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User profile for user: mello2198
mello2198 Author
User level: Level 1
12 points

why does Launchpad constantly re-order my apps?

I installed Lion several days ago but only last night took the time to configure my applications in Launchpad. I set up some folders and moved things around to be organized. To be honest, this feature is heaven for me! 🙂


But over the past 24 hours, I've encountered a strange problem. Everytime I reboot my iMac, the set order I organized all of my apps to apear in keep re-ordering and mixing up on me. I don't know how or why this is happening but it has to be a bug of sorts.


I have 24 apps/folders on my first Launchpad page, which is all of my primary apps and folders that I use regularly. The other two pages are folders and apps that I probably won't ever need to launch from there. I set all of my web browsers and internet related apps on the bottom row. Design apps on the next row up. Music and audio editing apps the next row up from there and my regularly used system utilities, calculator, app store, etc. on the top row.


Well, all of my apps maintain what row they're set to - but the bottom two rows are always re-ordering when I reboot my machine. I haven't changed, updated or added any new applications, yet by doing an experiment a moment ago, I set my apps the way I wanted to, did nothing else, rebooted my machine and went back to Launchpad. It still re-orders itself. I did this 4 times in a row and it's the same result each time. And the same way the apps are re-rdered too. It's not setting them alphabetically either so I don't have a clue as to what is happening.


Anybody else experiencing this? I guess it's not a huge deal since all of the apps are still there - but I'm a little OCD and when I set my apps to where the 8 most commonly used apps are in the center 2 rows and suddenly they're mixed up, it kind of makes this new feature almost pointless. Would rather just double click a folder on my desktop to have it open the apps/aliases I want.

iMac 27, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Jul 26, 2011 12:03 PM

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55 replies
User profile for user: Sparcus
Sparcus
User level: Level 1
0 points

Aug 2, 2011 7:51 PM in response to mello2198

Yea, I have about 300 apps. I aranged them in alphabetic order. I also hid the ones I don't need with Launchpad Control (freeware). When I rebooted after a memory upgrade from 4GB to 8GB, all icons got rearranged in what seems a random order, and the hidden apps reappeard. Very annoying.


But, even if Apple didn't fix this, they could make it right by including a search field that filters the icons as you type an app's name - like F10 Launch Studio.


Launchpad's iOS looks may appeal aesthetically, but for 200+ apps it doesn't work for me unless it has that find field.

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User profile for user: BODHI85
BODHI85
User level: Level 1
0 points

Aug 18, 2011 6:37 PM in response to Sparcus

Mine just starting doing this as well. I'm not sure but I'm thinking launchpad control (downloaded app) might be the culprit. I literally just downloaded it five minutes ago to hide some unwanted adobe files. Now they keep going into disarray everytime I restart my comp. Does everyone else having this problem have launchpad control installed?

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User profile for user: LookingSkyward
LookingSkyward
User level: Level 1
8 points

Aug 19, 2011 9:45 AM in response to mello2198

Yes, happening to me too. The intention behind this was to provide the convenience of launching apps as with an iPhone. Wouldn't be convenient if iPhone users had their icons re-arrange on them everytime they turned the phone off. I am accessing my launchpad by using a smart corner. I just push my magic mouse to the top right corner of my desktop and the launchpad appears - really useful and easy to access - now if they would just stop re-arranging! :-)

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User profile for user: Tim Kite
Tim Kite
User level: Level 1
14 points

Sep 20, 2011 6:55 PM in response to mello2198

Definitely seeing this myself. Not sure what process is doing it, but it would have to be changing the IDs of each item in Launchpad on each relaunch of the "Dock" process (since the whole thing is controlled by an SQL Lite database in your ~/Library/Application Support/Dock folder). It could be looking at the last "something'd" date and ordering them based on that.


Crazy idea, maybe try write-protecting that database after everything is as you'd want it? Trouble is, next time you download or install an app that Launchpad would want to add, you'd need to un-write-protect it, add the app, then re-write-protect it. Scriptable, sure, but not "It just works". And even then it might not like the database not being modifyable and just crash or act oddly.


I haven't given it much effort as my primary app launch method is still Spotlight. If you want your apps to stay in order, just drag your Applications folder back to your dock and use it just like you did in [Snow] Leopard, as they'll stay in the sort order you set it there. Or submit a bug report (http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html) and hope they fix it in a future release. Finally, for those who want to use Launchpad and fix it themselves, may I suggest this:


  1. Get your apps in the order you want them
  2. Back up the database in ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock to somewhere
  3. Write a simple bash or Apple script that kills the Dock, copies that archived database where everything is in the correct order to its "live" location, then restarts the Dock
  4. Set said script to run on boot by adding it to your Startup Items (Accounts in System Preferences)
  5. ...
  6. Profit?


Of course, anytime you make an edit to what's in Launchpad or the order of Launchpad, you'd need to remember to re-backup your database so this script wouldn't overwrite your edits the next time you rebooted.


*The above idea has not been tested and merely should work given that Mac OS is nearly UNIX and as such usually behaves rationally

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User profile for user: Tim Kite
Tim Kite
User level: Level 1
14 points

Sep 26, 2011 4:40 PM in response to rapid10

That in fact fixed it for me! I just uninstalled Launchpad Control, deleted the backup database it made, restarted Dock, re-arranged Launchpad to suit my needs, then rebooted to test. Works great!


Since I still want to be able to control what's in Launchpad, I installed the free SQLite Database Browser from http://sqlitebrowser.sourceforge.net. This lets me hand edit the Launchpad database without any of the ill effects of Launchpad Control.

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why does Launchpad constantly re-order my apps?

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