best application launcher for the dock

eliahueliahu
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Sick and tired of my cluttered dock. I've started looking around for a good application launcher that will live in the dock. I've found the following options:



Yadal



A-Dock



DockLauncher



There's always something that keeps any one from being the perfect dock-based application launcher. Yadal has a beautiful dock icon which is even customizeable. But you don't get application icons in the pop-up menu. A-Dock is organized the way the dock SHOULD be. Unfortunately you can't customize the application launcher part, and you have to ditch the real dock, which will kill window minimizing. DockLauncher seems to have the functionality I'm looking for, but that icon is just plain nasty.



Any recommendations out there? Please do not recommend menu-based launchers TigerLaunch. Dock replacements like DragThing are simply too problematic. I'm looking for a nice dockling I can stick in the application side of the dock. The app should have a nice icon and a customizeable pop-up menu that shows application icons.



Thanks for your help!

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    der kopfder kopf Posts: 2,275member
    So why don't you use DockLauncher, but stick Yadal's icon on there?
  • Reply 2 of 7
    dale soreldale sorel Posts: 186member
    I use TigerLaunch in the menubar
  • Reply 3 of 7
    eliahueliahu Posts: 71member
    Upon further examination, neither Yadal nor DockLauncher are really what I'm looking for. They're practically identical. I'm not interested in TigerLaunch, because it doesn't live in the Dock. Does anyone know of an application launcher that shows the application icons in the pop-up menu? Both Yadal and DockLauncher also require a right click (or ctrl click) to get the menu. Bad. Why hasn't anyone written a decent dockling app launcher for OS X? Unbelievable! Talk about an opportunity...
  • Reply 4 of 7
    peharripeharri Posts: 169member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by eliahu

    Upon further examination, neither Yadal nor DockLauncher are really what I'm looking for. They're practically identical. I'm not interested in TigerLaunch, because it doesn't live in the Dock. Does anyone know of an application launcher that shows the application icons in the pop-up menu? Both Yadal and DockLauncher also require a right click (or ctrl click) to get the menu. Bad. Why hasn't anyone written a decent dockling app launcher for OS X? Unbelievable! Talk about an opportunity...



    Ok, how does the functionality you want differ from dragging a folder with the applications (or links to the applications) onto the dock? (Click for one second on the folder for a pop-up menu.)



    I mean, reading what you're saying, all you want is to launch other applications from the dock without them all being there on the main part of the dock itself. Presumably once they're running, you're happy with them being on the dock itself until they're quit. This (underdocumented, as usual) feature of the dock where you can drag a folder onto it and then wait-click (or right-click if you have a two button mouse) seems to me to be what you're looking for, or are you after something more radical?
  • Reply 5 of 7
    eliahueliahu Posts: 71member
    Thanks for the tip on the folder in the dock. I tried that solution back when 10.2 debuted. It had several severe drawbacks:



    1) Inconsistent Positioning

    I didn't like having my application launcher at some seemingly random point in the dock (apps start on the left and move out to the right, then folders and documents follow the same model--depending on the number of apps in the dock, your folder location will move). I want my application launcher pinned on the left where I can be sure it will always be there.



    2) High Maintenance

    I don't want to have to do a ton of maintenance to keep the launcher current. Using the folder and alias method, I had to keep updaing my aliases whenever I installed a version update or a new app.



    3) Not easily configurable

    If I have certain frequently used applications that I want quick and easy access from the app launcher--I don't want to nest them inside a sub folder. I may want them to appear at a specific point at the top level of the menu. To do this, I would need to rename the alias in a speicific way that would make it appear in the order I want. If I want to create dividers to show logical groupings, that would be impossible without making the dividers look bizarre because again, I would have to use numbers or letters to get them to appear in the desired spot.



    4) Requires a key-click combination to invoke

    To view the contents of a folder, you have to control-click (or right click if you have a 2 button mouse). I'm on a powerbook, so I'm stuck with the ctrl-click method of accessing the launcher. I find this awkward and annoying. I just want to click on it and make it work.



    Thank you all for your help...
  • Reply 6 of 7
    peharripeharri Posts: 169member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by eliahu

    4) Requires a key-click combination to invoke

    To view the contents of a folder, you have to control-click (or right click if you have a 2 button mouse). I'm on a powerbook, so I'm stuck with the ctrl-click method of accessing the launcher. I find this awkward and annoying. I just want to click on it and make it work.



    Thank you all for your help... [/B]



    Understand the other complaints. I guess to get by you could always write a script to keep that folder maintained, but that is a PITA...



    (4) is incorrect. You only need to hold the mouse down for a second and then the menu will pop-up. I'm not sure there is a way of writing a dock-based app so that it could put up a menu instantly, but I haven't studied the APIs in great detail. But certainly, you do not need two mouse buttons, nor do you need to hold down control/command/whatever.
  • Reply 7 of 7
    eliahueliahu Posts: 71member
    Quote:

    (4) is incorrect. You only need to hold the mouse down for a second and then the menu will pop-up. I'm not sure there is a way of writing a dock-based app so that it could put up a menu instantly, but I haven't studied the APIs in great detail. But certainly, you do not need two mouse buttons, nor do you need to hold down control/command/whatever. [/B]



    True enough, and that's the model I tend to be using. It's just slow.



    There should be a way to get a menu up instantly. Have you seen what the fine folks at Connectix dreamed up? They somehohw magically integrated the "start menu" of a running instance of windows in Virtual PC into the dock. It's amazing.



    I discovered another app called "Ugly Dockling". It shows application icons in the menu, which no other app launcher does. On the downside, it has a custom "application on" icon which is not easy to change. And the default icon is hideous. This "app" is really just a glorified folder. It uses application aliases in a specified folder to manage the pop-up menu. This has all the same downsides as using a folder, minus the downside of the placement of the launcher.



    I've been testing out the various options and I find myself using Yadal most often. It seems to be the best of the available choices so far. It can be configured to automatically check for new applications, alleviating some maintenance issues. I like A-Dock, but it needs more work before it's viable. The cool thing about A-Dock is that it has feedback showing which application the user is "in" in addition to showing all apps that are currently running. This, in my opinion, is a glaring omission in the dock.
Sign In or Register to comment.