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How do you add/remove apps from Launchpad?

svkrzn

svkrzn

macrumors regular
Dec 8, 2009
225
9
Australia
kepner said:
Command-Option-Control-Click on the icon you want to disappear immediately. (I have no idea why the **** I thought to try this.)

Dropping an app icon from the Finder onto the Launchpad icon in the Dock will add the app to Launchpad.
Click to expand...

For mi this key combo just opens the app in launchpad. It won't be removed.
 
I

iPlaid

macrumors member
Sep 12, 2010
68
70
For non-Mac App Store apps, I found I had to hide them from LaunchPad. One way to do that is to zip them up, put the originals in the Trash and Empty it.

Then go into LaunchPad and click on the unwanted icons as if to launch them. They'll get a ? over them. Then you can click and hold the mouse on one of them, all the icons will start wiggling, and the ones for the apps you zipped up and trashed the originals will have a delete X on them.

I don't know if LaunchPad will find them again if you unzip them. I had to delete icons it made from old Crossover/Mac launchers Crossover had installed in ~/Applications. I probably have no need to unzip those again, but I'm keeping them in Old_Crossover_Apps.zip.

I suspect this is what will happen when you trash an app from the Applications folder to get rid of it.

Hope this helps.
 
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slicktor

slicktor

macrumors regular
Jul 4, 2010
103
235
That is a lot of trouble just to remove some pointless adobe un-installers and fluff that accompanies certain applications. I really hope Apple fixes this soon. It makes launchpad look terrible and unorganized!
 
parish

parish

macrumors 65816
Apr 14, 2009
1,082
2
Wilts., UK
slicktor said:
That is a lot of trouble just to remove some pointless adobe un-installers and fluff that accompanies certain applications. I really hope Apple fixes this soon. It makes launchpad look terrible and unorganized!
Click to expand...

But is it actually broken?

The negative comments about Launchpad seem to be due to people wanting to have the same level of control as icons on the desktop, i.e. as though it is like a floating desktop.

Maybe I've got the wrong idea, but to me it's an iOS feature on OS X that replicates the look and feel of the home screen on an iDevice. In iOS the only way to remove an app from the home screen on iOS is to delete it. The way to organize it is to put your most used apps on the first screen and the rest on other screens with the least used (and unused built-in apps, which can't be deleted) on the last screen, optionally grouping them in folders.

Personally, I don't use LP as I put my most commonly used apps in the dock and for the rest I use Finder. Obviously there is limited space on the dock so you might not be able to get all your common apps on there.

I read somewhere that the idea behind LP seems to be to make Macs easier to migrate to for PC users who have an iDevice - they don't need to trawl through Finder to find apps, they are all presented in one easily accessible place. It seems that apps will appear in LP no matter where they are on disk.

As for uninstallers, OK so the OS could take a shrewd guess that they aren't really apps in the normal sense if the name contains 'uninstall' but there's still going to be apps that aren't "normal" apps that it won't be able to detect.

Seems to me that if LP doesn't fit in with your way of using OS X - like it doesn't for me - then don't use it. It is just new way of launching apps and all the old ways are still available.
 
Z

ZipZap

macrumors 603
Dec 14, 2007
6,076
1,448
PBF said:
Bug as expected: after computer restart, my Launchpad reset itself. As a result, lost my custom app order as well as folders. Ugh..

For now, not using Launchpad until it's stable. Using Spotlight instead.
Click to expand...

Why am I not surprised by this....Can you imagine the backlash if this happended on the Ipad.
 
Z

ZipZap

macrumors 603
Dec 14, 2007
6,076
1,448
parish said:
But is it actually broken?

The negative comments about Launchpad seem to be due to people wanting to have the same level of control as icons on the desktop, i.e. as though it is like a floating desktop.

Maybe I've got the wrong idea, but to me it's an iOS feature on OS X that replicates the look and feel of the home screen on an iDevice. In iOS the only way to remove an app from the home screen on iOS is to delete it. The way to organize it is to put your most used apps on the first screen and the rest on other screens with the least used (and unused built-in apps, which can't be deleted) on the last screen, optionally grouping them in folders.

Personally, I don't use LP as I put my most commonly used apps in the dock and for the rest I use Finder. Obviously there is limited space on the dock so you might not be able to get all your common apps on there.

I read somewhere that the idea behind LP seems to be to make Macs easier to migrate to for PC users who have an iDevice - they don't need to trawl through Finder to find apps, they are all presented in one easily accessible place. It seems that apps will appear in LP no matter where they are on disk.

