AppGrid Overview

AppGrid for Mac is a Launchpad-replacement app launcher built to bring back the classic grid view of apps after Apple removed Launchpad entirely in macOS 26 Tahoe. It lets you browse, organize, and open almost any app on your Mac from a familiar visual grid, and it can import your existing Launchpad layout directly so you don't have to rebuild folders and groupings from scratch. The core grid experience — viewing, renaming, and alphabetically sorting apps — is free forever, while a Pro upgrade unlocks multi-select drag-and-drop, grouping, hot corner and pinch-gesture activation, and saved grid files. It's built specifically for Mac users who navigate by scanning a visual layout rather than typing into a search bar, which is exactly the workflow Apple's replacement "Applications" view doesn't support.

Why Choose AppGrid for Mac?

The single biggest reason this app exists is a macOS-specific event competitors rarely explain clearly: Apple removed Launchpad outright in macOS 26 Tahoe, replacing it with a plain "Applications" list view that drops the visual grid entirely. AppGrid was built to fill that exact gap, and its import tool reads your old Launchpad database or Launchpad Manager configuration so existing folders and app positions carry over instead of forcing a manual rebuild.

The other Mac-specific detail worth knowing before downloading: the App Store version of AppGrid is sandboxed, so system-level features like pinch-gesture activation and Hot Corner triggers only work in the version downloaded directly from the developer's own site. Apple's sandboxing rules block that level of system input access inside App Store apps, which is a real functional difference between the two builds that most quick reviews gloss over entirely.

Key Features

  • Classic Launchpad-style grid view for browsing and launching apps
  • One-click import of existing Launchpad or Launchpad Manager layouts
  • Multi-select drag-and-drop for moving, grouping, or removing several apps at once (Pro)
  • Adjustable pages with custom names and assigned categories
  • Liquid Glass, custom image, or solid-color background styling for pages and groups
  • Global hotkey and menu bar icon to show or hide the grid instantly
  • Automatic detection and addition of newly installed apps (optional setting)
  • Save and load grid layouts as files, useful when moving between Macs
  • Keyboard shortcuts for page navigation, edit mode, and jumping directly to a page
  • Opens on whichever display currently has the mouse cursor

What's New in 1.1.17 Version

  • Recent updates have focused on stability and Tahoe-specific compatibility rather than major redesigns:
  • Added a menu bar icon toggle to show or hide AppGrid without a keyboard shortcut
  • Introduced a safety confirmation step before rebuilding the app database from scratch
  • Added editable page names with assignable categories
  • Fixed a memory leak and high CPU usage triggered by large numbers of subfolders in Applications
  • Added settings for automatically adding newly installed apps and for launching AppGrid at login
  • Improved dialog handling with Escape-key and click-outside-to-dismiss support
  • These changes make the app noticeably lighter to run day-to-day, especially for users with large, heavily organized app collections.

Supported macOS Versions

The App Store listing sets the minimum at macOS 14.6, while the developer's own site recommends macOS Sequoia or later for the fullest feature set, plus at least 4GB of RAM and 50MB of free storage. Because AppGrid exists specifically to replace the Launchpad grid that Apple dropped in macOS 26 Tahoe, it runs on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs without any architecture-specific limitations — the differences that matter here are between the sandboxed App Store build and the direct download, not between chip types.

How to Install AppGrid on Mac?

  1. Go to the developer's official AppGrid download page
  2. Choose the version that matches how you plan to use it, since some system-level features are only available through the direct download
  3. Open the downloaded installer file once it finishes downloading
  4. Follow the on-screen steps to move AppGrid into your Applications folder
  5. Launch AppGrid and grant any permissions it requests for reading installed apps
  6. Choose whether to import your existing Launchpad layout during first setup

How to Use AppGrid on Mac?

  1. Open AppGrid using your assigned keyboard shortcut or the menu bar icon
  2. Use Import from Launchpad if you want your existing folders and app positions carried over
  3. Open Settings to choose a Liquid Glass, custom image, or solid-color background
  4. Turn on automatic addition of newly installed apps if you don't want to add them manually later

Final Verdict

AppGrid for Mac is the clear pick for anyone who relied on Launchpad's visual grid and lost it in macOS 26 Tahoe, especially those with large app collections who organize by sight rather than search. It's less essential for users who never used Launchpad's grid view or who are fully comfortable navigating apps through Spotlight-style search instead.

Download AppGrid for Mac

Miss the old Launchpad grid on your Mac?

Whether you're moving from an Intel Mac or updating an Apple Silicon Mac to macOS 26 Tahoe, AppGrid brings back the visual app grid, imports your old layout, and adds organization tools Launchpad never had.