Missing Launchpad in macOS Tahoe

Astoriaguy76 wrote:

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.

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Threats to leave the platform provide endless entertainment and humor here.

You've really missed the point.

Yes, LaunchPad can be accessed those ways but there are other methods to access it that are easier, faster, and more intuitive using gestures.

MOREOVER, the point is that you can curate, filter, order, configure, massage the interface in a manner that suits the individual's workflow.

Having to learn how Apple has chosen to configure the interface is a substantial extra step that you've overlooked. And for people who want to understand the reasoning for a method to better predict how to use it going forward, there really is no way to confidently acclimate to this interface. Applications you will never use are adding substantial noise to the interface and apps you later install will rearrange the existing orientation.

If you're someone who only uses Spotlight to launch applications, nothing has changed for you. If you've never relied upon Launchpad as your primary productivity workflow, there is nothing you could positively contribute to this conversation. A core graphic user interface has been wholly deleted from the operating system with no similar replacement, for no apparent reason. The best you can do is try to understand that some people do not rely on a command line interface to launch applications and their brains work best in a dimension that can predict where things are for their ultimate productivity.

And by the way, had Spotlight been working properly for the past however many years, perhaps people would have learned to use it better. For me, the vast majority of the times, Spotlight can not find core applications like Calculator or Notes or Safari. The same can be said about Siri. If Apple released tools that worked predictably out of the gate, these tools would have a higher adoption rate.

Yes. This is a well known and documented issue.

Here's a post started 13 years ago with an update in 2021 https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/62715/applications-dont-show-up-in-spotlight

And here's a post in this forum from 2021 Spotlight search not showing applications… - Apple Community

Perhaps Spotlight has gotten better but the point I've stated is that historically it has not worked flawlessly and has been unreliable. Where as LaunchPad is something that can be curated and relied upon without failure without having to put as much thought into it as Spotlight (when it works).

ESergei wrote:

I have the same problem. Spotlight can not find core applications like Calculator or Notes or Safari.

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/c4d38bd4-29e8-46ba-af08-770f89878922

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Works fine for me:

Notes and Safari are found too.

I've had launchpad under the trackpad gesture, so I didn't need to use the keyboard at all, which DOES make a difference for convenience. If you don't see that then you don't see that, but I do, and I can't be the only one. Also, a much larger number of apps could be seen - and chosen from - at the same time, without scrolling. They were organized the way I want them (including custom folders) and not alphabetically. I had all my apps there, whereas the applications folder does NOT show my web apps.

I just moved to Mac from Windows a year ago, for the first time, and so I had to re-learn a great deal of things, and it wasn't a problem. It's not about re-learning, it's about losing a ton of functionality and convenience in the name of... what exactly?

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I agree with you about the ease of using the trackpad, but the most obvious value of the launchpad from my perspective was the ability to organize all of my apps into functional bins. I knew exactly where to look for video editing, audio editing, communications, and photography, each of which has myriad apps with names I don't care to recall.

Apple's removal of the launchpad has wasted a significant amount of my time and effort with streamlining the computer as a tool. It's the opposite of a "bicycle for your mind" as Mr. Jobs once put it. I miss him...

m010726 wrote:

Apple's removal of the launchpad has wasted a significant amount of my time and effort with streamlining the computer as a tool. It's the opposite of a "bicycle for your mind" as Mr. Jobs once put it. I miss him...

Are you talking about the Steve Jobs who didn't like to give customers choices but instead wanted them to use what he thought was best?

Tell Apple what you think here:

Product Feedback - Apple

I am a developer. macOS always indexes the system, so I have to run sudo mdutil -i off /Applications.

In older versions of macOS, I could still use Launchpad to find apps after disabling indexing, but now Spotlight search in Launchpad no longer works.

When indexing is enabled, mdutil runs all day, the CPU stays around 50–80%, disk usage is very high, and development tasks (like installing npm packages) cause even more CPU spikes.

nguyentiennam wrote:

I also wonder about the complete removal of the app launcher without any prior warning from any reviewer.

Everyone who used the beta versions of macOS 26 knew it had been removed. Everyone who used a beta version of macOS 26 was also legally prohibited from discussing it.

There is still an app launcher, albeit somewhat different.

Yep. Workarounds and third-party apps are not the same. Seeing "Adobe Distiller" at the top after my "seven frequently used apps" whenever I accidentally trigger Spotlight does me zero good, because I never use Adobe Distiller. Oh look, there's two copies of "Adobe After Effects" for some reason. So many Adobes right there that I don't use. Feelin' Really Productive!

I agree 150% this is EXTREMELY inefficient.

I would like to GROUP LIKE APPS per my personalized set of criteria.

Then see those groupings....like I can on my iPhone and my iPad....

How can I do that? I do not want a laundry list of applications.....Steve Jobs would not have allowed this.

thanks for your help

Schenevus454 wrote:

”Steve Jobs would not have allowed this.”

Hello~ Perhaps and perhaps not but either way that is entirely irrelevant. Use the feedback link offered by *BobHarris* above.

~Katana-San~

Schenevus454 wrote:

I agree 150% this is EXTREMELY inefficient.

I would like to GROUP LIKE APPS per my personalized set of criteria.

Then see those groupings....like I can on my iPhone and my iPad....

How can I do that? I do not want a laundry list of applications.

A third-party app would be the easiest way. Here is a single recommendation:

https://www.launchie.app/

Or, put the appplications in your Applications folder in subfolders that are meaningful to you. Then, drag the applications folder to the Dock.

Steve Jobs would not have allowed this.

Are you talking about the man who said,

"Some people say, 'Give the customers what they want.' But that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do... People don't know what they want until you show it to them".

Not a man being on end user choice. But, if you knew him personally and have first person information that refutes that, it would be very interesting to hear.

Avathon wrote:

I really don´t get it why macOS is updated so often and often just with worse result.

macOS gets a major update once a year. Almost all the other updates throughout the year are bug fixes, security updates and minor tweaks.

I read a recent article on Apple Insider describing how to reinstall Launchpad on MacOS Tahoe. It does involve using a 3rd party tool as well as the Terminal app, so it is not simple. The fact that this article was written tells me there are lots of us who would like to see Launchpad return.

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