For questions or proposals, contact me: support@bringbacklaunchpad.com
If you experience problems, please send logs by clicking Help > Send technical data in the AppHub menu bar
This document is also available here: https://bringbacklaunchpad.com/docs.html
The main idea of AppHub (hereinafter, "the Program") is to recreate in full detail the original Apple Launchpad that shipped with macOS in 2011-2025. The project is not complete yet (and most likely it will never be a full 100% copy), but currently I believe this implementation is the closest to the original out there. There are some workarounds that are not present in Apple version, but every significant aspect you know about the Launchpad has been copied at least partially.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. The main grid
2. Closing AppHub vs closing its window
3. Compact mode
4. Switching pages
5. Search
6. Hiding apps
7. "Empty icons" and grid management
8. Folders
9. Deleting apps from Mac using the Program
10. Grid scaling
11. Appearance settings
12. Advanced keyboard selection (BETA)
13. AppHub visibility in Dock and menu bar
14. Hot corners
15. Localization
16. Apple Launchpad import
17. How to reactivate AppHub license key
18. Updating the program
19. How to uninstall the program
20. Known issues
A page with app icons when no folder is opened is what I call "the main grid". It is a 7x5 grid, that is sorted alphabetically by default.
By default, apps are extracted by the Program from folders
/Applications, /System/Applications/Utilities and their subfolders. To include apps from the user folder /Users/user_name/Applications you need to choose it in Settings > Other > Add user applications folder (this is needed because AppHub is properly sandboxed).
When new program is detected, it is added to the grid immediately. If for some reason the grid was not updated, you can force update it in Settings > Other > Refresh App List.
By default, all apps are sorted alphabetically. You can move them as you wish or go back to the default state using Settings > Other > Sort alphabetically. Note, that pressing "Sort Alphabetically" button will not affect apps in folders.
To move an app in the grid, press and hold the icon with a mouse, then move. An app can be moved like this to the next page, but only if it is moved from the last position in the last row (or in the first position of the first row, if moved to the previous page). This is to protect from any accidental movement between pages. It is much easier to move app icons between pages using the context menu: right click on an app icon to choose the needed option.
Drag & drop: to move any app to a folder or to create a folder right from the app grid, press and hold ⌥ Option key and then move an app. After new folder was created or apps were moved to a folder, you can release the ⌥ Option key. This approach is needed to separate normal app icons movement and the case where there is an intention to create / add apps to folders. Although this is not exactly similar to Apple Launchpad behavior, this approach allows to have better experience with much less complex code.
You can change apps icons size, show or hide app titles and change app titles text color in Settings > Other.
By default, after AppHub is launched it is always running. When you open any app from the app grid or close AppHub in any other way, AppHub window is just hidden. To hide the AppHub window, you can:
1) Open any app from the app grid
2) Trigger a hot corner (if enabled). Triggering any hot corner again will reopen AppHub window
3) Click the empty space around the edges of the main grid or between apps icons (if enabled).
Please note, that there are "safe zones" around the page indicators dots. Also, in the compact mode, click-to-exit zones are limited – to make it easier to move AppHub window:
Also, if empty icons are added and "Show empty icons" option is disabled, clicking spots where empty icons are placed will close AppHub window as well.
4) Press ⎋ Escape key. In normal mode: when on the main grid; in compact mode: when on the main grid or in folders (however, if Advanced keyboard selection is enabled, pressing Escape key closes the folder, not AppHub window)
5) Click AppHub icon in Dock once. Clicking it again will reopen AppHub window
6) Press keyboard combination that is set in Settings > Other > Shortcut to open AppHub.
You can use existing combination or add the custom one. "Click to record…" field will accept any combination that includes 2 keys or more, so be sure to add a reasonable keyboard shortcut that will not cause conflicts. To clear "Click to record…" field, press ⌫ Delete key when recording combination.
You can also assign any combination for AppHub "New Window" action in macOS system settings (default is ⌘ Command + N), so you can have several keyboard shortcuts for showing AppHub window at the same time.
