch Pad and Mission Control great. But that is my preference, it doesn't mean I think Spot Light, or Expose or Spaces sucked, just I like the Lion options better.
Finally, anyone trying to drag apps from Launch Pad to the trash, drag apps into Launch Pad or drag apps out of Launch Pad, you aren't getting nor understanding what Launch Pad is. It isn't a folder.
Anyway, this little utility solves 90% of the complaints here. As for new apps loading into Launch Pad, well it is an app, apps go in the app folder and Launch Pad shows apps in the apps folder, seems 100% acceptable and logical to me. I wouldn't want apps installing where ever they want and Launch Pad searching my HDD for apps to show.
Now before anyone says "well why didn't Apple make this an option to begin with" ....we all know that almost all of us use these small utilities to improve the way we use the OS because of Apples decisions, this one is no different and very useful.
As for the rest that just don't like or get Launch Pad, fair enough, but that doesn't make it bad or good, just a preference, which is personal. For me, I find Launch Pad and Mission Control great. But that is my preference, it doesn't mean I think Spot Light, or Expose or Spaces sucked, just I like the Lion options better.
Finally, anyone trying to drag apps from Launch Pad to the trash, drag apps into Launch Pad or drag apps out of Launch Pad, you aren't getting nor understanding what Launch Pad is. It isn't a folder.
The fact that this "small free utility" is a 3rd-party hack just underlines what is wrong with Launchpad for all but the most casual of users.
The fact that you can uninstall/remove apps downloaded from the App Store is of course a security precaution to keep people from messing up non-App-store apps or program suites. Yet this behavior is inconsistent and just not transparent to users (unless you frequent forums like macrumors). "I can uninstall this app that I installed but not this other one? Why?"
And the concept of presenting all installed apps (including uninstaller and subfolder cruft) and then having you group and sort them manually is fundamentally flawed.
It only works well in a closed & controlled environment (an iPhone) with only a limited number of self-contained apps, without apps creating folders and install their own little sub-tool applications, which then show up in Launchpad. In such an environment, Launchpad of course seems pretty consistent: system apps stay, everything else can be removed with a click...
Why would Apple create Launchpad in the form they did?
An answer seems quite obvious:
They might be tightening their grip on the Mac platform, working to transform it into another closed & controlled environment.
So why might I compelled to "complain" about Launchpad?
First, it seems flawed by design to me.
Of course, I don't have to use it if I don't like it.
But Launchpad seems (another) sign that installing apps without going through the App Store is now officially deprecated - that's my gripe with it.
I second this wholeheartedly.
It doesn't work well on an iPad once you've acquired a greater number of apps.
Some third-party developers have tried to "think different".
There are some interesting launchers available.
The closest I have seen this from the big companies recently is probably the HP Touchpad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI1uGuMEXHM
It's not quite there yet... but it's an interesting start.
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yup.
If you use it multiple times a day, or daily - icon in dock.
If you use it maybe once or twice a week, pop an alias in a folder and put that folder on the dock so you have quick access to secondary apps.
if you use it less often than that, just launch the apps folder or launchpad, both will be as slow as each other - actually the finder is probably quicker as things are in alphabetical order, whereas your launchpad is probably 'optimised' (and by optimised I mean everything you don't use regularly is dumped in a random order on screen 2)
thats about how I do things
frequently used in dock
i use iWork a couple of times a week, so have a folder in dock for iWork
anything else I mainly use spotlight, occasionally the app folder in dock if its something i rarely use and have forgotten the name of it
I think it's a good system. Not perfect, but it works well in just using a gesture and one tap to launch an app.
Folders can be quickly set up for less frequently used apps and even then they're accessed via gesture, one tap into the folder and one tap to launch. Simples.
Folders can be quickly set up for less frequently used apps and even then they're accessed via gesture, one tap into the folder and one tap to launch. Simples.
No.. that solves one of the complaints that a few people have. There are many others if you'd care to read through the posts (I did a one that outlines 10 or so serious usability problems with Launchpad). And the necessity of a third party hack to make something usable doesn't really make it look so hot, imo
Whether we want to use it or not, it's horribly put together, unintuitive and a nightmare to use. That on top of the fact that it's not really necessary makes it a giant pain in the ass and ought to make a lot of people bit worried about the people who are designing this OS..
I agree Launchpad is badly put together in a big way, especially as the *ease* of organizing apps is so bad it's almost funny.. but to be fair, I can move applications out of groups no problem.. a single one at a time anyway.
