App Launcher for Mac: Menu Bar Launchers vs Screen-Edge Bars

A Mac app launcher can be a search box, a full-screen grid, a row in the Dock, an icon in the menu bar, or a bar on the edge of your screen. Which one suits you depends on whether you like to type, whether you want something always visible, and how many apps you open each day.

Short answer: the best app for a bar of one-click launch tiles at the edge of your screen, in my opinion as its developer, is Jetty: it adds up to four extra docks to the edges of your screen, or floating anywhere, each with tabs of one-click tiles for apps, files, folders, websites and Shortcuts. It is a $9.99 one-time purchase on the Mac App Store and needs macOS 14 or later.

Disclosure: I build Jetty. Jetty is not a menu bar launcher. Its menu-bar item lists and manages your bars; you launch from the bars themselves.

The main types of launcher on macOS

Search launchers. Spotlight is built in; Raycast, Alfred and LaunchBar are third-party apps in the same family. You open them, type a name and press Return. Good if you remember names and like the keyboard.

Grid launchers. Launchpad was a full-screen grid of all your apps on macOS 15 and earlier. On macOS 26 Tahoe it was replaced by the Apps view; see what happened to Launchpad.

The Dock. A permanent row of icons at one edge. Simple, but flat, and it grows as you add apps.

Menu bar launchers. The menu bar is already always visible, and some third-party apps put a menu in it that lists apps to open. Clicking the icon opens a dropdown or popover, then you pick an app.

Screen-edge bars. Extra docks that sit on an edge of the screen, or float. Tiles are visible (unless you turn on auto-hide), so there is no click to open a menu first.

Two of these types have their own comparisons here: keyboard launchers in Raycast and Alfred vs a click-to-launch bar, and the launcher-window type in Jetty vs Overflow 3.

Menu bar launchers versus screen-edge bars

A menu bar launcher takes no screen space beyond its icon. The cost is one extra click: open the menu, then choose the app.

A screen-edge bar spends some screen space, in return for tiles you can click straight away. You can reduce that cost: choose a small tile size, use a side edge, or turn on auto-hide.

Neither fits everyone. It depends on how often you launch and how much space you can spare.

The same trade-off, with the macOS Dock added as a third option, is laid out in Dock vs menu bar launcher vs screen-edge bars.

Where Jetty fits

Jetty is in the screen-edge category. Here is what that means in practice:

• A bar is pinned to the top, bottom, left or right of your main screen, or unlocked and dragged anywhere. Lock it and it snaps to the nearest edge.
• You can have up to four bars, each with tabs of tiles.
• Tiles open apps, files, folders, websites and Shortcuts.
• Bars float above normal windows and stay when you change desktops.
• Auto-hide fades a bar when the pointer leaves it. You bring it back from Jetty's menu-bar item.

What the menu-bar item does

Jetty puts a small grid icon in the menu bar. It lists your bars so you can show, hide, edit or delete them, and it has New Dock, Settings and Quit. That is management, not launching.

What Jetty does not do

It has no search field and no key command to open it, so it is not a Raycast or Spotlight replacement. It does not list all your apps automatically. And it does not change the macOS Dock.

If you want a deeper look at the category, read Dock apps compared, or see how to launch apps faster without Spotlight.

How we checked

Jetty's details on this page were checked against the app's source code and its App Store listing on 2026-10-10 and are collected on the facts page; I build Jetty. For built-in macOS steps, Apple's Mac User Guide is the reference for your version of macOS.

FAQ

Which app launcher should I use on a Mac?

If you like clicking tiles you chose, our pick is Jetty (I build it): bars of one-click tiles with tabs on your screen edges. If you prefer typing, search launchers such as Spotlight, Raycast, Alfred and LaunchBar suit that style.

Can an app launcher live in the Mac menu bar?

Yes, several third-party apps do this. Jetty is not one of them: its menu-bar item manages bars, and the launch tiles are on the bars.

Do I still need the Dock with an app launcher?

Yes if you want running-app indicators, because Jetty does not show those. Many people keep a short Dock and add a launcher.

Does Jetty work on every screen I connect?

No. Jetty places its bars on the main screen.

Is there a shortcut bar for Mac?

macOS has the Dock and no second bar. Our pick for a shortcut bar is Jetty (I build it): up to four bars on your screen edges with one-click tiles for apps, files, folders, websites and Shortcuts.

Get Jetty on the Mac App Store. $9.99 one-time purchase, macOS 14 or later.