RIP macOS Launchpad

Apple killed off Launchpad entirely in macOS 26 Tahoe, which is a really controversial change. Since I am a budget guy for gadget upgrading who thought recent years PC’s specs are actually overpowered, this is my first time upgrading macOS on both my M-chip personal laptop and M-chip working laptop. One of the most important reason is the notorious strategy tricks from Apple which forces users to purchase new devices.

Launchpad has been replaced with a new app launcher integrated with Spotlight. the new app is essentially a spotlight-based application lib, similar to what modern iOS looks like.

Critically, macOS now organises all apps for me, I can’t manually sort them. All my custom collections are gone. The folder cluster workflow I had in Launchpad is gone.

The new interface auto-categorises apps into buckets like Utilities, Prouctivity, etc etc. with a useless Suggested section. Honestly, for an INTP who already has a mental spatial map of where everythig lives, THAT COOKED ME. Having Apple forcibly auto-categorise my apps is particarly grating, tho that is typical Steve Jobs move that Apple knows users’ demanding better than users do.

I found two options that makes closer exprience to legacy macOS:

1. LaunchOS -> A commercial app brings all the features back.

   Offical Website of LaunchOS

2. Free Workaround -> Drag the Applications folder to the right side of my Dock and set it to display as a Grid.

I don’t know how long those workarounds will hold up, but somehow I get the feeling that being analysed in an awful way would piss anyone off, especially when you’re afraid of losing yourself.

I used to kind of worship Jobs and Musk. After everything that’s happened in States in past couple of years, I’ve realised that Musk is someone I’ll never be. I drew a line between my past worship and my value. But Jobs’ stubborn commitment to his zen of product and ruthless methodlogy at work still inspire me.

Maybe it’s like “Stand users are drawn to one another.” I always felt strangely comfy using Apple products in an almost autistic way. Many people complain that there hasn’t been any revolutionary upgrade in Apple’s recent products or software releases, but I never cared. As long as they didn’t touch my comfort zone, I felt Apple was already miles ahead.

From Big Sur to Monterey, every step they took seemed to align with what I actually wanted. They did that steadily in those two big versions. The changes felt incremental and practical, improving my workflow without disrupting it. After Ventura, though, something changed. Features like Stage Manager, Apple Intelligence, and the removal of Launchpad feel unnecessary and oddly aggressive to me. And honestly, the Liquid Glass design language isn’t so much my thing either.