To exit the program completely, you can:
1) click "Quit AppHub" option in the menu bar item
2) click "Quit" in the AppHub options in the Dock or AppHub menu bar item
3) press ⌘ Command + Q
By default, AppHub is opened in full screen mode. You can enable compact mode in Settings > Other > Design. The compact mode window can be resized and moved around. When you change the window size, apps icons become bigger or smaller (note, changing app icons size in Settings is unavailable when compact mode is enabled). There are expected limitations with changing apps icons size in this way: with some window configurations apps icons may not be placed perfectly and overlap. However, you can disable apps names and indicator dots in Settings to have more flexibility. After that please try to resize the compact mode window again to find your perfect configuration.
Folder icons are not shown on the main grid in compact mode. Instead, when a folder is added, the folders bar appears, which lists all the folders. Click a folder in a folders bar to open it, X button to close ( ⎋ Escape key always closes AppHub window in compact mode, unless Advanced keyboard selection is enabled). Folders bar can be scrolled in 2 ways:
1) Swipe left or right with two fingers on the trackpad
2) Scroll up or down with a mouse wheel (Mighty Mouse and Magic Mouse also support scrolling left or right)
You can also change the order of folders in the folders bar: right click on a folder and choose either "Move left" or "Move right" option in the context menu.
Unlike in normal mode, in compact mode your last opened folder is remembered: if you hide AppHub window (or even exit the program completely), next time your last opened folder will be opened.
To move app in a folder with drag & drop, drag an app icon to a folder in the folders bar while pressing the ⌥ Option key:
Like in the original Launchpad, there are several ways to switch pages:
1) Swipe left or right with two fingers on the trackpad
2) Swipe up or down with two fingers on the trackpad
3) Scroll up or down with a mouse wheel (Mighty Mouse and Magic Mouse also support scrolling left or right)
4) Click and hold with a mouse to switch pages
5) Click on a page indicator dot
6) Press ⌘ and ← → keys
7) Move selection to another page with keyboard ← → (should be enabled in Settings > Other > Select apps with keyboard)
To search an app, just open the Program and start typing. You will be presented with up to 21 search result, with the first one to be the most relevant. Note, that you can't start typing when a folder is opened, it is only possible on the main grid.
Press ↩ Enter key to open the first app from the results. Press ⎋ Escape key to clear search input.
When in compact mode, search results also include folders in the folders bar.
Context menus work for apps in the search results too.
You can hide apps from the main grid and folders. To do this, you can:
1) Hide an app in the list in Settings > Apps
2) Hide an app using the context menu: right click on an app and choose "Hide app" option
3) Hide an app by Force Touch clicking an app icon in the main grid (should be enabled in Settings > Other > Force Touch actions)
By default, "Apps" app is hidden on macOS 26 and "Launchpad" app is hidden on macOS 15. Hiding an app has an immediate effect. Note, that hidden apps are not shown in the list when a new folder is created.
Important: when unhidden, apps appear in the end of the grid (on the last existing page).
If you want spaces in your app grid (empty spots at the bottom, or maybe a completely custom layout like on iOS 18 home screen), you need to create "empty icons" in Settings > Other > Empty icons. They can be moved like normal app icons (you can even right click them to see the context menu), though they are invisible. To make arrangement easier, you can toggle their appearance in settings.
To create an empty icon on a page where you need it, first switch to that page, then add new empty icon in Settings > Other > Empty icons. Empty icons can be also created in folders (open a folder first and your desired page).
Hierarchy is what made Apple Launchpad so useful. To create a folder, you can:
1) Right click an app icon to choose "Add to folder" option
2) Drag & drop apps on top of each other while ⌥ Option key is pressed
3) Add a new folder in Settings > Folders
A folder can be renamed in settings or right in a folder itself: when a folder is opened, just click its name twice, edit it, then press ↩ Enter key to save new name.
Folders support all switching pages methods that the main grid supports.
