So how can I disable the dock? Even if I minimize it and put it on the left, it still shows up when I enable launchpad.
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With Launchpad I definitely don't need the dock
- Thread starter Oldandintheway
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Unfortunately auto-hiding the dock doesn't work while on Launchpad either. Hopefully Apple will enable this in a future Lion update. For me, the only time I would want the dock to auto hide is while in Launchpad
I added them by dropping items in finder into the launchpad icon.
And for the OP if you wanna disable the dock so it won't show at all - try an app called 'Dock Gone' It will do just that! I use a third party dock called Drag Thing so I don't use my built in dock at all anymore so I permanently hid it. I f I want it back, it's easy too... you just go into system settings and the app has a pane where you can re-enable the dock again.
I would also add that with Spotlight (or Quicksilver or Alfred) I don't need launchpad.
I have several hundred apps. They appear in launchpad in what appears to be no particular order. To organize them, I am faced with manually dragging them around as if I was on an iOS device. No click to alphabetize, no categories. I wouldn't mind if I could move them around in the applications folder and have them rearrange in launchpad. I just don't like staring at close to a dozen screens of icons just to launch an app. Maybe I've got early onset Alzheimer's but I just don't remember what page ever app is on and I waste a lot of time swing back and forth on my iPhone and iPad or I wind up launching apps by searching for them. I don't like connecting the umbilical (usb) and dragging them around in iTunes any better than I like dragging them around in iOS directly. I wish Apple would offer other approaches to organizing and sorting apps in launchpad and in iOS as well.
For instance, when launchpad is shown, there could be hot corners for "recent apps", "alphabetical", "default sort", etc. I've already downloaded a preference pane to hide launchpad icons I don't want to see. This should have been part of OS X. If the thought behind iOS and OS X Lion is speed and efficiency, we need a better approach than swiping right and left through page after page of icons and we need a better approach to sorting than press and hold till the start "wiggling" and then drag them around one by one.
Imagine spilling 200 mosaic tiles on the floor. You reach for a broom and dustpan but Steve tells you "No you must pick them up one by one". This is the kind of thing somebody does when they assume I want to stare at launchpad all day like it was a piece of art. I have no desire to spend hours dragging icons around no matter how pretty they are.
I tried running with the dock hidden. It was fun to launch apps via Launchpad, but it just didn't feel right.
Also the dock gives me valuable feedback about what Apps are launched. It stinks to go back to Launchpad every time I way to with to an app in the event I got got whether or not it's been launched.
Also the dock gives me valuable feedback about what Apps are launched. It stinks to go back to Launchpad every time I way to with to an app in the event I got got whether or not it's been launched.
If you think about it, you'll only have to organize them once. Yes, it may take a bit of time, as it did me when I accomplished the same task, but once you're done it's a million times better. I can organize them into logical groups, instead of alphabetically. For example, I have one folder called "Audio and Video work" in which I store the app icons for things such as Toast, Ripit, Handbrake, etc.. That way, I only have to think about the functionality of the app itself. If you have installed Adobe's Creative Suite, you'll also get a lot of Uninstaller apps, which I put in their own folder and on page 2. I only have one page of apps, as they are all in a folder. It's a much cleaner way of organizing them, vice having them spread across 8 or 9 screens.
One other thing to remember is that Launchpad only shows apps in /Applications. I am in the iOS developer program and wanted to have a folder for the beta versions of Xcode, Dashcode, etc... but as they were not installed in /Applications, they didn't show up in Launchpad (even though the non-beta versions of those apps, installed in /Developer show up). The easiest way to solve that is to create an alias and drop the alias in /Applications. Then you can arrange them like the other icons.
Take a minute or so and consider creating folders. In my case, it is definitely worth it, but your mile may vary. Like I pointed out, you should only have to do this once, so there's only one time investment.
Damn autocorrect! Here's what I meant.
It stinks to go back to Launchpad every time I want to switch back to an app in the event I forgot whether or not it's been launched.
Thanks basher - I wasn't sure if it was autocorrect or not 
Thanks for the clarification. If you want to know if an app has been launched, you could invoke Mission Control. The app icon is displayed large enough to see which apps are open. Of course, if all your app's windows are minimized, that wouldn't work. If you have the Dock set to hidden, you could move your cursor to the bottom of the screen and see the notification lights, assuming you have them on, that is.
Thanks for the clarification. If you want to know if an app has been launched, you could invoke Mission Control. The app icon is displayed large enough to see which apps are open. Of course, if all your app's windows are minimized, that wouldn't work. If you have the Dock set to hidden, you could move your cursor to the bottom of the screen and see the notification lights, assuming you have them on, that is.Worth a try.
This is good advice. I think I will try it. I tried arranging by pages (serious apps, utilities, games, unused apps) but it is cumbersome. I still think if Apple makes to make Launchpad like iOS then we should have an page organization tool like we have when we link a device into iTunes.
This is good advice. I think I will try it. I tried arranging by pages (serious apps, utilities, games, unused apps) but it is cumbersome. I still think if Apple makes to make Launchpad like iOS then we should have an page organization tool like we have when we link a device into iTunes.
But equally, with the Dock I don't need Spotlight, Launchpad or even Finder (within reason, once Stacks are created).
I don't like that the metaphors are multiplying for working with files / launching apps, but it does seem they are serving more taste sets!
I don't like that the metaphors are multiplying for working with files / launching apps, but it does seem they are serving more taste sets!
command tab... the app switcher still works.
i've use dockgone for years... i've NEVER liked the dock (but hey, started on a 12" powerbook, now a 13" macbook, and screen real estate is important).
in lion, dockgone is a little quirky, but it works. i've set command-option-control-D to turn it on (or off) if i need it...which is rare (to check the trash contents for instance).
launchpad RULES on a macbook...
It is also what Mission Control is for. To see what is open, switch to an open app or then use Expose to see the screens open for that app.