Dockish is out: the dock macOS should have shipped

Dockish 1.0 is out today. It replaces the macOS dock with one that works the way you'd expect in 2026: a dock on every monitor (mirrored, or fully independent with different pinned apps per display), iPhone-style folders you create by dragging one app onto another, and clicks that actually do what you meant — launch, focus, or restore the minimized window. It's $6.99 one-time with a 7-day free trial, and it needs macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later. You can try it here.

Why I built a dock replacement in 2026

The dock is the one part of macOS you touch constantly, and it has barely changed in a decade. Plug in a second monitor and it stays stubbornly on one screen — the mouse trip across two displays to reach it never stops being annoying. There are no folders, so it either holds eight apps or becomes a cluttered strip of thirty. And clicking a minimized app frequently does nothing you can see, which still trips people up after years on a Mac.

I've written a fair amount on this blog about getting a dock on all your screens and customising what Apple gives you, and the honest summary of all of it is: you can tweak the system dock at the edges, but the things people actually ask for need a replacement. So I built one.

What's in 1.0

Multi-monitor, properly. Show Dockish on all monitors mirrored, or give each display its own independent dock with its own pinned apps and folders. Hot-plugging displays just works — docks appear and disappear as monitors do.

Folders, like your iPhone. Drag one app onto another and you get a folder with a 2x2 preview grid and auto-naming. Click to expand, reorder inside, drag apps back out anywhere.

Clicks that do what you meant. Not running launches it, running brings it forward, minimized restores it — including apps that hide their windows from macOS. Hover an icon for live window previews, scroll on it to cycle through that app's windows.

Rich right-click menus. Chrome profile switching from the dock, media controls, Force Quit with Option held, Open at Login, and menu bar actions.

Your dock, your rules. Icon sizes from 24 to 96px, adjustable spacing and magnification, glass/dark/light/tinted themes, app name labels, dividers and spacers — all live, no restarts. Bottom, left, or right edge. Auto-hide with a configurable reveal delay, and ⌥⌘D to show or hide it from anywhere.

It feels native. The real Dock's magnification wave, spring launch bounces, and 120Hz motion throughout. Everything runs on-device — no accounts, nothing phoning home.

There's a one-click "Hide macOS Dock" in settings that tucks the system dock away (and one click brings it back), so Dockish can simply be your dock.

What it doesn't do yet

I'd rather tell you now than have you find out after buying. App badge notifications, minimized windows as dock thumbnails, custom dock backgrounds and per-action keyboard shortcuts are planned for 1.1. Dock profiles (work/home), auto-switching based on connected displays, app search and folder pages are on the list for 1.2. The full roadmap is public on the product page, and like every Appish app it's a one-time purchase — every update ships free to existing customers, forever. No subscription.

One scope note: Dockish is a dock. It doesn't try to be a window manager — if what you want is saving and restoring whole window layouts across monitors, that's Layoutish's job, and they work happily side by side.

Common questions

Does Dockish replace the system dock completely?

Yes, if you want it to. The one-click hide in Dockish Settings makes it your only dock, and it's fully reversible — one click brings the system dock back.

Will it slow my Mac down?

It's a native app built to feel like part of macOS, not an Electron wrapper. Everything runs on-device with no accounts and no tracking.

What if I run multiple monitors with different setups?

That's the headline feature. Mirror one dock everywhere, or configure each display independently — and it handles monitors being plugged and unplugged without fuss.

Dockish is available now — $6.99 one-time, 7-day free trial, macOS 14+.