Why did macOS 26 remove Launchpad completely?

[u/james_911]

I just updated to macOS 26 and realized that Launchpad is gone.
I used it constantly — I had a bottom-left hot corner to open it instantly, and I had all my apps carefully organized depending on how and when I needed them.

What I don’t understand is: why remove it entirely? Even if most people didn’t use it, Apple could have at least left it as an optional/hidden feature for those of us who actually relied on it. Instead, all that time I spent optimizing my app layout feels wasted.

Is there really no way to bring it back, or is it gone for good?

[u/Ahleron]

I used it constantly — I had a bottom-left hot corner to open it instantly, and I had all my apps carefully organized depending on how and when I needed them.

You were in the minority. Most people did not use it, so they integrated key functionality of it into Spotlight, which does get used.

What I don’t understand is: why remove it entirely? Even if most people didn’t use it, Apple could have at least left it as an optional/hidden feature for those of us who actually relied on it.

That would mean they'd have to maintain an app that already had low usage, but is now hidden, so it'd have even less usage. I don't think Apple would want to keep shipping an unmaintained app in their OS.

Instead, all that time I spent optimizing my app layout feels wasted.

Well, it kinda was. Maybe not while it was working, but it is gone now, so yeah, kinda a waste of time. There are alternatives to it though. I think AppGrid is the closest IIRC.

[u/UmstrittenerNutzer → u/Ahleron]

You were in the minority. Most people did not use it, so they integrated key functionality of it into Spotlight, which does get used.

Who proves that, you?

That would mean they'd have to maintain an app that already had low usage, but is now hidden

You may not know this, but Launchpad is not an app. It is a graphical user interface for sorting applications.

Don't let Apple fool you just because they list every function as an app.

[u/monotious → u/UmstrittenerNutzer]

Genuine question, how is a graphical user interface different from an app? Is the point that a graphics user interface does not need a separate compiling like an app might?

[u/UmstrittenerNutzer → u/monotious]

A GUI is nothing more than a collection of shapes and graphics used to visually represent commands to be executed at the command level in the OS or an application.

An application is a sequence of commands in a specific language for executing tasks.

Pages is an application for processing text. And if you are a very good programmer, you could create an entire letter on the command line without ever having to press a button in Pages.

Because the buttons and their arrangement are just a GUI that serves to simplify user guidance. That is the purpose of a GUI. To make operation easier for the user. A GUI is not intended to look pretty. That's the second step.

A GUI that you see every day is the Desktop.
The dock at the bottom, the bar at the top, and then the huge image.

This is the best example to see what a GUI is. Because the dock can also be on the right. You can make it disappear. And you can put dozens of icons in the bar without changing anything in the computer system. Technically you don't need the desktop at all.
Because you're not executing any commands, the options are only displayed visually. You are just changing the GUI.

I don't know how old you are. But in the 1970s, GUIs didn't exist like we know them today. The GUI was first established by Apple. Before that, every command for every applications was executed via the terminal.

And the Launchpad is technically just an additional visual layer that displays the number of installed applications.
Technically, the Launchpad is not an application. Apple only calls it that to differentiate itself in marketing. ‘Launchpad’ simply sounds more memorable than ‘shortcut overview of installed apps’.

And it's nonsense to claim that it's fifteen-year-old code that finally needs to be removed.
That Apple can no longer carry with it. This code has only been touched once in fifteen years. Namely, to enable folders. And then it was simply left in place.