As for uninstallers, OK so the OS could take a shrewd guess that they aren't really apps in the normal sense if the name contains 'uninstall' but there's still going to be apps that aren't "normal" apps that it won't be able to detect.

Seems to me that if LP doesn't fit in with your way of using OS X - like it doesn't for me - then don't use it. It is just new way of launching apps and all the old ways are still available.
Click to expand...

Its suppose to be another view of apps on your system. You should be able to hide apps, organize apps etc with no changes to the hard drive.

Does not seem to work like this...in fact does not seem to work period.

I am shocked at the amount of time being wasted figuring out workarounds etc.

I predict it will be a long time before these issues are fixed by apple. First comes stablising the OS then attention to apps.
 
H

Hanas

macrumors newbie
Jul 29, 2011
4
0
Congratulations !

Kieke09 said:
Maybe you'll like this tool:

http://chaosspace.de/dev/launchpad-control-hide-apps-from-launchpad/
Click to expand...

To all contributors, congratulations for a very efficient thread ! The above works super smooth !! And, YES, what a missed opportunity for Apple to launch such a promising feature as LP, and make it so rigid and user unfriendly ... Try moving 1 app from one 'page' to another ... suddenly ALL apps dance around the screen ...

Becoming a believer in MacRumors - - sad Lion has so many defaults that I needed to come and browse here ... after 5 days of installation.

Thanks !
 
J

Jenni8

macrumors member
Apr 27, 2011
87
0
CA
I need to reset Launchpad, it's a mess.

Okay I have a problem with Launchpad now.

So I neatly organized all my apps on the Launchpad. Then I found the Launchpad-Controler.app which I fell in LOVE with instantly.

Then the system glitches later on due to a different app, thus causing the system to restart.

Upon restart a everything reverted back to a different setup from the a couple days ago, although all the new stuff since then remained. Due to Resume I suppose. Well the Resume point was not linear. It was Older. I don't like it so far. Or I just haven't figured it out yet.

Well in opening Launchpad all the apps that were hidden were all back and the layout was like 'half' done. Now keep in mind that I have my time machine backup on an external hard drive I usually keep unplugged other than daily backup. I found that the external HDD was causing the Dock to lock up. So I fixed that by just not having it backup at random all the time, (Which was annoying anyhow.)

So I restored all the 'hidden' files then deleted the app in order to fix my biggest issue of all. All the apps that were 'hidden' are now DUPLICATED on the Launchpad. Now it's just a mess and I need to figure out how to RESET the Launchpad.

So is this going to happen every time I restart the system? Launchpad is going to Reset in its own mean way and screw all my organization! I'd love Launchpad if it was more user friendly. And if it would STAY the way you set it, instead it feels like the computer is playing games with me. I ran away from Windows as fast as I could when I finally got my hands on a mac. I'm hooked, but I cannot WAIT till a valid update addressed these issues.

I do like this app but I'm not liking the idea of having to Reset the Launchpad-command app just to do a restart. And if it bugs again and it restarts FOR me I'll have this mess all over again?

So many questions and so little answers! I guess that's what happens with a Dot Zero update I've learned.

I have to admit. Other than flash not working right, which I fixed for now, but I'd prefer to have better security control with flash like I used to, the overall performance of Lion is amazing so far. Safari has got me hooked suddenly as I love the gesture commands and the SPEED. Much faster than Firefox for me.

I liked Launchpad at first, but now it's more of an annoyance for now.

So here is my Real question. How do I Reset the Launchpad to reload all the apps from scratch?
 
Last edited:
J

Jenni8

macrumors member
Apr 27, 2011
87
0
CA
Answering my own question

Jenni8 said:
Okay I have a problem with Launchpad now.

So I neatly organized all my apps on the Launchpad. Then I found the Launchpad-Controler.app which I fell in LOVE with instantly.

Then the system glitches later on due to a different app, thus causing the system to restart.

Upon restart a everything reverted back to a different setup from the a couple days ago, although all the new stuff since then remained. Due to Resume I suppose. Well the Resume point was not linear. It was Older. I don't like it so far. Or I just haven't figured it out yet.

Well in opening Launchpad all the apps that were hidden were all back and the layout was like 'half' done. Now keep in mind that I have my time machine backup on an external hard drive I usually keep unplugged other than daily backup. I found that the external HDD was causing the Dock to lock up. So I fixed that by just not having it backup at random all the time, (Which was annoying anyhow.)

