Missing Launchpad in macOS Tahoe

It's interesting that in 30+ years of using Macs I never used LaunchPad and still managed to be productive. Yes, it's possible to downgrade. I wil leave to others to post how.

ITS NOT THE SAME! It used to be: pinch trackpad + choose app.

Now it’s cmd + space, then cmd + 1, then search for what you need, then click. This is absurd.

dialabrain wrote:

Really?

I've never had a problem with it. I know that sometimes people do but, as I understand it, re-indexing usually resolves that.

Hello~ Why not let Apple know here? They get paid for people to be rude to them.

Product Feedback - Apple

~Katana-San~

jurgen972 wrote:

Since macos Tahoe the launchpad is gone which makes OS very unpleasant and unproductive!

Is there a way to go back to macos Sequoia or do I need to find a substitute for my macbook since this makes laptop as good as useless.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Launchpad gone

I would suggest looking at this alternative at the App Srore—

Yeah... I'm not bother by the fact Launchpad as been just deleted, I hate the way this new "App" section is not organizable.

It's just "Random" organized, especially for the third parts apps, and you can't do anything about it...

I've seen somebody find a way to resume the Launchpad from the Terminal but I didn't tried...

I hope they do something about it...

Feeling you hahahah

Launchpad was an important ergonomic advantage for users.

Much easier to use than spotlight search and much more logical to access apps.

One main advantage of macos Launchpad was its intuitive access to anything (for new mac adopters).

The new feature isn't ergonomic neither intuitive.

What's missing in the new app is:

• • resizing the app to make it wider for a better view of the apps
  • Categories are not really accurate so it should be customizable
  • Create / Modify /Rename app category
  • move app from a category to another

The big problem with Apps is that you can't search for an app without first selecting a category. If I want to open an app that I don't use frequently enough to put in the Dock, I have to either remember which category it is in or search around for it. That's ridiculous! With Launchpad, I could open it and type a few letters and the app would be there.

There is no reason for this limitation. Where can I send a request to Apple to fix this?

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.

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!