Mac users on the Google Chrome Dev Channel are now able to download and enable the Chrome App Launcher.
The feature, which was rolled out to Windows users earlier this year, gives instant access to installed web apps, shortcuts, bookmarks and search results without the need to open Chrome itself.
Squared Off Design
On Windows, it’s under the Google Chrome heading on the All apps list. On a Mac, you can find it inside Launchpad. Either right-click and choose Pin to Taskbar (Microsoft machines) or drag the icon to the dock (Apple machines) to make the App Launcher a permanent part of your shortcut setup. The Launcher shows all of your installed Chrome apps. If you have used Chrome OS before, you have seen the Chrome App Launcher. This is an icon that appears in your dock, which upon clicking it shows a list of your Chrome Apps and shortcuts. It is a convenient tool for accessing your content quickly.
Chrome’s App Launcher works on Windows and Mac in much the same way as it down on Chrome OS.
You get a small, square icon that, when clicked, reveals a grid of app icons and a search box.
Application icons badged with a small arrow icon are ‘traditional’ web apps/shortcuts that open in a new tab. Apps without this are newer ‘Packaged Apps’ and open (typically) in their own window.
Depending on the number of apps you have installed you may see several ‘lines’ at the bottom of the App launcher box. These denote the number of pages available.
You can switch pages by clicking on one of these lines or by swiping with two fingers on your trackpad.
Right-click/two-finger tap on an app icon and you can perform one of several options, including specifying whether an app opens as a regular tab, a pinned tab, or full-screen.
You can also choose to view the selected item in the Chrome Web Store, or uninstall straight from the App Launcher.
(Super) Search Box
App Launcher Pc
The search box does more than just search through apps you have installed. It’s able to sift through your bookmarks, fetch results from Google and show the ‘top hit’ for your term from the Chrome Web Store.
Turn On the Chrome App Launcher
Chrome Launcher Download
As mentioned at the outset of this article: you need to be on the Chrome Dev Channel in order to be able to enable and use the app launcher.
Assuming you’re signed in with a Google account, all you need to do is hit the button below to enable the feature.
A few things worth noting:
- A new folder called ‘Chrome Apps’ will appear in ‘Applications’
- Packaged apps will appear in Launchpad
Google App Launcher
Stable users clicking on the button below will find themselves redirected to the webstore.
Mac: Chrome’s new app launcher, which has been available on Windows since July, is now available on the Mac. With it, you can launch Chrome apps directly from your dock via a popup menu.
If you haven’t seen Chrome’s app launcher before, it’s very simple: it sits in your dock and when you click on it, you can launch any of your favourite webapps and Chrome apps. You can set each app to open as a regular tab, as a pinned tab, or as a maximised window. To enable the launcher, make sure you’re on the Dev or Beta channel and hit the link below to try it out.
Update: Reader Peter Marcano discovered that the app launcher is available in the stable channel, too! Just head to chrome://flags and enable “App Launcher OSX App Bundle.” Thanks, Peter!
Chrome Launcher [Google via OMG! Chrome!]