What is the "Chrome Apps Launcher" extension and how does it work?

Chrome Apps Launcher extension aims to fill the gap of not having a built-in application launcher in Chrome. The Chrome team has decided to discontinue the built-in app launcher shipped with Chrome. This extension provides the same functionality and even more! You can see all your apps in a single place. Open home pages or settings right from the panel, or just run the app. For your convenience, it is also possible to change the order of applications to have a more personalized view.

What's new in this version?

Please check the Logs section.

Is it possible to open the default app-launcher from the toolbar panel?

Yes, simply right click the toolbar button to see a list of most useful "chrome://" pages.

How can I change the order of shown apps?

There are two ways to change the order. Once right-click the panel and open the default app launcher in a browser tab, and re-order the apps from there. Chrome Apps Launcher extension respects this order if the order has not been altered from the extension interface. However, you can still overwrite this order from the panel itself. Just hold your mouse pointer over an app and change its position. New positioning orders are stored and will be used to overwrite the default one.

In Chrome app launcher is it possible to add shortcuts to the Google products or any other custom pages?

Yes, almost all Chrome products have their application shortcut in the Store. Just search for the product you are interested in and install the shortcut app (this is not a real app, just a bookmark to the actual web app). Once the app is installed and is observed in the default app launcher, it can be accessible from the panel view as well. Alternatively, open the page that you would like to create an app shortcut, then right-click on the toolbar button and use the "Create Shortcut for This Page" item. The extension creates a new app shortcut for the current tab for you

What is the list of supported services in the right-click menu over the toolbar button?

Currently four bookmark links are available: 1. chrome://apps/, 2. chrome://settings/, 3. chrome://extensions/, and 4. chrome://inspect/

I have many applications on the list. Is there any simple way to select an item just by using the keyboard?

You can open the extension's interface with a custom shortcut. To set the shortcut, open "chrome://extensions/shortcuts" in a browser tab and configure one for this extension. When the popup gets opened, the extension focuses on the first visible item. Use the "Tab" key to move to the next selectable item. You can use the "Shift + Tab" combination to move backward. Also, there is a small number on top of each application. Press the number key to select the item without the need to navigate through all items. When the item is focused, press the "Enter" key to launch the application. This extension also supports keyboard navigation. Simply press the first character of the application name to change focus to the application item. If there are multiple items, press the key multiple times.