FlexDock User GuideEvery launch, just right
Why this app exists
macOS 26 removed the Launchpad that served us for over a decade. We tried the official alternatives
and every launcher we could find — and something always felt missing:
an app shouldn't be limited to one folder, and finding an app shouldn't depend on remembering its name.
FlexDock was born from that: an app can belong to several categories at once, and search works however
you think — full words, initials, or abbreviations like gc for Google Chrome. Everything you use
most is three seconds away. This is a tool we rely on every day; we hope it helps you too.
02Features
🗂 One app, many categories
Right-click any app → "Add to Category"; or right-click empty space to enter edit mode, select several apps, then click a category tab to file them all at once. A dot on an icon's corner means it belongs to more than one category. Right-click a tab to rename or delete a category (deleting only removes the link — apps are never uninstalled).
⚡ Instant search
Typing anywhere in the launcher starts a search: full pinyin (beiwanglu), initials (bj → 备忘录), or Chinese text, with live results while your input method is still composing.
Multi-word English names support abbreviation search: take the first letters of each word in order — gc / gch → Google Chrome, vs / vsc / vsco → Visual Studio Code; even googlechrome typed straight through works. ↵ launches the first match, Esc steps back. You can also give any app an alias (right-click → "Set Alias") and search by the name you actually use.
🏷 Tags
Apps get semantic tags automatically from the built-in knowledge base (10,590 Mac apps), plus your own custom tags and source fallbacks (App Store / Homebrew / System) covering every app. Click # in the toolbar to open the tag sidebar: browse all tags for free, click one to filter (tag filtering is a Pro feature — free users see an upgrade prompt). ↻ re-matches tags (a match count is shown). Right-click → "Edit Tags" (Pro): create your own tags with multi-select chips, pick from existing tags, batch-tag in edit mode; if an automatic tag is wrong, click to remove it per app and click again to restore (local only). A tag can also materialize into a same-named category whose name follows the in-app language (all Pro management actions).
📁 Folders
Click 📁 in the toolbar for the folders view: system folders (Desktop, Documents, Downloads…) work out of the box, and you can add your own. Clicking a card opens it in Finder; rename or remove entries freely (removing only deletes the shortcut, never the folder).
✎ Edit mode
Right-click empty grid space → "Organize Apps": icons wiggle gently to show edit mode. Click icons to select (multi-select supported), then click a category tab to file them all (or tag them in bulk). Esc or "Done" exits. Category tabs support drag-to-reorder (among manually created categories); the order is saved automatically.
🔄 Automatic app sync
Installing, removing or renaming an app syncs to the list within a second. The ↻ button in the toolbar refreshes manually: it's disabled while syncing and flashes a green checkmark when done; even if the system index is busy it completes within 15 seconds (falling back to a file scan) — it never hangs. The dashed + adds apps from any path, even outside the standard Applications folders.
📊 Usage stats
Every launch is counted automatically (including launches from Finder or Dock). "All Apps" is sorted by 30-day usage frequency, and the About page shows totals for app count and launch count.
🖥 Summoning & browsing
Three ways to summon: the global hotkey (default ⌥Space, change it to any combo in Settings), clicking the FlexDock menu bar icon, or resting the pointer in a screen corner (hot corners, Pro). Inside the overlay: a toolbar button switches between grid and list views; swipe left/right on a trackpad, use ← →, or click the page dots to flip pages.
Keyboard & actions
| ⌥Space | Show / hide the launcher (remap to any combo in Settings) |
| Just type | No clicking needed — typing starts a search |
| ↵ | Launch the first match |
| Esc | Step back: Folders → Edit → Search → Close |
| ← → | Page navigation (trackpad swiping works too) |
| ⌘Q | Quit FlexDock (app menu) |
Note: the Settings panel has no shortcut of its own — open it via the toolbar gear button.
04Settings
⚙ Settings
Open via the toolbar gear button (no shortcut of its own). Sections:
· Summon hotkey — click the hotkey field, then press the combo you want (e.g. ⌥Space); applies immediately;
· Import — detects leftover pre-Tahoe Launchpad databases and migrates your old pages and folders into categories, safe to repeat;
· Entry animation — the wavy fade-in of grid icons (off by default);
· Hot corners (Pro) — pick screen corners + a dwell-time slider: rest the pointer to summon (off by default; note corners are shared with system gestures — top-left sits next to the Apple menu, bottom-left next to the Dock, so avoid the system corners you use most);
· Pro / About — purchase state and version info.
Note: the language (中文 / English, the 🌐 toolbar button) and themes (the 🎨 toolbar button) live in the launcher's top bar, not in Settings.
After the first-launch guide completes, launch at login (visible and toggleable in System Settings → General → Login Items) and pinning to the left side of the Dock are set up automatically.