I can't claim I was in a fugue state or drunk, but against my better judgment, I upgraded my MacBook Pro to macOS Tahoe anyway. Apple's latest operating system has plenty to like — and just as much to hate. The frosted glass aesthetic makes certain interface elements difficult to use. More bluntly: even if you appreciate the new look from a productivity standpoint, it's just ugly. But I can live with that. I don't care how a hammer looks as long as it drives a nail. So long as my laptop lets me work, aesthetics shouldn't matter.
Then I tried to find LaunchPad.
For Windows and Linux users unfamiliar with macOS, LaunchPad was the interface for accessing your computer's applications for over a decade. It opened via dock icon, trackpad gesture, or programmed mouse shortcut like the Logitech MX3. LaunchPad housed all applications you didn't want cluttering your desktop, customizable with folders and rearrangeable icons. It made my workflow seamless. Of course, Apple eliminated it.
Worse, they replaced it with chaos. The same trackpad and mouse gestures that once kept my work flowing now open a disorganized list of every application on the Mac. Yes, Apple offers sorting by app type, but still: fourteen years of an excellent productivity tool and established muscle memory abandoned for novelty? That's unacceptable.
Before rolling back to my previous OS, I discovered a solution: AppGrid Launcher. Available for free in the Mac App Store, this freemium app restores LaunchPad functionality without requiring a subscription. The free version provides everything needed for productive work. I remapped my mouse button to open AppGrid, which replicates the original LaunchPad interface and functionality that Apple's engineers discarded.
