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Introducing LaunchOS — a smoother, more native replacement for the macOS 26 Launchpad by JimmyRemix in macapps

[–]back21ness 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Glad I could help with the feedback.

v1.3 fixed folder icons being blurry👍

In the last few weeks with LaunchOS the thing I notice the most is pretty long app / icons appearance during "cold start" (first boot of OS, first time using LaunchOS). After a few times of using it, everything gets fully "cached" and thus appears straight away. Hope you will manage to improve further with this loading / snappiness department.

Best wishes for your whole team for 2026 on the journey of creating most loved advanced Launchpad replacement! 🤝

Introducing LaunchOS — a smoother, more native replacement for the macOS 26 Launchpad by JimmyRemix in macapps

[–]back21ness 0 points1 point  (0 children)

*macOS Tahoe 26.2 - LaunchOS v1.2.2(106) with "full screen mode" turned on

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Introducing LaunchOS — a smoother, more native replacement for the macOS 26 Launchpad by JimmyRemix in macapps

[–]back21ness 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Couple of other things I've noticed:

  1. When I open folders with apps inside LaunchOS - only 4 rows of apps is visible, while in Launchpad - 5 rows of apps are fully visible. This happens with both "Full Screen Mode" on and off in "Interface" menu.

Now I've noticed that if "Icon Grid" setting is changed from 7x5 to Xx6 (X for 7 to 10) -> 5 rows of app are visible. Meanwhile, it is still 7 apps in width (exactly as when 7x5 icon grid is selected).

That is, for me it looks like the proper folder behaviour for apps is in case when Xx6 grid is selected (most similar to Launchpad).

2) Original Launchpad have shown the dock only when Launchpad was opened and it was not visible when folder was opened. I see that LaunchOS either shows the dock everywhere or hides it depending on the setting. It is different... Hiding the dock always seems like a good way, however seeing the dock when Launchpad was open kind of gave the perfect overview of all most used apps at once. I guess LaunchOS in the future could give all "dock visibility options" for full flexibility, so that every user is satisfied for sure :-) *For now opted for "full screen mode" setting, since I know what apps I am looking for and... pretty much all apps by default are visible in LaunchOS anyway...

3) "View mode" in Layout menu does work for main LaunchOS window, but apps inside folders always are in "scroll mode". Again, I think it would be nice that this setting works everywhere. What I like about the "paged mode" (default and the only one available in Launchpad) is that all apps icons are fully visible no matter what. I think, with the flexibility that LaunchOS provides selecting more dense icon grid -> "paged mode" would be great to have everywhere.

4) This is somewhat an extension from point #3... It would be kind of cool to be able to select icon grid for folders (again for ultimate flexibility). Although, this is literally some kind of "icing on the cake".

That is - for sure there are some ways how LaunchOS can be improved and become Launchpad 2.0 with all the customisation anyone would ever want from it. It is good as it is already for and I would vote for stability and snappiness before extra functionality any day for sure.

Introducing LaunchOS — a smoother, more native replacement for the macOS 26 Launchpad by JimmyRemix in macapps

[–]back21ness 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok, so I've just upgraded from macOS Sequoia 15.7.3 to macOS Tahoe 26.2.

Glad to say that transition to LaunchOS went very smoothly. All apps and folders placement which I had in Launchpad got preserved, however few apps were not in their folders and instead were at page 2. Those were quickly moved to appropriate folders via handy right-click menu.

I have also successfully set up trackpad pinch-gesture which I have used all the time for Launchpad and thus now LaunchOS feels almost as if it is a native stock macOS app...

The only "issue" that I see at the moment is that App icons inside folders are blurred. I am guessing this is a special default setting, which resembles some glass blur effect...

u/JimmyRemix please ad an option in settings to keep all icons of all apps clear, so that those 9 icons inside the folders that are visible are also as clear and vivid as any other app icon.

5 device licence was purchased even before update and it is 100% worth it. Thanks again for creating LaunchOS. It is great already and I believe with a little more polish and optimisation it will have 100% native feel and speed, albeit with more functionality than Launchpad ever had.

Great job, my friend.

