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LaunchBack

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@vbored vbored released this 07 Jul 20:40
v1.0.0
4b23a28
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Restores the classic full-screen Launchpad grid that macOS Tahoe replaced with a search-only "Apps" view — as a small standalone app, not a system patch.

Features

  • Full-screen paginated grid — the classic Launchpad layout, 7 columns per page, icons sized to fill their cell
  • Live search — type to filter apps by name, just like the original
  • Global hotkey — ⌥⌘Space toggles the overlay from anywhere (easily rebindable)
  • Swipe or drag between pages — trackpad two-finger swipe and mouse click-drag both work
  • Smooth open/close animation — fade + subtle zoom, not a hard cut
  • Escape to go back — clears search first, then dismisses on a second press; click anywhere outside an icon also dismisses
  • Toggle-friendly — re-launching the app (double-click, Dock, open) toggles the existing instance instead of doing nothing or requiring a quit first

Requirements

  • macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later — built and tested through macOS Tahoe
  • Universal binary — native on both Apple Silicon and Intel

Installation

  1. Download LaunchBack.dmg below
  2. Drag LaunchBack.app into /Applications
  3. First launch: right-click → Open (this build is ad-hoc signed, not notarized, so Gatekeeper will otherwise warn — this is a one-time step)

Known limitations

  • Not notarized — see step 3 above. Notarization requires a paid Apple Developer account and may come in a future release.
  • First launch after copying to a new Mac can take several seconds while Gatekeeper verifies the signature; subsequent launches are instant.
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