I can not believe it’s 2020 and I say this, but you can not sort applications of any kind on a Chromebook yet.
When a new app is installed, the app shortcut is simply added to the next available space in the Chrome OS Launcher and when that space is full, a new Launcher page is created with the following app shortcut appears.
Chromebooks have been commercially available since 2011, though the CR-41 arrived in 2010, and they still do not have what I consider to be a basic, “must-have” feature for an operating system.
In a way, I understand why. Everything about Google is about search.
And when I worked at Google, I was rarely saw my peers scrolling through an app launcher on any device, whether it was a phone or a laptop (typically MacBooks and Chromebooks). Instead, they searched for an app with just a few keystrokes, tapped on the search result, and went on.
But that’s not always how people outside of Google applications found on their devices. And more importantly, what’s the point of having a Launcher interface altogether if you expect everyone to just search for the app they want?
What has made this situation significantly less in recent years is the addition of both Android and Linux apps. At least for the time being, all Linux app installations created through Chrome OS are grouped in a folder named Linux Apps. That does not happen with Progressive Web Apps or Android software.
You can create your own app folders and manage apps yourself if you want, so that’s something. But one of the things I like about Chrome OS is that the operating system does not get in your way. Meaning: it lets you focus on doing things, not managing things.
That even a basis sort function by type of app (Android, Chrome OS, Linux and PWA) would be a start. Alphabetical app sorting would also be a fun option.
The way the Launcher works now, I actually started managing my apps and ended up with 7 Launcher pages, some are empty or with one app. That’s not very useful.
I’m sure there are multiple bugs (read: feature requests) for app sorting in the Launcher, but I will not look for them all. I found this one, which is relatively recent and has 63 people following it. I’ve been following the stare too and if you’re in the “let’s get app sort in Launcher” camp, you might want to do the same.