Apps can be moved in folders in a similar fashion as in the main grid. To remove an app from a folder, you can:
1) Choose "Remove from folder" option in the context menu
2) Press and hold ⌥ Option key, then click on every app you want to remove from a folder. Note, that the last app in a folder can't be removed with this method
3) Edit a folder in Settings > Folders
Note: after removed from a folder, apps appear in the end of the grid (on the last existing page). Also, after last app was removed from a folder, AppHub relaunch is needed.
Right click a folder in the main grid to see all its options.
The Program can move apps on your Mac to Trash if needed. To do this, you can:
1) Right click on an app icon, then choose "Delete app"
2) Do a Force Touch click on an app icon in the main grid (should be enabled in Settings > Other > Force Touch actions)
In both cases, a confirmation dialogue will be shown.
For system programs, the button is not active. Unlike Apple Launchpad, the Program can delete third-party apps downloaded from the web, however apps from the App Store cannot be deleted.
Deleting an app will instantly remove its icon from the app grid, while restoring that app from Trash will restore an app in the app grid either with next AppHub launch or after "Refresh app list" button is pressed. Important: when restored, apps appear in the end of the grid (on the last existing page).
Everyone use different screens, resolutions, and UI scaling settings. By default, the Program adjusts scaling automatically, dynamically changing spacing between the app rows. Default setting for your display is calculated based on the macOS UI scaling resolution. If you don't like the apps grid layout, you can change it in Settings > Other > Grid scale.
By default, scaling is set automatically on launch. You can disable this to save your preferred settings: Settings > Other > Grid scale > Set scaling automatically.
You can also disable indicator dots and toggle grid scaling in folders for a cleaner look.
You can change background style in Settings > Other > Design to make it more or less transparent. You can also add a custom picture (ideally, with a blur applied). The built-in feature to blur custom picture can also be used, however the blur will be half transparent, blending your picture and the Desktop wallpaper.
Text color can be changed to black or white, which may be useful for different environments. Default setting will make color correspond to macOS Light or Dark mode. After color is changed, the Program needs to be relaunched (this is a workaround to fix the search box text).
You can enable Settings > Other > Select apps with keyboard option.
When enabled, pressing ↑ ↓ ← → keys will visually select the first app on the current page. When an app or a folder is selected, press ↩ Enter key to open it. You can press ⎋ Escape key to close a folder. In compact mode, you can press Tab key to switch focus between the main grid and folder bar, then select a folder.
Current limitations:
1) If "Select apps with keyboard" option is enabled, after
- any app is moved in the grid
- new folder is created
- a folder was edited or removed
you will need to relaunch the Program. This workaround is needed so that correct apps were opened when selected with keyboard (hence, "BETA").
2) Does not work in search results
For switching pages with ⌘ and ← → keys, and also for all cases when ⎋ Escape key is used, Advanced keyboard selection does not have to be enabled.
You can enable AppHub in the menu bar in Settings > Other. This will allow you to quickly open AppHub window, AppHub settings, or change hot corners configuration.
AppHub can be visible:
1) only in Dock
2) in both menu bar and Dock
3) only in menu bar
4) hidden in both menu bar and Dock. This option works best when a keyboard shortcut or hot corners are used
You can enable hot corners in Settings > Hot corners. Then you can choose which hot corner will trigger hiding or reopening AppHub window. Be sure to disable system hot corners in macOS settings to avoid conflicts.
You can also make it work only when one of the modifier keys is pressed: ⌘ Command, ⌥ Option, ⌃ Control, or ⇧ Shift.
To change language of the Program UI, go to System Settings > General > Language & Region > Apps and add AppHub there. Currently supported languages are English, German, French, Ukrainian.
By default, language of app names in the Program corresponds to your system language. In order to speed up loading times, app names analysis (searching for names translations) is only made once after the first launch of the Program. To do analysis again, click Settings > Other > Translate app names on next launch (note, that next launch of the Program may take slightly more time). You can also restore app names to English. Both options require the Program relaunch.
If you are using macOS 15, have updated to macOS 26 (did NOT reinstall the system completely) or happened to have Apple Launchpad configuration files, you can import Apple Launchpad app grid settings to AppHub. To do this, go to Settings > Other > Apple Launchpad import.
