APP Launcher tool

Necessity

For Windows, I don’t want to double click the shortcut to open the app, which means I need to find the right shortcut first.

If I use the Windows search, there are still some problem: I can’t find the portable programs.

So I just want the app launcher to open my apps.

Besides, most app launchers support plugins, which means they can not only launch the app, but also perform other tasks, such as picking the hex value of a color, text comparison, launching multiple apps with a single click, etc.

uTools (Previously Used)

uTools官网 - 新一代效率工具平台

uTools supports launching installed apps and desktop shortcuts. If you want to use it to open portable programs, you need to create a shortcut on the desktop or add it to the file launcher category. This might require adding each app manually.

I don’t want my desktop cluttered with shortcuts, so I just gave up on using it.

It supports plugins, but it seems to lack language options beyond Chinese, which may not be suitable for non-Chinese users.

For Chinese, it supports common usage habits, such as searching by the first letter of Pinyin.

Flow Launcher (Currently Used)

Flow Launcher

To add portable programs to Flow Launcher, I placed all portable programs into a folder and then added that folder to the program plugin.

Since it supports file search, adding items to the program plugin might not be necessary. However, I don’t want to use it for file search, as it clutters my search results with file names, which decreases search accuracy. Instead, I use Everything for file searches.

Although file search in Flow Launcher can also be set to use bundled Everything, I still don’t need it.

After installing it, I set the NodeJS and Python paths, as these are needed for certain plugins or tasks.

It supports multiple languages and can launch Windows settings apps and Control Panel apps with a bundled plugin.

However, I can’t find a plugin to launch multiple apps with a single click, which uTools offers through various plugins. It’s a little disappointing, but not a major issue.

The themes it provides are very beautiful, and it has a Theme Gallery where many users share their themes.

Currently used:

Theme Gallery (Share your theme) · Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher · Discussion #1438