How do I restore the old Launchpad in macOS Tahoe

wiggle321 wrote:

I tried reading this heated debate.. but it seems it comes down to preference.

Indeed.

What I'm gathering is that Apple decided to simply do away with countless users curated launchpad layouts and folders. I thought it was just getting a different UI and was now more of a window than a whole screen thing.

So if I'm understanding correctly, if I update from Sequoia, the order that I've put my launchpad items into, the pages and named folders etc, will be gone. Not only gone, but also cannot be re-created? And also gone is the trackpad gesture to get to the launchpad? And the hot corner option too?

Is this correct?

Launchpad is gone in Tahoe. That means your organization and curated folders will be gone, too, and cannot be recreated. The Apps app, which is Apple's Spotlight-driven replacement for Launchpad, is accessible via a hot corner (something not everyone knows).

Does it matter if that was an objectively efficient or inefficient way to do it? If you don't like spaced out large icons, that's fine. If your hands are usually already on the keyboard and you prefer spotlight to open apps.. great! I do that too sometimes.

But some of us just like looking at our curated little world of large pretty app icons. Describing this as "35 multi-colored icons mashed together. That must look like Walt Disney puked on the screen" is frankly, insulting and immature. Consider that these systems are also used by the disabled and, let's be real here, the elderly. Not everyone is a keyboard whiz. Some grandma somewhere is going "where is the green icon where I can FaceTime with family?". Multiply that by the user base. It is objectively a bad idea to throw out something people have curated for themselves—if that is indeed what they did.

Presumably, Apple views this as progress. It's within their power to bring it back, the issue as gotten some press (though not as much as Liquid Glass, and they are reportedly allowing that to be mitigated in 26.1). All you can do is add your voice to the chorus of feedback. I would think Apple knows more about their user base than an individual user. I'll also point out that I remember when Apple was lambasted for eliminating the floppy disk drive from their computers, and we know how that ultimately shook out.

JivingJohnson wrote:

Launchpad was super efficient. I had mine in a Hot Corner. Slide the mouse to the corner, click on app, 99% of which were on the first screen, because I'd arranged them deliberately for this purpose. It was a 5 x 7 grid....who needs more than 35 apps on a daily basis? And if you do, it's a simple 2-finger slide on the Trackpad.

As you can no longer do that, you'll have to find another option.

You can put a folder of curated and arranged aliases in your Dock. You can use one of the third-party options. You put Apps in the hot corner try to get used to that. You can learn to use Spotlight. Those are a few of your options.

Launchpad is not available in macOS 26 Tahoe. Instead, Apple has replaced it with a Spotlight-based application library similar to that on iOS. macOS organizes the apps, you cannot manually sort them. To have Apple consider your feedback on this issue, submit it here:

Feedback - macOS - Apple

A possible workaround might be a 3rd party app, such as AppGridLauncher app (Mac App Store link) or https://www.launchie.app/.

Anthony Sbarro wrote:

It's entirely illogical

And completely irrelevant. Nobody here can bring it back.

There needs to be a way to curate the apps to efficiently launch them with muscle memory.

There has been a way since OS X was released in 2001. Just create folders with aliases to the apps you want to have available. Use Shortcuts to crest a shortcut to open that folder of aliases.

We already had Spotlight search to launch apps. Why remove LaunchPad without replacing it with something just as efficient?

LaunchPad was horribly inefficient. I had to open a window, move my mouse around, click on something, maybe more than once if it was in a folder. With Spotlight Ieave my hands on the keyboard, cmd-space, type two or three letters and hit return. Way more efficient.

This is truly mind boggling. I don't understand how people who work at Apple could make such drastic changes, unless they don't actually use the products they're engineering.

Perhaps they were just like those of us who couldn’t stand using LaunchPad.

1) You're behind the times. In the dark ages, Macs liked having ‘free’ RAM and having that free RAM was how you knew you had enough. Fast forward to today, macOS uses the available memory. Typically you’ll see 20-25% of the memory free whether you have 16 GB or 48 GB. The way to determine you have sufficient memory isn’t how much is free but your memory pressure and page in/outs.

2) Try 3rd party alternatives. Apple is clearly trying to integrate the experience across their platforms. You can provide feedback, but I doubt Launchpad is coming back.

3+4) Caused by 3rd party software/extensions you’ve installed on your Mac that are not fully compatible with Tahoe. People have found issues caused by Logitech drivers, (useless) antivirus software, and an array of other things. It’s the developers’ job to make their stuff compatible, not Apple’s.

FWIW, my M4 Pro MBP (48 GB / 2 TB) is running perfectly on Tahoe. Low memory pressure, processors steady at ~40 °C.

Launchpad is gone in Tahoe. That means your organization and curated folders will be gone, too, and cannot be recreated. The Apps app, which is Apple's Spotlight-driven replacement for Launchpad, is accessible via a hot corner (something not everyone knows).

