why does Launchpad constantly re-order my apps?

Lion hasn't been out that long, I don't think they'll be releasing a new OSany time soon.

I admit the issue is annoying, but the posted fix to delete entries from the table looks like it might have fixed it for me.

Given the relatively minute amount of time spent fixing this single issue I'm still much happier with Lion than with any other OS.

I tried this fix and it did work until I had an Adobe update. After the update, two adobe app icons were inserted into Launchpad and my apps were out of order again. ML is expected to be released late this summer. While Lion hasn't been out that long, the fact that a new OS is already in the works tells me that Apple has their foot on the gas. I wish they would spend a little more time and effort to put out a more solid OS. I agree that Lion is better than the other OSes out there, but that shouldn't be an excuse. I guess I miss the "old days" when an OS as an OS and not a series of updates that are pushed out almost yearly.

Thanks for the try,i will not have to reorganize again for nothing.

Apple is understaffed developers not to repair this stupid bug?

F%CK!

No. Thank you for putting up a solution. It's probably all that can be done given the circumstances. It would be nice if Apple at least made a statement saying, "We are aware of this issue and are currently working on it", etc. We are all on this forum because we like Applle products and want to solve our issues, but this is rather frustrating.

1. Go to: User directory > Library > Application Support > Dock > there, you might have a file with a strange name finishing by .db

2. Put this file into the trash, but don't empty the trash, just in case.

3. Just restart the Mac. The Launchpad must be reinitialize, that's mean you have to remake the arrangement of all your apps, the same way at your first Lion's installation. Voilà!

(the system have normally remake a .db file, you can empty the trash)

This ONLY works UNTIL you add a new app!

Ridiculous.

Exactly! I would also like to add that I have determined that the initial installation of apps from sources outside of the Mac App Store triggers the bug.

I recently did a clean reinstall of Lion (10.7.3) and downloaded all my MAS purchases. It wasn't until I downloaded and installed an app from outside the MAS (i.e. Dropbox, Alfred, etc.) that the problem started to occur. I do not believe it is the third party app developers' fault or error, as I recently installed Apple's Messages which also resulted in a corrupted Launchpad layout.

I'm really disappointed that three updates have come and gone and Apple hasn't figured out a way to prevent non-MAS installations from corrupting Launchpad. With this and 10.7.3's Wi-Fi/wake from sleep issue, I'm slowly losing faith....

That was my point about Apple expecting people to move on to the next new thing instead of fixing the problem as is. However, I believe I found a temporary solution that has worked even after a few installs. First I saved the terminal command (the one that clears launchpad) as a text file. I made a folder and in it I saved this file along with a copy of my customized dock*.db file. This was done after clearing the launchpad and starting from scratch. Now here's the thing that I think made the big difference; when I organized the launchpad I left the bottom row empty leaving only 3 rows per page. Now when a new app is installed It shows up in one of the empty rows and leaves everything else as is. If it's something I don't care to have in the dock, I just move it to the back and group it with other unwanted apps. Every once and a while I will copy a new dock.db file to my special folder. If things get really out of wack, I just copy and paste the terminal command in terminal, run it to clear launchpad, replace the dock*.db file with my custom one, log out then back in and everything's back to normal. I think when you have every row filled in the launchpad and install a new app, it places the app in a spot that's taken so it shuffles things around,

I have the same problem, and have settled on restoring my db file from a backup up reboot. I want to automate this so it can happen everytime I rebot, but I don't know how to use scripts and barely know how to use automator.

Several months late to the game, but I only had a few problems with launchpad reordering (after installing some new apps) until I connected an external monitor a few weeks ago. Our issues are a little different, but mine also appears to have started by connecting an external. My boot screen resolution changed to the resolution that the external had, and launchpad started permanently forgetting the order of apps. I ran the fix from geneosis, and my boot screen is now in the native resolution and the apps are staying in order. I realize it will change if/when I install something else, but at least I'll be able to find my apps for a while. Definitely hoping for a fix. It seems like a very obvious and silly bug.