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Pointers: Taming the Applications folder with sub-folders
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Jul 24, 2015, 10:25 PM
 
Today's Pointers comes with a warning: don't move any applications out of the Applications folder. Don't do it. There will be no immediate fire and brimstone raining down on you, but it will cause problems down the line if you do. We know of some people who have moved applications out onto the desktop, and they paid a pretty dear price for that mistake. So don't. You've been warned. Right, now here's how to mess around with your Applications folder.

The first question is probably "why should I do this at all?" You certainly don't have to. In an earlier column of Pointers, we noted that you could simply drag your entire Applications folder to the Dock, which creates and alias, and with a couple of clicks transform it into a folder icon on the dock with the special "A" on it to provide you with one-click access to every single app you own, rather than over-cluttering the Dock or doing something dumb like putting applications on the desktop directly.

For many, that will be sufficient, and we still think it's a great idea. So why do anything different? Well, mostly this is a refinement of that idea, but also to address a serious and growing problem (at least for us, perhaps for you as well): app collecting.

Too many apps, too many choices

We have apps we use, or used to use more than we do now. In some cases, the need for them went away (such as an MySpace photo-gallery grabber), or the program was discontinued but still works fine (word processor Bean, for example), or you finished that game but want to keep it around in case you want to play it again someday, or you found a better app for the purpose. More often these days, however, some of us find that there is simply more than one great app for the job, depending on exactly what sort of task it is, and you use them as you need.

I have a number of examples for this: for quick-and-dirty audio editing, like cutting the beginning and end off a timed stream recording, I love Rogue Amoeba's Fission, but for more sophisticated editing I reach for Martin Hairer's Amadeus Pro. For my everyday writing for MacNN, I use SimpleNote, but I literally have more than a half-dozen other word-processing programs that I prefer to use for other types of writing; my script program (Celtx) isn't well-suited for blog-entry writing (currently favoring Desk), and in turn that app isn't what I want for any personal journal stuff (for which Day One or Byword work well). I use Pixelmator and Photoshop. You get the picture.

My dock with custom application-group folders
My dock with custom application-group folders


I'm not the world's most organized fellow, but I do feel a need to group apps by type into folders. By and large, you can do this of course, just as you can with any other folder. There do seem to be a couple of apps out there that are, for whatever reason, adamant that they can't be moved from the main Applications directory into a subfolder, but this isn't the case for nearly all other apps, so there is no reason not to do exactly that, provided the sub-folders stay located within the Applications folder.

The most obvious candidate is a Games folder, but I've also created a Video Apps folder, an Audio Apps folder, a "Core Internet" folder (and a supplementary "Internet Utilities" folder), a Graphics Apps folder, and a (third party) Utilities folder. When trying to move programs into these folders, they will often require your admin password to authorize it, because the system needs to know where you're moving this to. It's a bit tedious to do that each time, but it only needs to be done once.

And while you're at it ...

The benefit of this is that you might well decide to do some program "spring cleaning" while you're at it. If you do, I would suggest getting one more program to help you with it: an app-removal app that puts the unwanted app in the trash but also includes the preference file and any other little bits and bobs that might be located elsewhere. This isn't strictly necessary for most apps, but it makes things even tidier, and there are at least three good choices: App Trap (free), App Cleaner (free), and AppDelete ($8). App Trap is my favorite because it automatically monitors the trash, and when you put an application in the trash it just goes and gets the other cruft associated with that app, and trashes that too.

As a rule of thumb, incidentally, pro-level apps and system-utility type apps can't be uninstalled as easily as just dragging them to the trash; for those, you need to follow the developer's instructions. Do not mistake these apps for the "clean your Mac" type stuff; those are unneeded and often cause problems, so avoid them.

Sub-folders

The problem with making sub-folders is that they are just plain blue folders, like all other folders (except certain special ones, like Applications), and so it is not obvious what's inside them. I solved this problem by using a program called Folders Factory, which allows you to change the color of the folder as well as add a custom image or even an "embossing" effect. Look for a hands-on review of it next week.

