1 Mac app that swaps your whole Dock when your Focus changes
One Dock for work, one for home, switched in one move.
👋 HEY, IT'S RAJA
Your Dock is doing 2 jobs at once. Mail, Slack and your work browser sit next to Music, Photos and the game you opened once in March, and macOS gives you exactly one Dock to hold all of it.
This week's find lets you keep as many Docks as you like and swaps between them for you, so the apps in front of you match what you're doing right now.
🔍 The find: a separate Dock for every part of your day
Sponsored by DockFlow, which saves whole Dock layouts and switches between them with one click.
Save your Dock as it is today
DockFlow calls each saved layout a preset. Arrange your Dock the way you want it for work, choose Set from Current Dock, and that's your first preset. Each one can hold apps, folders, files, web links and spacers, and there's no limit on how many you make.
It works with the normal macOS Dock instead of replacing it, so you keep the Dock you know and only change what's on it.
4 ways to switch
- One click in the app, and your Dock changes.
- Hotkeys, from a single key to a sequence or the same key pressed a few times.
- Focus modes, so turning on your Work Focus brings up your work Dock on its own.
- Apple Shortcuts, so a Dock change can be one step in an automation you already run.
2 details I like
App Actions decide how apps open after a switch, like a browser opening straight into your work profile. Lock Dock keeps the Dock on the display you choose, which is handy if you run 2 monitors. Lock Dock needs Accessibility permission. Everything else works without extra permissions.
You can also export presets as a file to back them up, or share them through DockShare.
💡 Start with 3 presets: Work, Home and Deep Work. Link Work to your Work Focus and give Deep Work a hotkey that strips the Dock down to 2 or 3 apps. You'll know within a day whether you want more. Save your current Dock as a preset before you change anything, so you're always one click from where you started.
📍 Where: dockflowapp.io, or Homebrew if you prefer
💻 Works on: macOS 13.5 or later
↩️ Safety net: every license has a 30-day money-back guarantee
How many apps are in your Dock right now? Hit reply with the number.
On Wednesday, 28 October, Apple holds its Pro and Tell event, where new Macs are expected. I'll send the steps to get your old Mac ready to sell or trade in, so you're not doing it in a hurry. See you then.
Keep it useful,
Raja · The Useful Tech
P.S. Enjoyed this? Forward it to a friend who loves their Apple gear a little too much.