Avid folder insists on living in my Applications folder

[EdgarRothermich]

Originally Posted by lavastudios

Hey gang,

I'm pretty anal about how I have things organised on my computer, and I do not like clutter in my Applications folder. I have all my audio programs in a subfolder within my Applications folder

Same situation here.
Back in the pre OS X times I had my Applications organized by categories (Audio, Video, Data, Text, etc.). OS X doesn't like that and wants to have all the Applications (and other Application-related crap) in that one Applications directory that you have to scroll up and down half a mile.

However, I still keep my category subfolders in my Applications folder and move any third-party apps in there. The only apps I leave in the Applications folder are the ones that are stubborn or rely on some mechanism to "see" the app or file there (which is really annoying).
With Pro Tools, I just leave the app there to avoid any strange behaviors that might result from the "different than expected location"

[JFreak]

macOS is UNIX which means applications can be anywhere that is accessible to the user. You can very well have your non-system applications in -say- user home directory slash applications, and have that folder on your dock. It requires extra maintenance but is possible.

Same way you can have your user home directory on another drive, does not need to be system drive.

[lavastudios]

I've done a bit of googling and found a pretty good solution - create a new folder, call it something like "My Applications", then create aliases for all the apps you regularly use and arrange them however you like in that folder. Then you can put a shortcut to that folder on the dock and use that instead. Bonus - none of the Apple fluff needs to be cluttering up that folder (Chess, Photo Booth etc.) Only issue is, the icons all have the little arrow in the corner to announce that they are aliases. It used to be an easy fix to remove these arrows, but more recent versions of OS X give you less freedom to do this kind of thing. You have to turn of System Integrity Protection to fiddle with that stuff now, and even then I've read mixed results as to whether it will work. Not a bad workaround if you can live with the little arrows though.

[Ben Jenssen]

Ever since the Dock came to mac I've been using that for this kind of app launch organizing thing. I strip the dock of everything except a couple of basics like mail, browser, messenger and such, then I have a folder for each category of applications; Audio, video, photo, utilities and other, each with aliases of the application I need there. No need for "launch pad" or diving into applications folder.

[originalscottyg]

I have finally found a good use for Spotlight. I have a shortcut assigned to Show Spotlight Search (ctrl-opt-cmd-spacebar) then I start typing the name of the app and hit enter. Just like the new plugin search feature in Pro Tools. It has really reduced the amount of time I spend mousing to open apps.

[EdgarRothermich]

Originally Posted by originalscottyg

I have finally found a good use for Spotlight. I have a shortcut assigned to Show Spotlight Search (ctrl-opt-cmd-spacebar) then I start typing the name of the app and hit enter. Just like the new plugin search feature in Pro Tools. It has really reduced the amount of time I spend mousing to open apps.

Spotlight Search is my prefered way to launch Application that I know the name of and don't have a key command for. Usually, you only have to type the first few letters and it auto-fills, press enter and off you go.