So I created the custom sub-folders I wanted first, then I started grouping apps together. Microsoft used to do this for their Office apps, but they don't in the latest incarnation, so an Office 2016 folder seemed like a good idea. Because Adobe is picky about where their apps are, we left our CC apps ungrouped, but made aliases of them that we put in our Graphics Apps folder, along with QuarkXpress (I'll bet they hate that), Pixelmator, DxO Optics Pro, our MacPhun apps, and dozens of little apps that just make life easier, like Backdrop.

Games got thrown into one folder, a few apps related to our work here at MacNN into another. Video apps and Audio apps each got their own folders, and then we put all of our web browsers (yes, we have more than one) into a "Core Internet" folder, along with Cyberduck for FTP and (an alias of) Mail and Safari (they don't like to be moved), and so on. Now we had easily-spottable custom folders that told us even without reading the label what kind of apps were inside them. We even had sub-folders in the sub-folder (such as grouping Editing apps from Recording apps within our Audio Apps folder).

The last step was dragging the most important of these custom app groupings folders into the Dock for quick access. Yes, I already have the Application folder (in its entirety) there, and these subfolders are reachable within the long listing when you click on the Applications folder in the Dock, but this is even faster. I added the folders, changed the dock settings to show them as folders (rather than stacks), and there they are for instant access. Finally, all my writing apps at my fingertips!

For those people that absolutely feel like they want these folders on their desktop rather than in their Dock, make an alias of the folder in the Applications folder, and drag that onto your desktop. It will behave exactly as if you had dragged the real folder out there, but it won't slow down Finder responsiveness, you won't run into problems with apps not updating correctly or not working because they are not in the Applications folder where they belong, and best of all should you accidentally trash the alias, no harm has been done.

If you've taken our previous advice and pared down your Dock to have only your most vital or frequently-used apps, you should have a bit of spare room for a few "app folders" on the folder side (right side) of the Dock to add these fast-opening groupings of apps. You can take our suggestions of types of applications to group together, or come up with your own as best fits your personal workflow. We find these groups particularly useful when wanting to open an app, but have momentarily blanked on its name. It's a lot easier to find what you're looking for, even by icon, when there's only five or 10 apps in a subfolder rather than the 223 in our Applications folder!

-- Charles Martin (@Editor_MacNN)

Pointers runs every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with useful tips to help you get the most from your Mac or iOS device.
( Last edited by NewsPoster; Jul 24, 2015 at 10:29 PM. )
     
timmerk
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Jul 25, 2015, 01:02 AM
 
"Today's Pointers comes with a warning: don't move any applications out of the Applications folder... We know of some people who have moved applications out onto the desktop, and they paid a pretty dear price for that mistake."

I've never heard of such nonsense in my life. Are you a recent PC to Mac switcher? I've keep 100s of apps outside of the global Applications folder since OS X DP4 and have never had any problems. This is Mac OS, after all.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jul 25, 2015, 01:29 AM
 
The only problem I can remember having on OS X is that for the longest time, Apple's own programs would not update automatically through system updates if not in the main OS X applications folder.

I would appreciate hearing some of these supposed horror stories and which applications they involved...and in what decade, on which OS.
     
Charles Martin
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Jul 25, 2015, 01:43 AM
 
I have run across the "no update" problem on numerous apps if kept outside the Applications folder, particularly (as mentioned) Apple's apps but also others. Some apps just flat don't work when taken out of the Applications folder (though to be fair this is a developer or compiler issue, not a user issue).

Please bear in mind that Pointers isn't written for a power-user audience that is comfortable fixing things as root if something goes amok -- it is written for a typical user who will not know what to do if they read about a required update for something and Software Update says they don't even have it. We advocate best practices around here, and best practice for Applications is to keep them in the Applications folder, as I'm sure you'll agree.
Charles Martin
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Mike Wuerthele
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Jul 25, 2015, 07:53 AM
 
Some self-contained applications do fine on the desktop. Some, like the new version of Stuffit Deluxe and other vertical market software with DRM absolutely require them to be in the applications folder. The iTunes main app can be flaky when not in the applications folder, but at least it still works.