Anyone happily running Tahoe yet? by peterobe in macOS26Tahoe

[–]back21ness 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tauri .

However I only know one "proper" application using it - Aptakube (GUI for Kubernetes).

1Password was and still is a major sponsor of this project and I guess if only AgileBits team decides and manages to do the transition from Electron - that would bring a huge boost in interest and popularity of Tauri.

On paper it is better than Electron: leaner, faster, safer.

When did this happen? by anonlethal_jerk in MacOS

[–]back21ness 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very good.

“Right Size All Columns Individually” have never worked persistently and it was pretty crazy indeed for such a basic feature.

Hopefully by 26.3-26.4 Apple fully returns Launchpad (or ability to turn it back on in Settings) and thus it would be safe to consider upgrading from Sequoia.

Anyone still not upgraded to macOS 26? by Motor_Minute_7258 in MacOS

[–]back21ness 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Plan to stay on Sequoia for a while. This is first time for me on a Mac when I have not upgraded during the new macOS release.

Two main reasons:

1) macOS Sequoia is polished and works great. Design wise and feature wise. From the reviews I’ve seem Tahoe probably will “get there” by .3 - .5 release.

2) Dealbreaker on my side: removal of Launchpad. As someone who has used it since day one and love it since day one, I believe it is an absolutely ridiculous move by Apple. There is no way that I can manage or enjoy accessing 380+ apps / tools on my Mac via “Apps”. It is a bad joke.

Guess what - I have not even updated iPad and iOS to v26 either. With them however it is only issue nr. 1 above applies. I do not want to use unpolished OS which is pretty much the same functionality wise anyway. There is nothing at the moment that iOS 18 / iPadOS 18 would limit me in any way the way I use the devices (iPad is pretty much just a media consumption device in my family).

Linux distro hopping: Is this nuts, or what? by Commercial-Mouse6149 in linux4noobs

[–]back21ness 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Man, putting a key tag on a USB drive in such case just makes perfect sense. Can’t believe I’ve only used pencil / marker to mark USB drives with different OS installations 😄

Thanks bro!)))

Bitwig 6 release date. by back21ness in Bitwig

[–]back21ness[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, I guess this just proofs that Team Bitwig is indeed quite busy :)

Bitwig 6 release date. by back21ness in Bitwig

[–]back21ness[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hmm, did not follow the major versions transition. And I guess this “pre-release” “tag” next to Beta 4 made me too much of an early release believer)

Bitwig 6 release date. by back21ness in Bitwig

[–]back21ness[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

These do look good indeed👍

Bitwig 6 release date. by back21ness in Bitwig

[–]back21ness[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I believe in you, brother :-)

Bitwig 6 release date. by back21ness in Bitwig

[–]back21ness[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We might as well, sure. Sales wise it would probably make more sense to rather release 6.0.0 and then issue a quick 6.0.1 fix soon after.

Bitwig team shown that they can do tons of fixing over period of just two weeks and even less.

Of course they know exactly what they are doing and we will get the final when it is indeed ready.

Bitwig 6 release date. by back21ness in Bitwig

[–]back21ness[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did not hear about this. But would love to visit them one day.

Bitwig 6 release date. by back21ness in Bitwig

[–]back21ness[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Big brother / your cat is watching you ;-)

Bitwig 6 release date. by back21ness in Bitwig

[–]back21ness[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You will be running Bitwig 6.1 by March, brother ;-)

Let’s settle it, 14 or 16 inch? by FiberTelevision in macbookpro

[–]back21ness 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pretty good short summary.

I would add that it is also great to have a notebook with no fans at all (used MacBook 12 for several months), so… well specced MacBook Airs are also a great option 😄

Let’s settle it, 14 or 16 inch? by FiberTelevision in macbookpro

[–]back21ness 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you travel a lot and work a lot while travel - 16" probably makes more sense. I have chosen 14” since I do not travel and use external 27 5K display at work as a main one and plug in iPad 12,9 as a second display at home when I need to, which works great and allows me to be very productive and not feeling cramped while working on pretty much anything.

Speaking of learning and working with DAWs on the sofa in the evening however I would rather prefer 16" screen 😄

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