Few Mac users have as many apps on a Mac as you’ll find on my Mac. It’s the Mac360 curse (my night time job). We review apps. To do that means we download and try out apps by the dozens. What every Mac user needs, and has already, is a way to launch apps. Is there such a thing as a killer app launcher? Yes. And no.
The Killer App Launcher
Launching an app on a Mac is easy. Find the app’s icon on the Dock and click. When you have too many apps, the Dock gets crowded, and the icons are difficult to find.
Enter Apple’s new Launchpad. It’s not a killer app launcher. It’s another app launcher, created in the mold of iPhone and iPad. Big fat icons. Windows that move back and forth. App icons which become folders to store even more apps.
That problem from the Dock shows up in the Launchpad. If you have many apps it can be a challenge to find the one you want.
How about the Killer App Launcher? Is it a killer app? Or, merely another launcher without a price tag?
No. No. And Yes
Widgets Live!
Killer App Launcher is really a Dashboard Widget. As launchers go, that’s not so bad because the Dashboard can be invoked without a click (move the mouse pointer to a hotspot).
Here’s what happens when you install KAL, then open Dashboard.
KAL grabs all your apps and lists them in the left column. Click on the apps you want to be included in the launch and they move to the right column.
When you’re done, KAL the Widget looks like this.
Position KAL’s app icons near your hot corner and the apps you want are within a click away. New apps can be added easily, and apps can be moved around within the Widget window using the toolbar at the top.
Do you really need an app launcher beyond Launchpad and the Dock? It depends on how many apps you have, how cluttered your Dock is, and how efficient you want to be.
Killer App Launcher is decent, but not as efficient as my method, which is to move a folder to the right of the Dock and drop app aliases into the folder, making it a quick, free, and customizable launcher.