Launchpad Lion Tutorial

Lion brings to us a new feature, Launchpad, which is clearly inspired from the iOS. You won’t currently find any articles online at Apple’s support site about this feature, save for one–how to remove Mac App Store applications from Launchpad (HT4673). Let’s take a look at this new feature.

If not from the Apple support site, where would we find information about Launchpad? The Mac OS X product page currently features Lion, which highlights the newest additions and is currently the sole provider of helpful information on Launchpad. This page may change, so we will document what we can about this tool.

Launchpad is gesture based just as iOS devices are with their home screens and pages of applications (herein “app” or “apps”). There are multiple ways to get into Launchpad. If you use a Trackpad, you can use a gesture to open Launchpad. If you use hot corners, assign one to Launchpad. There is an available Dock icon for Launchpad that you can click on if you would rather use that, which is available in the Applications folder–just drag and drop it into the Dock if it is not already present. Once in Launchpad, swiping left or right allows you to view the multiple pages of apps that you might have; scrolling left or right on a Mighty Mouse works in the same way.

Launchpad is just like iOS apps management in many ways. To move an app, simply click and hold on it in Launchpad until it starts to shake, then drag it to the location that you want, or drag and drop it on another app to create a folder or drop it on an already existing folder. To remove an application that was installed from the Mac App Store, cause it to shake and present a clickable X that will both remove the application from Launchpad and delete it from the Applications folder. Applications that were not obtained through the Mac App Store will most likely automatically appear in Launchpad, but they cannot be deleted from the Applications folder nor removed from Launchpad from within Launchpad itself. Instead, they must be manually removed from within Finder, which subsequently results in their removal from Launchpad. In some instances, third party applications might not automatically appear in Launchpad when they are downloaded and installed apart from the Mac App Store. In these cases, you will need to drag the application into Launchpad. If you decided to uninstall the application, you must do so from Finder, then go to Launchpad and click on the remaining icon for that app. This icon will change to a question mark. You may then cause it to shake and click the X to remove it from Launchpad. Lion does not allow 10.7 bundled applications to be removed, such as Safari or iTunes.

In sum, here is a list of Launchpad’s features:

• Launching Launchpad
  • Trackpad: pinch 3 fingers plus the thumb
  • Mice: hot corners
  • Dock icon
• Switching Pages in Launchpad
  • Trackpad: two finger swipe left or right
  • Magic Mouse: one finger swipe left or right
  • Mighty Mouse: scroll left or right
• Apps Management in Launchpad
  • All apps: cause to shake and then drag and drop to relocate, create a new folder, or add to a folder
  • 10.7 bundled apps: cannot be removed
  • Mac App Store apps: cause to shake, click X to remove
  • Non-Mac App Store apps that appear automatically in Launchpad: remove only from within Finder
  • Non-Mac App Store apps that appear manually in Launchpad: remove from within Finder first, then launch Launchpad, click the remaining icon and let it change to a question mark, then cause it to shake and click the X to remove it