A modern recreation of the classic macOS Launchpad - the beloved full-screen app launcher that Apple removed in macOS 26 Tahoe (September 2024).
- 🎯 Grid-Based App Display - iOS/iPadOS-style full-screen grid interface
- 📁 Folder Organization - Create folders by dragging apps together, customize folder names
- 🏷️ Tags & Categories - Organize apps with custom tags, filter by category with the tag bar
- 🔍 Real-Time Search - Instant app filtering, searches inside folders too
- 📱 Multi-Page Support - Organize hundreds of apps across multiple pages
- 🎨 Native macOS Vibrancy - Beautiful glass effect with desktop wallpaper blur
- 🌈 OS Accent Color - UI follows your macOS accent color preference
- ⌨️ Customizable Keyboard Shortcuts - Default F4 to open (fully customizable), Esc to close, arrows for navigation
- 🖱️ Drag & Drop - Rearrange apps freely, drag between pages with edge detection
- 🗑️ App Management - Right-click apps to open, reveal in Finder, hide, or move to Trash
- 🖼️ Multi-Monitor Support - Smart window positioning on the monitor with cursor focus
- 🔲 Hot Corners - Trigger Launchpad by moving mouse to screen corners (configurable)
- 🌍 Internationalization - Available in 8 languages (EN, DE, ES, FR, JA, PL, UK, ZH)
- ✨ macOS Tahoe Design - Unified confirmation dialogs with modern macOS styling
- 💾 Persistent Layout - Your app arrangement is saved automatically
- ⚡ Blazing Fast Startup - Progressive icon loading with intelligent caching
- 🚀 Lightweight - Built with Tauri for native performance
Apple replaced the original Launchpad with a new "Apps" panel that:
- ❌ Removes custom app arrangement
- ❌ Eliminates the folder system
- ❌ Forces automatic categorization
This project restores the original Launchpad experience that users loved, as a standalone application.
- Tauri 2.x - Rust-based desktop framework for native macOS integration
- React 19 - Modern UI with hooks and TypeScript
- Vite 7 - Lightning-fast dev server and build tool
- Tailwind CSS 4 - Utility-first CSS framework
- i18next - Internationalization framework
- Phosphor Icons - Flexible icon family
- Rust - Backend for system integration and app detection
- Download the latest
.dmgfrom Releases - Open the DMG and drag Launchpad to Applications
- Launch from Applications folder or press F4
See BUILD_AND_TEST.md for detailed build instructions.
Quick start:
# Install dependencies
npm install
# Run in development mode
npm run tauri dev
# Build production app (outputs to build/)
npm run tauri:build- Press your keyboard shortcut (default: F4, customizable in Settings)
- Click the Launchpad icon in Applications
- Hot Corners - Move mouse to configured corner (Settings → Hot Corner)
- Note: Trackpad gestures coming soon
- Drag & Drop - Click and drag to rearrange apps
- Create Folders - Drag one app onto another
- Rename Folders - Click folder name in the folder view
- Cross-Page Drag - Drag to screen edges to switch pages
- Arrow Keys - Navigate between pages (when not searching)
- Type to Search - Start typing to filter apps instantly
- Esc - Close Launchpad
- Enter - Launch the first search result
- Right-Click App - Context menu with options:
- Open - Launch the application
- Show in Finder - Reveal app in Finder
- Hide from Launchpad - Remove from view (doesn't uninstall)
- Move to Trash - Safely delete app (recoverable from Trash)
- Right-Click Background - Access grid settings and folder options
- Grid Size - Customize rows and columns for your screen
- Full-Width Mode - Toggle between centered and full-width layouts
- Hot Corner Settings - Configure which corner triggers Launchpad
- Choose corner: Top-left, Top-right, Bottom-left, Bottom-right
- Adjust trigger threshold (5-50 pixels)
- Set debounce delay (100-1000ms)
- Keyboard Shortcut Customization - Change the global shortcut to open Launchpad
- Default: F4
- Examples: CommandOrControl+Space, Alt+L, Shift+F5
- Supports modifiers: Cmd/CommandOrControl, Alt/Option, Shift, Ctrl
- Edit Mode - Toggle jiggling animation for easy rearrangement
launchpad/
├── src/ # React frontend
│ ├── components/ # UI components
│ │ ├── ui/ # Reusable UI primitives (Button, Modal, etc.)
│ │ └── settings/ # Settings modal components
│ ├── hooks/ # Custom React hooks
│ ├── constants/ # App constants and tag definitions
│ ├── locales/ # i18n translation files (8 languages)
│ ├── types/ # TypeScript interfaces
│ ├── App.tsx # Main application
│ └── App.css # Tailwind CSS styles
├── src-tauri/ # Rust backend
│ ├── src/lib.rs # Tauri commands
│ ├── Cargo.toml # Rust dependencies
│ └── tauri.conf.json # App configuration
└── BUILD_AND_TEST.md # Build instructions
Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.
- Fork the repository
- Create your feature branch (
git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature) - Commit your changes (
git commit -m 'Add amazing feature') - Push to the branch (
git push origin feature/amazing-feature) - Open a Pull Request
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
- Phosphor Icons - Beautiful icon system used for the app logo
- Tauri - Amazing framework for building lightweight desktop apps
- Apple - For the original Launchpad design inspiration
- Community - All users who missed the classic Launchpad experience
Completed:
- Multi-monitor support
- Per-monitor focus detection
- Single instance enforcement
- App context menu (reveal in Finder, move to Trash, hide)
- Hot corners activation (configurable corner, threshold, debounce)
- Customizable global keyboard shortcuts
- OS theme integration (light/dark mode)
- OS accent color integration
- Internationalization (8 languages)
- Tags & categories for app organization
- Custom tag creation with icons
- Auto-categorization (system tags based on app type)
- Performance optimization - Progressive icon loading with caching and parallel processing
- Live app sync - Automatically detects newly installed or removed apps
Planned:
- iCloud sync for app layouts
- Multiple layout profiles
- Trackpad gestures (pinch to open/close)
Made with 💙💛 using Tauri and React