You don't have to click: Launchpad is available via an unmodified F4, so it's a single button press to bring up instantly, no matter what you're doing.

You don't have to "page through a giant iPhone screen", you can type and select. I used to use it all the time, without ever reaching for the mouse to do so.

Launchpad also let you change the order of app icons and group them into pages and folders; I don't think the new system lets you do any of these things.

Launchpad was focussed on a single task: launching an app. If I need to launch an app, I know I need to 99.9% of the time (I'm hedging; it's probably 100%), so there's no benefit showing me documents, web pages, and god-knows-what-else at the same time.

I nearly forgot: while I was testing Tahoe, I had a situation in which some apps just did not show up when I typed. They were in the list, they just got filtered out incorrectly. I've no idea if this was a bug or not; I'll see when I upgrade to the final release.

I don't use Launchpad but I can say, for me, Spotlight sucks! It decides at random times not to complete. I have it set to show apps only. I don't want it to find other things. But quite often I'll press Cmd-Space and type something and it won't find it. For example I just tried "pho" and it did not show Photoshop (which is on my system) but did show stuff completely unrelated to apps and I double checked, I only have apps selected in the Spotlight Search Results section in settings.

If you have multiple ways to do something on a computer/phone, some relatively large percentage of people will fumble around until they figure out a way to do it - and then do it that way forever.

So if someone accidentally triggered Launchpad and realized they could see their apps, they might use that forever (not knowing you can put your Applications folder in your Dock and use it as a start menu lol).

Spotlight indexing (mediaanalysisd, mds_stores) has a bad habit of running so aggressively when I'm not using the computer (I have an M1 mini and an M4 MBP) that it noticeably heats up the case. I've had to shut it off out of concern for wasted power and SSD life. Naturally, Apple has no response to this problem, and you can't really diagnose or fix anything on your own without turning off SIP, so I've had to disable Spotlight. Launchpad isn't as convenient, but it doesn't require indexing.

Because I vaguely remember that one icon I use every other month, but can't recall the name. The icons are also ordered by installation time, so it's easy to jump to the most recent ones.

I use it rarely, but sometimes I'm happy it's there.

> click and page through a giant iPhone screen

1. Launchpad filters based on what you type. You don't have to page through things 2. As soon as you type anything, the first hit is selected and the return key launches it 3. Launchpad shows nothing but apps. As an app launcher, it's fantastic.

If Launchpad is gone I'm going to be sad.

I always forget that Launchpad even exists. I guess it doesn't now. I suppose it might be helpful if you just know "I need that app that looks like X" and don't actually recall the first two letters of the app's name.

Launchpad is an easy gesture with the trackpad (pinch with thumb and three fingers), then type to filter and return to launch. I got used to it for stuff I don't keep in the dock (which is a lot, since I have the dock on the side and only a few things in it).

I suppose Spotlight is OK as a substitute: COMMAND-SPACE, then type to filter and return to launch. It's a little more clunky (as the search results take a few milliseconds to be assembled) but it'll work.

Because Spotlight seems to fall over regularly and not find files. Earlier this year it stopped finding applications and I had to run some shell command to delete it's cache and recreate it.

What if you forgot the name of the app?

What if you rely on groupings to remember what you have installed for a given activity?

What if you want a quick visual overview of what is available to you?

What if you like or even prefer launchpad?

What if you install tons of tiny little apps that have a specific, if infrequently used, purpose?

What if you enjoy a little app gardening?

What if you don't like command-prompt style interactions?

What if you see value in having more than one way to do something?

What if you have 20+ years of muscle memory established?

What if the only thing you know prior is how to use your iphone?

And on another note, what is it with tech people lacking the ability to see how other types of people may want to use the hardware they paid for with their hard earned dollars? I am so sick of this awful perspective of, "everybody in the world must be exactly like me"

You wouldn't if you are a software engineer or some other power user. The sad fact is Apple knows that the majority of macOS users are accustomed to an iPhone-like workflow, which is swipe-centric, not keyboard-centric.

the app doesn't appear in spotlight until it's indexed.

also spotlight hogs resources indexing stuff all the time, completely pointless when you just want a list of apps

My sentiments exactly

Shocking as it is, search based UIs are really despised by some people (me).

I greatly prefer visual/spatial browsing

I use it when I can't remember the name of an app, or when I've first installed an app and it's not indexed yet.