Locus Launcher
Launch any Mac app from the keyboard.
A fast, fully Mac native, keyboard-first app launcher. Press ⌘Space(or your chosen key combination), type a few letters, and hit Return. Or give any app a hot key of its own.
Why I made it
This launcher is inspired somewhat by Omarchy and its keyboard-driven workflow. With Siri being ever more incorporated into ⌘Space (Spotlight) on the Mac, I find it increasingly difficult to use Spotlight as an application launcher, which is, quite honestly, all I ever do with ⌘Space.
Having installed and played around with Omarchy on an old custom-built PC, I like a lot of its keyboard-driven app launching, even if I really dislike its window manager. So, being a software engineer, I cooked up an app to solve both issues. And, being a long time Mac guy, I made the app as Mac-assed as I possibly could.
Locus Launcher does one thing, and does it well (well, I think so, anyway): it launches applications. Invoke the launcher, start typing, hit Return. It’s fast. And if you use the arrow keys to get to an app that’s not the first result for what you typed, it remembers, and makes that app the first result the next time you type the same thing.
And, Omarchy style, you can assign a keyboard shortcut to any app, and choose whether that shortcut activates the app or opens a new window for it. Press ⌘K with an app selected to bring up its hot key settings, and give it a hot key or two.
And if you’re like me, you still want Siri occasionally, particularly the new Apple Foundation Model-powered Siri. So do what I do: assign Locus Launcher to ⌘Space, then in System Settings, assign Spotlight to ⌃Space, and you can have both!
— TJ
Everything within a keystroke
Browse A to Z
Before you type, every app is listed alphabetically, with an A–Z index along the side for jumping around.
Actions menu
Press Tab to open an app, open a new window, reveal it in Finder, or manage its hot keys. Each action has its own shortcut too.
Hide what you never launch
Press ⌥⌘⌫ to hide an app from the launcher. Its hot keys keep working.
Syncs between your Macs
Hot keys and hidden apps sync through your own iCloud account. Keep any of them to a single Mac if you’d rather.
Takes over ⌘Space
Locus Launcher can turn off Spotlight’s ⌘Space shortcut for you, and turn it back on if you pick a different key.
Quick setup
A setup checklist walks you through choosing a hot key, allowing Accessibility access, and launching at login.
Free and open source
No account, no subscription. Download it and it’s yours.
- MIT licensed, with the full source on GitHub.
- Signed and notarized, so macOS opens it without complaint.
- Checks for updates itself, and installs them when you say so.
Get Locus Launcher
Requires macOS 26 or later. View the source on GitHub.