Missing Launchpad in macOS Tahoe

sdorst wrote:

I'd add another problem with it: you can't search for an app without first selecting a category. With LaunchPad, I could open it, type a few letters, and the app would be there. All I had to remember was part of the name. Try typing in Apps without selecting a category. Everything disappears! That's ridiculous!! I've sent feedback to Apple about it.

Your assertion is incorrect. You can search for an app without selecting a category. There is a search input at the very top of the Apps windows. IO just tried it and I can pull up any app by typing part of its name. Please take another look.

Do you seriously think that I would complain that it doesn’t work without having tried it? When I type anything into the search box, without first selecting a category, all of the apps disappear. Apparently, this is not how it’s supposed to work, but I had no way of knowing that until getting your feedback.

I actually assumed that it was a problem with my system, and tried restarting in safe mode, which did not fix the problem. I also reinstalled macOS 26, once again without resolving the problem. I suppose I may need to do a clean installation, but that’s a real pain. I think I will call Apple support first.

The new app function in Tahoe is especially annoying for those that don't know the names of all your apps rendering the new apps function useless to me... forces you to open applications and search if it is not a standard apple app.. unfortunately I had all my apps properly grouped before and now I am searching in a really time consuming way... I don't use spotlight. and should have the option not to. especially if you don't know the names of the apps until you see the icons in front of you...

To folks commenting that Launchpad has been replaced by Apps, can you let me know if

(1) can Apps be set to open with a 5 finger (or other) gesture on the trackpad of a Macbook Pro?

(2) can it be set to open using Hot Corners?

I'm not particularly enthusiastic about Tahoe but the loss of Launchpad in particular has me hesitating to update macOS on the laptop I use every day for the first time in 15 years.

DMGSYS wrote:

To folks commenting that Launchpad has been replaced by Apps, can you let me know if

(1) can Apps be set to open with a 5 finger (or other) gesture on the trackpad of a Macbook Pro?

(2) can it be set to open using Hot Corners?

It can be accessed from a Hot Corner:

You're welcome!

I learned something by doing so – when pressing Command-Shift-5 to take the screenshot, I saw that the Command/Shift labels show up next to the functions. I use hot corners now, but was unaware that I could add a modifier key to one to prevent accidental activation. So...thanks for asking!

Typing 'App' doesn't even bring up the App Store, nor does 'Messages' bring up Messages !! The thing is broken and no matter how you want to spin it, the simple launching of an application now involves extra steps for which there is zero benefit.

[Edited by Moderator]

I would strongly suggest not updating at this point.

I'm a 35-year computer user and have been using macOS as a daily driver for the last 5, and my career experience would put me in the top 0.1% of the tech industry -- and this particular change has ME frustrated and has diminished my productivity significantly.

This is not me being "change-resistant"; it's literally erased a function that EVERY desktop interface (Windows, Linux[both gnome and KDE] and all prior versions of MacOS in the last 5 years have) -- the ability to click on a "start|launchpad|etc" button and start typing the name of an application, and have that application come up within 3 characters.

This is a universally-accepted UI feature that everyone who's used a computer within the last 15 years has come to know, and this force to spotlight (which literally nobody finds useful) has eliminated it.

The lack of Launchpad in macOS Tahoe is a real pain. The Launchpad substitution is ridiculous. No alternative can replace this feature: not the Applications folder, not the Dock, not the Spotlight.

Dear Apple management and macOS engineering team, please bring Launchpad back to Tahoe. It has been an integral part of the Mac ecosystem for 14 years.

I want the folders back, which I had in the good old Launchpad before macOS Tahoe. I used to arrange my apps in folders to bring order in my apps, because I have really installed a lot of apps on my Mac. Please Apple, bring back the folders in the Launchpad ... 😢

Apart from that I totally love macOS Tahoe ... 💛

How do you organize apps into specific locations and remove or hide unwanted apps?

I'm seeing a flood of apps and utilities that make it very difficult to find the app I'm trying to launch. Having relied on visual cues for 10? 15? years, I rarely know what the name of an app is. I know where it's located in the LaunchPad and what the icon looks like. This made it a mindless event to launch an app. Now it's far less efficient - what used to take less than one second now takes substantially longer, even a minute in some cases.

ImaGG2 wrote:

IdrisSeabright wrote:

Apple doesn't read here for feedback or suggestions.

Do you know WHY Apple doesn't read here?

Is there any 'connection' between MacRumors and the ASC forums?

Answers are provided by other community users just like you. 

Which implies, Apple Itself is not here

Exception being, the Apple Moderation Team which are Apple Employees who moderate the forums and to make sure we ALL abide by >>

Apple Support Communities Use Agreement

MacRumours and ASC forums are two entirely different entities

ASC Forums are Hosted By Apple making them Owned and Operated by Apple

Where as MacRumours is not

This new way to launch apps is totally not Apple. I had no warning, and now when I click the new apps button, all the apps I have on my phone as well as on my Mac are intermingled. This kills my productivity as now I have to either search for the app I need or scroll through an endless list of apps that I use on my phone now on my Mac. After almost 20 years of using Macs, I am rethinking my setup and may move back to a PC.

[Edited by Moderator]

ImaGG2 wrote:

Do you know WHY Apple doesn't read here?

Because it's a firehose of complaints, legitimate questions, utter nonsense and "me too!" posts. Apple has provided a feedback page. Use it.

Is there any 'connection' between MacRumors and the ASC forums?

No.

Astoriaguy76 wrote:

This new way to launch apps is totally not Apple.

That's what people said about LaunchPad when it first came out.

After almost 20 years of using Macs, I am rethinking my setup and may move back to a PC.

So, for the first six years you used a Mac, you didn't have LaunchPad.