Alright thanks for the clarity, they straight up deleted user created layouts and folders, folder names, etc, instead of porting that info over to whatever the new thing is. I guess we'll see if the feedback works, and I just wont update till it's fixed. Good to know.

I'll also point out that I remember when Apple was lambasted for eliminating the floppy disk drive from their computers, and we know how that ultimately shook out.

Sure, but for every floppy story I can tell you one about how they changed a thing and then put it back. Also when you buy a computer you can see what disk reader it has or doesn't have. When folks updated to Tahoe they mostly had no idea their curated layout and folders would be trashed. It's really not the same.

There are at least 4 LaunchPad replacement apps.

Launchie (App Store)

AppGrid Launcher (App Store)

AppHub (paid app)

LaunchPad on GitHub

It is possible to open a folder that has your Apps in it sorted alphabetically.

It is not possible to organize this folder the same way as on your iPhone, iPad, and previous Mac operating systems allow(ed).

Searching for applications, as if the Macintosh had never existed and we're still using a command line interface, is not as efficient as using graphic icons that provide some hint to the software's function and which allow you to place them in specific places for you to access them using muscle memory in an instant.

What is illogical is that this function has been entirely removed forcing all MacOS users to adopt a command line-like method of launching applications. This function (Spotlight) already existed for people like you who find this method most efficient for them. How would you feel if Spotlight was removed and the only way to launch apps was with LaunchPad?

Apple changed MacOS's setting app to look more familiar to iOS users. For what logical reason would they remove what iOS users are familiar with to access applications?

Now I am using Launchie, it is good, at least I can use grups, and free

Read this conversation first.

I agree with dialabrain's comments in that in all the systems I had with Launchpad I never used it. The new Apps application will or should do what you want instead of Launchpad.

When Tahoe was still in beta Macrumors had some tips on modifying the Liquid Glass look in this article. I used some of these suggestions to experiment with the look of the new system. They might work for you too.

It's entirely illogical to remove the most efficient method of launching an application (while hiding others). Now, when I go to open the LaunchPad replacement, I'm seeing literally every app installed on the computer. There needs to be a way to curate the apps to efficiently launch them with muscle memory.

We already had Spotlight search to launch apps. Why remove LaunchPad without replacing it with something just as efficient? This is truly mind boggling. I don't understand how people who work at Apple could make such drastic changes, unless they don't actually use the products they're engineering.

Anthony Sbarro wrote:

It's entirely illogical to remove the most efficient method of launching an application (while hiding others).

I always find it amusing when people say that something they don't like is "illogical." It almost makes me think they believe that everyone shares their needs and preferences. But of course, thinking that really would be illogical.

Tell Apple what you want to see:

Product Feedback - Apple

Anthony Sbarro wrote:

It's entirely illogical to remove the most efficient method of launching an application (while hiding others). Now, when I go to open the LaunchPad replacement, I'm seeing literally every app installed on the computer. There needs to be a way to curate the apps to efficiently launch them with muscle memory.

Respectfully

What is more logical that organizing Applications by Categories

Picking up on an earlier posting

It would be illogical to believe that Apple would not make changes to a new version of macOS like Tahoe

Apple is often know to do what Apple believes is best for Apple

It has functioned that ways for decades and do not see this changing anytime soon

Apple's categories are often inaccurate and grossly reduce efficiency. This adds additional mental requirements (and time) to understand what category Apple has chosen to place an application.

Example: I should get to decide if an app is either Productivity or Finance.

On my computer, Apple has decided to put Firefox in Productivity & Finance and Safari in Utilities and Edge and Brave in Other. I would put them in a folder called Browsers.

This interface also seems to sort categories and applications randomly and dynamically. You have Utilities first while I have Productivity & Finance. This interrupts the ability to quickly access something because you need to scan the UI to find where the category and application has moved to. It's also not a wide enough interface to see all the categories so you need to swipe over to see more.

LaunchPad is user customizable. I can place an application where I want it based on my priorities and usage so it's easier (or harder) to access using muscle memory - this is apparently good enough for a mobile operating system but no longer for the desktop. I don't have to think about launching apps. I have the bottom left corner as a hot spot to launch LaunchPad - I have primary apps in the root of this UI and I have category folders to organize things like Music, Games, Utilities, etc. And these 'bins' are organized in a method that makes sense to me so I can literally open any app on my computer with a single finger using (at most) a couple swipes and clicks without even having to remember the name of the app. I genuinely don't know the names of a lot of apps but I know that the one I want to use to change the name of a music track is in my Music folder and it's on the bottom.

What is illogical is that they have - for no apparent logical reason - removed a method of launching applications that is nearly identical to how you launch apps on billions of mobile devices while forcing users to use an existing command-line like method that (I'd argue) most people find inefficient.

They have changed things in the past. Not many. If the voices are loud enough, perhaps they'll simply reenable a small and important thing that worked perfectly fine without any drawbacks for a decade.