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LaunchBack for Mac

An alternative implementation of the classic Launchpad (pre-Tahoe).

By trey-a-12. Free and open source.

Get it with OpenDMG View source on GitHub

LaunchBack at a glance

Version
1.0.0-initial
Released
22 June 2025
Download size
2.2 MB
Works on
Apple silicon and Intel
Category
Productivity
Developer
trey-a-12
GitHub stars
244

About LaunchBack

A free and open-source re-implementation of the macOS Launchpad pre-Tahoe

Screenshots

LaunchBack screenshot 1

How to install LaunchBack on a Mac

  1. Get OpenDMG. It is a free app store for open source Mac apps. Download OpenDMG.
  2. Search for LaunchBack and press Get. OpenDMG downloads version 1.0.0-initial from trey-a-12's own GitHub release.
  3. Open it. The download is checked against its SHA-256 fingerprint and its signature is checked on your Mac before it lands in Applications.

Updates to LaunchBack show up in OpenDMG and install with one button. No account is needed.

Prefer to do it by hand? The developer's file is on GitHub: LaunchBack.1.0.Initial.Release.dmg (2.2 MB).

What is new in LaunchBack 1.0.0-initial

### The first official release of LaunchBack is now out! This is still more or less a "proof of concept", but things have come along to the point that this is now usable! Download the app below and move it to your "Applications" folder!

Many things are still a Work in Progress (WIP) for future releases such as the Settings window (which is currently a placeholder), you cannot reorder applications, and there are no folders... yet. There is also no keyboard support and scrolling may be a bit imperfect, but please, let me know how things go! My advice: Scrolling vertically (or in very small increments horizontally) works best, and I highly recommend apps with smooth scrolling for external mice such as [Mac Mouse Fix](https://macmousefix.com/en/) to improve the experience with external mice. However, there is a functional application grid showing all system-wide applications! I plan to add support for custom application directories in a future release so you could include your user-only applications or any others.

#### Instructions:
…

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