Ryan Cushley

When Apple first demoed Lion last October, the sceptic inside me questioned the nature of both Launchpad and Mission Control. Why, given that the iOS home screen is an alternative to providing full file system access, should this be applied to the Mac? That is the height of Launchpad. Mission Control? Exposé 2.0. In the time since Lion was demoed, I have found myself come round to the usefulness of Mission Control, but Launchpad sits there lonely, unused and redundant.

Launchpad gives you, ‘instant access to all your apps.’ So, just like Finder, Spotlight and Dock Folders then?  Yes, Apple has added another way to view applications. It’s pretty, it’s flashy and it’s useless. Taking the functionality directly from iOS, Launchpad is indeed much like the home screen iOS users will be familiar with. On the OS X side, it is very easy to use, swiping between each screen of applications with two fingers, the keyboard arrow keys, or clicking a small circle at the bottom of the screen.

Applications can be organised into folders through the iOS wiggly technique of click and hold. There is no way to delete an application through Launchpad, nor is there any way to hide applications either. The inability to hide applications from this screen is irritating, as sub-applications present in software such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite invite themselves uncomfortably into Launchpad. Given that Apple are touting Launchpad as a simpler way to find Apps than Finder, why is the system not smart enough to realise that adding Microsoft Language Register is unnecessary?

The visuals of Launchpad are, however, very pretty. Transitioning between screens of applications is silky smooth, as is the fade in and out of Launchpad itself – an effect that should be familiar to any Dashboard user on Snow Leopard. Launching an application gives a nice fade out effect, coupled with an enlargement effect of the opened application. It really is quite beautiful. In saying that though, for a feature touted as a quicker alternative to Finder, it really is difficult to see how, amid the bling and lack of search.

Yes, there is no search in Launchpad. At the very least, an instant search bar should be available at the bottom of the screen, allowing for a Spotlight-esque quick search of applications only. Instead, Launchpad is crippled by another basic omitted feature.

I am certainly willing to accept that as someone who has long since mastered quick navigation of OS X, I am perhaps not the target demographic of the Launchpad feature. But even for the technophobe, placing a layer of bling on top of the operating system will do little to enhance navigation, unless a ‘type to search’ feature is implemented, along with the automatic hiding of superfluous sub-applications.

For most users, Mission Control will be a much more important feature. Accessed by a three-finger vertical swipe, this overlay contains a monstrous amount of content, with great usability. When first demoed, I really did find it difficult to see how this was more than an expanded version of Exposé, but as time goes on, it must be realised it is so much more. With Lion really pushing both Spaces and Full Screen, Mission Control ties together these different areas easily and seamlessly. When initiated, Mission control fades in with a great view of several different things; the top of the screen displays Spaces and Full Screen applications (which effectively are a Space themselves); the bottom part of the screen is then the main desktop area, with each application able to be individually selected. So, the top part of the screen replaces Spaces, while the bottom half replaces Exposé. Very nice.

Scrolling to the top right corner of Mission Control allows creating another desktop Space, with just one click.  Dragging an application from the Exposé area to the top area adds it to a new space. Very handy, but the button does not appear until the mouse hovers over, nor is there any hint of dragging applications, so many users may miss this feature altogether. In the Exposé lower section, applications are grouped, so all active windows are together. Each application, whether in Full Screen or Exposé mode has both the name and icon for the application right underneath it, allowing for quick glance access.

At this point it must also be noted that Exposé alone – without the rest of Mission Control – can still be invoked. It is now disabled by default, via both keyboard (the shortcut key on F3 is now Mission Control) and trackpad/mouse, but can be enabled again through System Preferences. Furthermore, CMD+Tab – possibly the quickest way to navigate open applications – allows for navigation to Full Screen apps and applications present in other Spaces.

What the graphic designers at Apple were thinking when creating the GUI elements for Mission Control will likely never be known, but they were having a bad week, that is for sure. To suggest Mission Control is ugly is an understatement; it is possibly the ugliest shipping product Apple has ever created. Absolutely nothing looks quite right. First, the whole interface sits upon the grey stitching background that has infiltrated OS X this time around. This is fine, for areas such as Launchpad Folder backgrounds, because they are small and relatively rarely seen; or fine in Safari, as scrolling off the page is a momentary experience, but in Mission Control it’s always there. And it looks terrible. On top of that, the Dock sits out of place and uncomfortably at the bottom of the screen. The inclusion of the Dock is a great idea, but it is left looking unfortunate, as this unnaturally causes two different generations of OS X user interface to be drawn close together. Further to this, the inclusion of the desktop background behind the Exposé windows just doesn’t look quite right, particularly as the applications themselves can expand well beyond the borders or the desktop presented.

Animations in Mission Control are, however, top notch. The fade-in is much like Exposé, with applications organically spreading out across the screen. Selecting on an Exposé application gives the same animation in reverse, while selecting a Full Screen application gives the same maximisation effect as seen when opening an iOS application on iOS 4+. Despite this positivity, selecting an application from the Dock in Mission Control is buggy, with selecting an already open application often selecting the correct Space, but incorrect application.

As it sits, Launchpad is a half-baked solution to a non-existent problem. It is not difficult to understand why Apple want to apply iOS to OS X – translating that customer base to Mac customers would be great for Apple. But, to do it like this is not right. The only redeeming feature of Launchpad is the eye candy, and even that wouldn’t keep an iPhone-touting pre-teen entertained for long. Mission Control on the other hand, is, simply put, the reverse. Terribly ugly but brilliantly functional. Tying together the Dock, Exposé and Spaces, while accommodating the new Full Screen feature, Mission Control does navigation very well. A little refinement could be done here and there, but for the most part it is an excellent feature in Lion and well-suited to both home users and power users alike.

In-Depth OS X Lion Review Part 1: Introduction
In-Depth OS X Lion Review Part 2: Installation
In-Depth OS X Lion Review Part 3: New Visual Changes
In-Depth OS X Lion Review Part 4: Launchpad and Mission Control
In-Depth OS X Lion Review Part 5: Full Screen and Mail
In-Depth OS X Lion Review Part 6: Auto-Save, Versions and Resume
In-Depth OS X Lion Review Part 7: Multi-Touch and AirDrop
In-Depth OS X Lion Review Part 8: Conclusion