So I restored all the 'hidden' files then deleted the app in order to fix my biggest issue of all. All the apps that were 'hidden' are now DUPLICATED on the Launchpad. Now it's just a mess and I need to figure out how to RESET the Launchpad.

So is this going to happen every time I restart the system? Launchpad is going to Reset in its own mean way and screw all my organization! I'd love Launchpad if it was more user friendly. And if it would STAY the way you set it, instead it feels like the computer is playing games with me. I ran away from Windows as fast as I could when I finally got my hands on a mac. I'm hooked, but I cannot WAIT till a valid update addressed these issues.

I do like this app but I'm not liking the idea of having to Reset the Launchpad-command app just to do a restart. And if it bugs again and it restarts FOR me I'll have this mess all over again?

So many questions and so little answers! I guess that's what happens with a Dot Zero update I've learned.

I have to admit. Other than flash not working right, which I fixed for now, but I'd prefer to have better security control with flash like I used to, the overall performance of Lion is amazing so far. Safari has got me hooked suddenly as I love the gesture commands and the SPEED. Much faster than Firefox for me.

I liked Launchpad at first, but now it's more of an annoyance for now.

So here is my Real question. How do I Reset the Launchpad to reload all the apps from scratch?
Click to expand...

I figured it out and it was so easy!

http://www.tuaw.com/2011/07/21/how-to-refresh-os-x-lions-launchpad-contents/

All my apps show again with no duplicates. Now as to prevent this from happening again if I choose to use the Launchpad-Control, I'll be working on that one.
 
Prodo123

Prodo123

macrumors 68020
Nov 18, 2010
2,326
10
J

Jenni8

macrumors member
Apr 27, 2011
87
0
CA
Prodo123 said:
I just tried it. If you're gonna use this method, kiss icon organization goodbye; it resets the layout to the layout in the Applications folder...
Click to expand...

I needed this method which is what I was hoping for, a reset, my Launchpad had weird dupes and such.

I just reorganized my Launchpad. I have yet to use the Launchpad-Control app again so far. I just don't know yet if it's going to all reset again when I restart. I shall see soon . . .
 
M

Mere

macrumors newbie
Mar 30, 2009
11
0
LaunchpadCleaner

Here's an easy way to delete or restore launchpad apps without using terminal commands or deleting/uninstalling any apps: :)

LaunchpadCleaner: A small, simple and free app that allows you clean up your Launchbar with a single click: http://zoltanb.co.uk/launchpadcleaner/
 
K

Kanunu

macrumors 6502
Apr 18, 2009
262
6
Hawaii
Like iPad (sort of!!)

I hope this is not too off topic but it seems related and I did not want to start another thread.

I don't own an iPhone but anyone who owns an iPad will instantly recognize that LP is a clone appearance wise of the iPad app screen. What it lacks is the quite functional ability to move around icons that exists in iTunes. There, if you open the device, on the Apps tab you find a replication of the screen and smaller versions of the screens below. It is easy to move icons from one to the other. If Apple could implement something like this in LP it would be a big improvement.

My own personal organization solution is to drag my most common app icons onto the first page, utilities to the second, games third and stuff I seldom use (uninstallers) or don't really need to see (like apps that run background) on the last. This setup took me a while and would have been a lot easier if the above suggestion was part of LP.

I also use a Logitech mouse (sorry fanboys) and had a side button programmed for Expose which did not convert to LP. I am hoping Logitech will update their preferences pane but that's for me to bring up with them.
 
*LTD*

*LTD*

macrumors G4
Feb 5, 2009
10,703
1
Canada
If you're using a Magic Trackpad, simply click (as in, clicking down, not tapping) on an app and hold. It's just like in iOS.

You'll see the familiar app-wobble and you can click on the x-badges on the apps to get rid of them.
 
E

EdwinG

macrumors newbie
Feb 26, 2011
12
0
one more strange, when the app been renamed in app folder, the name in LP still the same and the icon just showed a grey square box.
 
L

loosedrag

macrumors newbie
Aug 2, 2011
2
0
kepner said:
Command-Option-Control-Click on the icon you want to disappear immediately. (I have no idea why the **** I thought to try this.)

Dropping an app icon from the Finder onto the Launchpad icon in the Dock will add the app to Launchpad.
Click to expand...


Hmm. Using mbp 2.4. Not finding either of these tricks to work. The first just opens the app (after getting them all to jiggle) and the second , well, it doesn't add the app to launchpad.
 
Last edited:
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