Why is the Launcher removed since Tahoe?

Launchpad is not available in macOS 26 Tahoe. Instead, Apple has replaced it with a Spotlight-based application library similar to that on iOS. By default, the Apps app replaced the Launchpad app in your Dock (if it was there). macOS organizes the apps, you cannot manually sort them. To have Apple consider your feedback on this issue, submit it here:

Feedback - macOS - Apple

A possible workaround might be a 3rd party app, such as AppGridLauncher app (Mac App Store link) or https://www.launchie.app/.

Apple does not generally tell anyone why.

There are several 3rd party alternatives

• Launchie (App Store)
• AppGrid Launcher (App Store)
• AppHub (paid app)
• LaunchPad on GitHub

Or create a folder, put it on the Dock, and fill it with app aliases, organized any way you like.

You can also send feedback

https://www.apple.com/feedback/macos.html

bigbadwolf wrote:

For year whe had this Launcher App (to be honest I don’t know what is called anymore since I launched it with a function key).

Yesterday I installed macOS Tahoe, and some silly mind found it apparently a good idea to remove it and put this function in Spotlight!

Now I get stuck with a buch of Apps in a too small window sorted by categories for which I have not yet found a way to categorize myself – since I’m a Mac uses I don’t need Apple to think for me, that’s one of the main reasons I use a Mac and not a Windows PC.

There is no simple way to seach in the list, because you immediately get directed to the App Store.

[Edited by Moderator]

LaunchPad ― has been replaced by the new Apps.app going forward. There are some known issues here yes.

you can submit your Apple Feedback here: Product Feedback - Apple

there are several alternative replacements for the old LaunchPad:

• Launchie.app https://apps.apple.com/us/app/launchie/id6752657468?mt=12

• AppHub https://bringbacklaunchpad.com/apphub.html

• AppGrid Launcher https://apps.apple.com/us/app/appgrid-launcher/id6748853585?mt=12

• LaunchPad on GitHub https://kristof12345.github.io/Launchpad/

bigbadwolf wrote:

Apperently they renamed it to Apps.

I’m not allergic to new things, as long at they’re improvements. Which is not the case with this new thing.

I didn't say "new," I said "different." Most of the suggestions are very old. Creating aliases of your apps in folders is as old as the Mac itself (almost). You can make your own "launchpad" if that's what you need to get through the day.

Taisoul wrote:

I AM YOU! Why everyone is giving you heat for asking is beyond me. This is such a useless tool now. It was so simple with the launcher.

Open, type first letter of app, list dynamically updated. SIMPLE!!! They have rendered it useless to me. SMDH

I opened Apps and typed the letter 's', and the list dynamically updated. Can you explain how that is different in any meaningful way from what you found so SIMPLE with Launchpad? Except that I can now press Command-Space then type the letter 's' and get the same result without lifting my hands from the keyboard, which for me would be an improvement.

I can understand the frustration for people who had curated folders of apps in Launchpad, and workarounds for that have been provided. But for what you describe, I struggle to see any meaningful difference between the deprecated Launchpad and the new Apps.

Nobody here can answer “why did Apple do this” questions. We can’t even speculate on why.

If you search for the myriad other posts on the same topic, there are some workarounds you can try. If you are allergic to trying different things, don’t bother searching as the posts will not answer your question.

I AM YOU! Why everyone is giving you heat for asking is beyond me. This is such a useless tool now. It was so simple with the launcher.

Open, type first letter of app, list dynamically updated. SIMPLE!!! They have rendered it useless to me. SMDH

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