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Mac Stage Manager Not Enough? Add a Launch Bar for Your Apps

By Eduard Bruch, developer of Jetty ·

Stage Manager arranges your open windows: the active one in the center, recent ones in a strip at the side. It helps with window clutter. It does not help you start the apps you have not opened yet, so you still reach for the Dock, Spotlight or Launchpad. That is the gap this page is about.

Short answer: the best app for launching the apps Stage Manager does not manage, in my opinion as its developer, is Jetty: it adds up to four docks to your screen edges, with tabs of one-click tiles for apps, files, folders, websites and Shortcuts. It is a $9.99 one-time purchase on the Mac App Store and needs macOS 14 or later.

Disclosure: I build Jetty.

What Stage Manager does and does not do

Stage Manager (turn it on in Control Center, or in System Settings > Desktop & Dock) groups windows that are already open. It handles state: what is on screen now and what you used recently. It does not hold a list of apps you have not launched, and the groups it makes come from what you did, not from a structure you set ahead of time.

So there are two separate jobs:

  1. Starting the apps and files for what you are about to do.
  2. Arranging the windows once they are open.

Stage Manager covers the second one. Starting apps still needs a launcher.

Options for starting apps

  • A bar of your own tiles (our pick). This is what Jetty offers.
  • The Dock. Pin what you use and click it. A long Dock gets hard to read; see how to remove apps from the Dock.
  • Spotlight. Type a name and press Return. Fast if you remember the name.
  • Launchpad (on macOS 15 and earlier) or the Apps view on macOS 26 Tahoe. See what replaced Launchpad.

How Jetty fits next to Stage Manager

In Jetty you build a bar and drag in the apps, folders and files you use for a given job. A bar can sit on the top, bottom, left or right edge of the main screen, or float where you drag it. Bars sit above normal windows and stay on screen when you switch desktops (Spaces).

A practical flow:

  1. Click the tiles for the task in a Jetty tab, for example "Writing".
  2. Let Stage Manager arrange the windows that open.
  3. When you switch jobs, click a different tab and repeat.

Jetty tiles are always there whether or not the apps are running, because you added them yourself. Each tile opens one item with one click. A Shortcut tile can run a shortcut from the Shortcuts app, which you can set to open several apps.

I have not tested every Stage Manager setting with Jetty's bars, so if something looks odd on your Mac, the macOS Dock and Stage Manager settings in System Settings > Desktop & Dock are the place to start.

Limits

Jetty is not a window switcher. It has no window previews and no running-app indicators, and it does not list your open windows. It has no search and no key combination to open a bar. Bars sit on the main screen. The menu-bar item lists your bars so you can show, hide or edit them; launching happens from the bars. It does not change the macOS Dock.

Related reading: how to organize apps by project and how to clean up a cluttered desktop.

How we checked

Jetty's details on this page were checked against the app's source code and its App Store listing on 2026-10-10 and are collected on the facts page; I build Jetty. For built-in macOS steps, Apple's Mac User Guide is the reference for your version of macOS.

FAQ

Does Stage Manager launch apps?

No. Stage Manager arranges windows that are already open. To start an app you use the Dock, Spotlight, the Apps view or a launcher.

How do I turn Stage Manager on or off?

Use the Stage Manager control in Control Center, or open System Settings > Desktop & Dock and look in the Desktop & Stage Manager section.

Can I use Jetty with Stage Manager?

Jetty runs as a separate app with its own bars, so you can use both. I have not tested every Stage Manager setting.

What is the difference between a launcher and a window manager?

A launcher starts apps and opens files. A window manager arranges what is open. Jetty is a launcher; Stage Manager is a window manager.

Get Jetty on the Mac App Store. $9.99 one-time purchase, macOS 14 or later.