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Pretty much summed up. Problem is productivity/efficiency/usability. To launch an app that is not located in Dock you can simply run spotlight (cmd+spacebar) and type the first letters and that's it.
The only real usability for launchpad would be to browse applications. For that particular reason it is less efficient than finder or spotlight.
Do you also shun x-windowed apps? Should we still be doing everything thru terminal bash.....WTF, user friendly interfaces don't make it less a professional machine.....in my opinion the less the user has to think about operations the better they can use their machine! The only people that complain about UI changes that make things easier being for people that don't know how to use a computer.......most of the time, don't know how to use a computer! I have been an incredibly advanced user for sometime.. I bash script, I know my way around networks and advanced settings...I have strong armed many an application into running where it shouldn't...and I personally LOVE the new UI...it really streamlines everything! As a matter of fact I have a full screen terminal open at all times...it's great...I can jump to my terminal window and its like I logged in at a root level and can work without distraction. Everything about Lion is much better than Snow Leopard...and you too will come to realize that...than you will be on the front line complaining about how everything is crap in 10.8 and how they changed Mission Control and now it sucks and how some new feature is for N3W65!!
I was not using it at first, then I realized it takes less time, on my macbook pro, to launch an app which is not in my dock, by using launchpad. On my Mac Pro I don't use it because of the lack of gesture to bring it on, but on a laptop, 4 finger gesture and then a very small mouse movement takes less time than going to dock, clicking a folder, then moving mouse inside the folder for finding that app. The time difference may be couple hundred milliseconds, but everything counts.
Using spotlight for launching apps only is faster if you happen to remember the name of the app. Some apps I remember name, others by icon. Also don't forget that if your right hand is on the mouse, to start typing on spotlight you have to move your hand on the keyboard. Some people prefer to not leave the mouse just to launch an app. So you have to calculate the extra time for the hand movement back and forth as well.
For the record, my shell of choice is tcsh
And I didn't say a thing about whether the machine was "more professional" or not. I just mentioned that some more advanced users will probably not find Launchpad to be more efficient than what they already use - it is, ostensibly, a feature for people who are *more comfortable* (i.e. less techie-inclined users) with an iOS interface.
I absolutely agree with this - OS X is *light years* easier than Windows ever was. I go back to using DOS in the 80's and Win 3.1 in the early 90's. I got *used* to the way Windows works - but that doesn't mean it was the easiest way of doing things. In fact since switching to Macs only 3.5 years ago, I've had to do significantly less "hands on managing" of the OS, and that's why I'm not planning on switching back anytime soon.
This just doesn't make sense. These people who complain are *typically* more advanced users who find that a feature they came to enjoy or was a "go-to" feature (Spaces in SL, in my case), suddenly get seriously reduced in functionality -- that was their personal workflow.
Everyone uses computers in their own way - I'm not faulting newbies for learning to use a computer the way that's easiest for them (perhaps Launchpad in this case), because we *all* were newbies once.
And I don't fault them for *wanting* to use Launchpad - I just said it's not a workflow that *I'll* be using.
I personally love MANY of the new features of Lion - Resume? Been waiting for this one for a long time. Windows could use something like that as well.
Autosave? Should be standard in ALL OSes in 2011. Love Versions as well.
I also started doing exactly what you're doing with a full screen Terminal - it's wonderful to finally have a Space with nothing but a command line whenever I want to get my UNIX on
As I said in the original post, there's 3 things that bother me about Lion (and 3 out of tons of new features ain't bad):
Launchpad - I just find too inefficient based on the other tools available, but I don't blame new users for using it if it's more comfortable and easier for them.
Mission Control - Don't like that the Spaces are now in sequential order instead of a more efficient grid. Also don't like that Dock Exposé is now gone. I've learned to work with it, but I'd still rather have the old way, and if someone writes a "Spaces" app for it, I'll buy it.
Apple's heavy marketing of Gestures - Yes, I understand that most users are probably laptop users, and I agree gestures are great for that - but I still just find it somewhat ludicrous to want to use a magic trackpad on a 27" screen - talk about your finger getting tired having to move the mouse all over the place...
This is exactly why I *want* to try out using launchpad. It doesn't necessarily have to be superfluous. Unfortunately its features and setup made me incredibly frustrated when considering the time it would take to get pages of apps organized coherently and remove the crap I don't need. and really.. spotlight+two letters, enter can be incredibly fast if you're on the keyboard already..
my ire is due to the fact that it's half-baked, and far below what I'd expect from Apple