You can group icons into folders, just like on iOS. For the approximately 150 apps on my Launchpad, they all fit on one screen. My most commonly-used apps on the main screen, and the rest organized into folders:
You can also configure the number of rows and columns for it. As you can see, my system has 10 columns, vs the 7 columns (and 5 rows) in the default layout. To make this change, in the Terminal, type:
defaults write com.apple.dock springboard-columns -int 10
killall Dock
Killing the Dock process causes it to restart, loading the new configuration.
I use LaunchBar, or if Iâm on a computer that doesnât have it, Iâll end up using Spotlight since the key combo that brings up LaunchBar on my computer is the default for invoking Spotlight.
Applications folder for me and I keep an alias to it in the dock (grid view). Obviously the apps I use daily live in the dock but otherwise I just follow the alias to get to what Iâm looking for.
The only time Iâve ever used Launchpad is after installing a new App through the App Store and it bounces in the dock and highlights the new app.
What I have always done is simply park the Application folder (and my Documents folder) down in the dock for easy access. Just one click and you have access to your applications.
Is it just me or does Launchpad look like it doesnât belong in macOS? Apple may be trying to make macOS resemble iOS, but just because they can doesnât mean they should.
Launchpad just looks awkward and cumbersome. Itâs a good thing we have the option to not use it. Iâm also not too fond of what theyâve done to System Preferences by calling it System Settings.
To give an alternative opinion on this, I would think that many people come to macOS for the first time after having used iPhones and/or iPads for many years. For them having an optional interface that they understand for launching and uninstalling applications may be desirable. As for System Settings, Iâd agree that Apple has some work to do to improve the interface, but having a system settings interface that better matches the one used in iOS and iPadOS, which together have far more users than macOS, is probably a good choice for Apple to make.
For many, many people the power of an iPhone (and/or an iPad) is all the computer they need or want. Admittedly without benefit of actual statistics, I would postulate that very few iPhone/iPad users eventually migrate to Macs. Certainly fewer than one would expect to drive major design decisions.
Like many here, I use Command-Space and the the first letter or two of the app nameâmuch faster. I guess Launchpad could be useful if youâve forgotten the name of an app.
Thereâs always been a place for such things. I remember carefully crafted Config.sys and autoexec.bat files popping a menu of shortcuts to apps on launch in the early DOS days.
I donât think Apple has ever quantified it, but just as an example, from MacRumors last year:
During todayâs earnings call covering the second fiscal quarter of 2022, Apple CFO Luca Maestri said that the company has been growing its install base. There was a March quarter record for upgraders, and half of all Mac buyers during the quarter were new to the product.
So of course itâs likely that very few iPhone and iPad users migrate to Mac - there are hundreds of millions of them - but that doesnât mean that a significant number of people who are buying Macs have never owned one but instead owned iPhone or iPad first. Both can be true.
Apple probably never intended that long-time Mac users would use Launchpad and doesnât care that many donât. TidBITS readers largely fall into that category, and with a few exceptions of people for whom Launchpad scratches a particular itch, arenât using it.
And of course, even if the percentages are fairly low, as someone else pointed out, the raw numbers could be quite large.
Never used Launchpad. For me, itâs one of theses features that maybe useful to sell a Mac in a shop to a Mac newbie. It looks (!) good, but in daily practice is not anywhere near as good as the demo wants you to believe.
IMHO itâs a mistake to make Launchpad look or feel like the iOS springboard. If indeed true itâs supposed to make iOS to Mac newcomers feel at home, itâs giving them a false sense. The Macâs file system and the way it deals with apps is very different from iOS. Giving visual clues that would lead some to believe âoh I know thisâ is setting them off in the wrong direction.
Seeing this survey, I decided to give Launchpad a try. I tried it and find it easier to just open the application folder. After reading Robertâs post about placing the folder in the dock, I think Iâll do that and then it should be very easy. (I already have some folders for frequently used apps, so I should have thought of this on my own.) Thanks Robert.