"Automatic" option will try to find Apple Launchpad configuration files on your Mac. If Launchpad database files exist, no additional steps are needed.
"Choose folder" option expects a folder (folder name is not important) with 3 Launchpad database files: db, db-shm, db-wal.
Here's how to find Launchpad database files in macOS 15 and earlier:
1. In Finder, press ⇧⌘G and go to folder /private/var/folders
2. Since database folder location may vary, paste com.apple.dock.launchpad in search. Inside that folder there should be 3 files
3. Copy that folder to your desired location and specify a path to it in "Choose folder" window
Important: it is not clear when Apple will remove Launchpad configuration files on macOS 26 (for users who updated from previous systems). Maybe in 10 years, maybe in the next release. Be sure to save Launchpad configuration if it is important to you.
AppHub license key can be only used on 1 Mac. Not because of my greed, but because of how Gumroad license keys API work (I would gladly sell a bundle with 2 or more keys at a discount, but that's not possible with current implementation).
If you have problems with activation, make sure that you are using the latest AppHub version. If nothing helps, proceed with the steps below to reinstall AppHub license on your Mac.
1. First, you’ll need to delete AppHub license in the Keychain.app. Find com.ilaunch.license in Keychain:
Important: there is a very old Keychain app bug: if an item was found through search, it can't be deleted right from the search results (will reappear later). You need to find it in "login" page manually, then delete (yes, that's Apple software in Federighi era).
Your AppHub license will be removed. You can launch AppHub to make sure that it is in a paywalled state.
2. Now you need to restore the license. Open Keychain.app, File > New Password Item. Paste this information:
3. Then open the newly created item and on the "Access Control" tab add the AppHub app, then save:
4. When opening AppHub for the first time after that, type your Mac password and click "Always Allow":
Your purchased license key should activate AppHub then.
AppHub automatically scans for new version once per day. You can disable automatic updates check in "About AppHub" window.
New version should be manually downloaded from Gumroad. To update AppHub, double click the AppHub installer, then move AppHub to Applications folder and replace the old version. AppHub configuration files are never impacted, so your AppHub settings and the app grid layout should not change.
To completely uninstall AppHub from your Mac:
1. Move AppHub icon to Trash
2. Find and remove configuration files:
/Users/your_name/Library/Application Scripts/com.bohdan.ilaunch.app
/private/var/folders/ search for com.bohdan.ilaunch.app
/Users/your_name/Library/Containers/com.bohdan.ilaunch.app
You can can also use specialized software to delete AppHub remnants quicker. I recommend Nektony App Cleaner & Uninstaller.
3. To activate the program again with your license key after reinstall, please see 17. How to reactivate AppHub license key. Important: even after complete uninstall, AppHub license key will not be removed, as it needs to be removed manually.
20.1 Currently you cannot open AppHub with a keyboard combination if AppHub app is not running. As a workaround, you can create a shortcut in Apple Shortcuts app that will open AppHub app, then assign a keyboard combination to that shortcut.
20.2 Currently adding AppHub as a login item is not supported. Although you can do this manually in macOS system settings, it is not recommended: if AppHub is launched on system startup, its first window may have a title bar, while some features may not work at all (for example, enabling compact mode in settings) until AppHub is relaunched.
20.3 When "Background picture" is enabled in Settings > Other > Background style, AppHub tries to use current Desktop image as the default background. However, it only works correctly if you have a static image set; if you set a dynamic wallpaper (HEIC file), AppHub will use default macOS picture as a fallback.
20.4 In full screen mode, if a folder has several pages, clicking empty space on the right (outside of the folder box) will not close the folder.
20.5 After app grid layout was changed in the compact mode, all existing folders will be moved to the last page in fullscreen mode. Fixed in v.2.1.0
20.6 If "Select apps with keyboard" option is enabled, after any folder was renamed by double clicking, any keyboard selection action (pressing an arrow key) will make a system sound – until AppHub is relaunched.
20.7 In some cases, when apps icons are moved in the grid, they appear below other apps icons, not on top of them.
