Browse apps in a clean grid
Open apps visually instead of remembering every name before you start typing.
Mac app launcher for people who still like an app grid.
Facet is a Mac app launcher for people who want to browse apps visually, search quickly, keep folders, and avoid subscription-heavy productivity tools. It restores the app-grid workflow that made Launchpad useful.
A visual launcher, not another command center.
Search from the keyboard
Search when you know the app name, then launch without leaving the keyboard.
Keep folders and categories
Keep creative apps, work tools, utilities, and games grouped in a layout you can recognize.
When Facet is the right Mac app launcher.
Facet is best if you want a launcher that feels native to macOS and keeps the visual app-browsing habit. Spotlight is excellent for typed search. Power launchers are excellent for workflows. Facet focuses on the simpler job: show your apps clearly, let you search, preserve folder organization, and launch fast.
- Use Facet for visual app browsing, folders, and app-grid muscle memory.
- Use the Launchpad location guide if you are trying to find the built-in Launchpad.
- Use the Launchpad alternative guide if you are comparing replacement options.
- Use the replacement guide if you already know you want the old grid back.
Why a grid still matters on macOS.
Typed launchers are fast when you already know the exact app you want. A grid helps when you remember the category, icon, or folder but not the name. That is common for utilities, creative tools, games, and apps you use only occasionally. Facet keeps both paths available: browse visually when you are scanning, search instantly when you know the target.
- Folders help separate work apps, design tools, developer utilities, and games.
- Visual browsing helps with apps you recognize by icon.
- Keyboard search keeps frequent launches fast.
- The core launcher stays free; optional Pro customization is paid once, not by subscription.
What is the difference between a Mac app launcher and Spotlight?
A Mac app launcher is a surface dedicated to opening and organizing applications. Spotlight has a much wider job: Apple’s Spotlight guide describes results from apps, files, actions, the internet, and clipboard history. Its Applications view can browse categories in a grid or list, according to Apple’s app browsing documentation.
Facet deliberately narrows the scope. It scans installed Mac applications, presents them in a user-arranged grid, stores named launcher folders, and offers keyboard search inside that app set. That makes Facet a complement to Spotlight rather than a system-search replacement: one surface preserves spatial organization, while the other answers broad queries across macOS.
How should you test a Mac app launcher?
Open ten familiar apps
Check whether the launcher appears promptly, accepts keyboard input immediately, and returns to the same layout after closing and reopening.
Find five infrequent tools
Try apps whose names you often forget. If the icon or folder gets you there faster than typing, a visual grid is solving a real retrieval problem.
Create and rename a folder
Confirm that organization changes only launcher references and does not move app bundles in Finder. Restart the Mac and verify that the order remains intact.
Test every entry path
Use the global shortcut, Dock or menu-bar entry, and search. A launcher should remain reachable while you change shortcuts or troubleshoot a conflicting hot corner.
What should remain optional?
The essential launch path should stay usable without a trial countdown. Facet Free includes fullscreen browsing, search, folders, manual ordering, readable Launchpad layout import, and a global shortcut. Facet Pro adds separate app collections with Facet Modes, compact mode, hot-corner activation, app hiding and aliases, and advanced layout and appearance controls. The distinction is documented in the edition comparison and can be verified in the public Facet repository.
This separation matters when comparing launchers: free, one-time, and subscription products may all be reasonable, but the paid boundary should be visible before a user reorganizes an app library around the tool.