Enable Motion Blur Effect for Launchpad Movements in Mac OS X Lion

Oct 10, 2011 - 15 Comments

Blur Launchpad Movements in Mac OS X Lion

Want to add some additional eyecandy to Mac OS X Lion‘s Launchpad feature? Open Launchpad and hit Command+M to enable a motion blur that is seen at various Launchpad events.

You can immediately see the effect by swiping between Launchpad screens or by using the Command+Arrow keys to navigate around. The motion blur also effects opening folders in Launchpad, as the folders spring open the icons will blur as they zoom down:

Motion blur in Launchpad folders

(Yes that is a custom Launchpad folder background)

Screenshots only do the motion blur effect so much justice and it’s best experienced directly. If you want to disable the blur, just hit Command+M again and you’ll be back to the default setting.

The blur effect was seen in the very first introduction to Mac OS X Lion last year at the “Back to the Mac” event, but for whatever reason Apple decided against enabling it by default in the shipping version of OS X 10.7. I have noticed that if OS X is running low on memory or if CPU use is heavy, the blur can be somewhat choppy, which may go to explain why it’s not a default setting.

Enjoy this? Check out some more Launchpad tricks while you’re at it.

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Posted by: William Pearson in Mac OS, Tips & Tricks

15 Comments

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  1. […] you were wondering, it doesn’t stack with the blur effect. stLight.options({ publisher:'fe5e0a84-1fac-40de-8014-9f89fc1cbe6a' […]

  2. […] gives us manual controls over Launchpad icon size. In my view, the large icons look best with the motion blur, so if you like maximum fanciness stick with the huge […]

  3. […] a blur effect can be enabled in Launchpad by using the same keyboard shortcut. Both of these bits of eye candy were seen in the original […]

  4. […] | OS X Daily En Applesfera | Activa las animaciones Motion Blur en el Exposé de OS X […]

  5. […] Fuente: OS X Daily En Applesfera: Activa las animaciones Motion Blur en el Exposé de OS X Lion […]

  6. […] | OS X Daily En Applesfera | Activa las animaciones Motion Blur en el Exposé de OS X […]

  7. 4ndr3z says:

    Works perfectly on mid 2009 MacBook Pro 13″.
    Another Launchpad trick, hitting Cmd+B will change background blur and its colour to grayscale. Have fun ;)

  8. Alex says:

    it worked for me..but its disables itself in about 5-10 minutes..and its kinda annoying having to keep putting ctrl+m all the time

  9. moncler daunenjacke says:

    Did not work for me either… Using mid 2010 13″ MBP…

  10. Paul says:

    Did not work for me either… Using mid 2010 13″ MBP…

  11. Talha Basit says:

    I just tried this on my 2011 MacBook Air with an i7 and it didn’t work. Does it require discrete graphics?

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