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CLUSTER LAUNCHER-MACOS-APPLICATIONS · 14 ENTRIES · EARLIEST ENTRY 2026-08-11

Desktop app launchers

This cluster comprises nine application launchers, most built for macOS, that replace or augment system-level search and app launching with features like search, groups, pinning, and recent activity. Only two dated entries exist before the index start, so the cluster's dated history is too thin to read a shape from. Traction leadership is clear: QLaunch has the highest activity with 29 stars, while the other members show much lower engagement.

Entry timeline

ENTRY TIMELINE

AUG 2026: 3SEP 2026: 5OCT 2026: 6
AUG 2026OCT 2026

Each bar is the month a member carries, which is a creation date where the source published one and a crawl date otherwise. Nothing in the index was found before 11 August 2026, and coverage broadened sharply on 14–15 August, so a bar from then on reports how much we found that month, not how much was built; an earlier bar reports how far back a member's own source dated it — not how long we have been watching.

Members by activity

Activity signals, not revenue.

Build origin · 2 hand-coded · 12 unlabelled

Operator · 5 hobby · 2 indie · 7 unlabelled

Two labels per entry, never collapsed into one: how it was built, and who stands behind it. Counted over the 14 listed below. Unlabelled means nothing has decided yet — not that the answer is small.

  1. 01aero-dock73★24 days—hand-codedGlass dock and app launcher for Windows with live window previews and themes.
  2. 02QLaunch49★24 dayslivemacOS launcher that lets users quickly find and open installed applications.
  3. 03Quicksilver-Center9★22 days—Mac launcher that provides a focused workspace for quickly opening apps and managing everyday tasks.
  4. 04digup-launcher4★1 day—hobbyLauncher extension that finds files by name or by describing content inside documents, images, recordings, and videos on a Mac.
  5. 05fastlight3★1 daylivehobbymacOS launcher that finds apps and files on the whole disk from a keyboard shortcut, using fuzzy matching to tolerate typos.
  6. 06LaunchDesk2★1 day—hobbyWindows launcher that starts local apps, scripts, and services from grouped shortcuts with dependency ordering, live logs, and health monitoring.
  7. 07better-spotlight4★1 molivehand-codedNative macOS app that replaces Spotlight with faster search and launch capabilities.
  8. 08MacOS-AppShelf3★24 days—hobbymacOS app launcher that organizes installed applications into searchable groups and shows live running status for quick access.
  9. 09Nexlet1★1 dayliveindieDesktop launcher and toolbox that provides app and file search, clipboard history, calculation scratchpad, JSON tools, and a plugin system for Windows and macOS.
  10. 10lizard1★2 daysliveindiemacOS launcher that searches apps, notes, clipboard history, screenshots, and windows, with local AI and extension support.
  11. 11goose-hub0★15 days—macOS app launcher that hosts and manages multiple utility components for authentication, bookmarks, system monitoring, and command execution.
  12. 12Orbit0★9 dayslivehobbymacOS launcher that instantly searches apps and files and provides an AI assistant that can operate on them after confirmation.
  13. 13wzzbl-toolbox0★26 days—Desktop tool launcher that organizes local programs and web bookmarks into searchable, groupable card wall for quick access.
  14. 14hatch0★1 mo—Local application launcher for macOS and Windows with search, groups, pins, and recent activity.

Ranked by traction, highest first, and paged 20 at a time — this is a window on the cluster, never the whole of it. Ties are broken by a stable id so a product cannot appear on two pages or fall between them. Browse every cluster.