This isn't a comprehensive list. Apps that install libraries or other resources can use relative addressing as opposed to absolute, and this can pose a problem as well. About half of our users have a pretty good handle on when the "rules" of the OS can be broken -- this isn't for you.
     
Inkling
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Jul 25, 2015, 08:36 AM
 
There are far too many apps in most users Applications folder. Apple should have dealt with this problem years ago by coming up with an approved list of folders and having apps auto-sort into them. Major companies (i.e. Adobe) get a folder of their own. Smaller developers would choose when descriptive folder best fit their app. In some cases, I use aliases to provide that same result, but it's tedious work to set that up.
Author of Untangling Tolkien and Chesterton on War and Peace
     
afaby
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Jul 25, 2015, 10:18 PM
 
Was this article written 4 years ago? This problem is solved completely by Launchpad. Launchpad shows all your applications, which you can freely arrange in the Launchpad overlay screen into subfolders you create. I never have to open my Applications folder to launch anything and all my apps are neatly organized in my Launchpad screen.
     
Charles Martin
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Jul 26, 2015, 01:51 AM
 
afaby: I have personally never used or liked Launchpad, despite its resemblance to iOS (which of course I use all the time). I'll take the blame for failing to consider that option, and I'll think about revising the article to reflect it, so thanks for pointing that out.

However, the folders in Launchpad are virtual to that database, not "real" (in the sense that they exist in the actual Applications folder), so if you stop using Launchpad or do a search, those folders aren't "there." This article is about how to make sub-folders in the Applications folder. Perhaps what we should do for a future Pointers is a full tutorial on how to make the most of Launchpad and similar programs.
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DiabloConQueso
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Jul 26, 2015, 11:31 AM
 
I think a lot of people's resistance to keeping their hands off of various actual folders in the filesystem stems from this paradigm shift with regard to filesystem management that we're going through now.

We've only just gotten people, for the most part, to finally forget about manually managing the folder structure of their music and letting iTunes (or other media players) sort and organize it for them while providing an interface outside of the filesystem for management -- it will take some time for stubborn and/or inflexible and/or entrenched types to adjust to managing their apps in the same, alternate, non-filesystem-based ways.

The way I see it, you can either be a tad flexible and learn as much as possible about the new paradigms we're obviously headed toward, or you can remain inflexible and stubborn and live a life of frustration, constantly digging your heels in and doing nothing more than making things more difficult than they need to be.

This isn't to say that one method is "better" than the other, simply because that would be subjective and unique to each individual -- but a little flexibility goes a long way to happier computing, even if it means you don't always get 100% of what you want. Instead of yanking your hair out at the roots, try at least to understand the reasons why things operate the way they do (in other words, understand not only the implementation behind things but the theories behind those things as well) and find a happy medium that brings harmony between your computer and your use of that computer.

Becoming frustrated through forcing decades-old organizational paradigms on modern operating systems and computing devices is not a good way of bringing about that harmony.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jul 26, 2015, 01:56 PM
 
Hm.

It would indeed seem like LaunchPad was devised specifically to take care of all the difficulties described, utterly obviating the need for this article.

It's telling that the possibility of using it never even occurred to the technically-minded people who wrote it (or to myself, either).
     
DiabloConQueso
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Jul 26, 2015, 03:12 PM
 
In all fairness, LaunchPad is not an acceptable application management interface (yet?), and it seems right now OS X is stuck in the middle of the old filesystem-based paradigm and the new interface-based paradigm, with no all-encompassing solution for either at the moment.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jul 26, 2015, 03:47 PM
 
Originally Posted by DiabloConQueso View Post
In all fairness, LaunchPad is not an acceptable application management interface (yet?), and it seems right now OS X is stuck in the middle of the old filesystem-based paradigm and the new interface-based paradigm, with no all-encompassing solution for either at the moment.
It is built for the target audience of this article.
     
   
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