DockGroups changelog
Every release of DockGroups, the macOS app that groups your Dock apps and launches or quits a whole group with one click. The current version is 1.12.0, released July 19, 2026.
Updates are delivered in-app through cryptographically signed Sparkle releases, or you can download the latest build directly.
DockGroups 1.12.0
Build 64
New
- Right-click your group's Dock tile. Group tiles now have a native Dock menu: every app in the group with its icon — click one to launch or focus it, just like a real Dock click — plus Open All, Hide All, and Quit All for the whole group. The main app lists each group as a submenu; a standalone tile shows its group's apps directly.
- Fuller app right-click menu in the popup. Matching what the Dock offers: Open for apps that aren't running, and Show All Windows and Hide for ones that are — alongside the existing Show in Finder, Quit, and Force Quit.
DockGroups 1.11.0
Build 63
New
- Move apps between groups. Two ways to reorganize without removing and
re-adding:
- Right-click an app → "Move to" and pick the destination group.
- Drag an app onto a group in the sidebar — the row highlights while you hover, drop to move it there.
- Moving an app into a group that already has it just removes it from the old group — no duplicates. (Standalone Dock tiles show a single group, so moving isn't offered there.)
- Hide the Most Used group. Don't want the ⭐ row in the popup? Turn it off under Settings → Popup → "Show Most Used group". App launches are still tracked while it's hidden, so your stats — and group suggestions — keep working and the list is up to date whenever you bring it back.
DockGroups 1.10.0
New
- Pick your popup size. Set a fixed column count (2–8) and the popup
shrinks to fit each group — a 3-app group gets a small popup instead of the
full-size panel. Optionally cap the number of rows shown before the grid
scrolls. Auto keeps the classic full-size panel.
- Set it under Settings → Popup, or per group in the group's settings.
- Open the popup above the icon you clicked. A new position option centers
the popup on the Dock icon that was clicked — for the main app and for
standalone group tiles — instead of the middle of the Dock. Works with the
Dock on the bottom, left, or right, and on multiple displays.
- Settings → Popup → Position → "Above the clicked icon". Keyboard shortcuts and Siri still open the popup centered over the Dock.
- Icons-only mode. Turn off the app names under the icons for a cleaner,
more compact grid — you know what Steam looks like.
- Settings → Popup → "Show app names", or per group.
- Per-group overrides. Every popup option above has a global default, and any group can override any of them in its settings screen — e.g. keep names everywhere except your games group.
- Backup: export & import your setup. Your groups are stored only on this
Mac — nothing is synced to the cloud. The new Settings → Backup screen
exports everything (groups, ⌘-digit shortcuts, popup & theme preferences) to
a single JSON file, and imports one with a choice of Replace All or
Merge (merge only adds groups you don't already have). Perfect for
backing up or moving your setup to another Mac.
- Groups marked as standalone Dock tiles are rebuilt automatically after an import — just reopen or re-pin them.
- The screen also shows where your data lives, with a Show in Finder shortcut to the local store.
Improved
- Standalone tiles pick up changes faster. A running standalone group now refreshes its contents and settings from the main app every time it's reopened — no more relaunching the tile to see apps you added or renamed in the main app.
- Standalone tiles keep their icon. A standalone group's Dock icon is re-baked when the tile quits, so it no longer falls back to the generic app icon after a group's look changes.
- Cleaner Settings. The group editor and the Popup settings screen were reworked to follow macOS Human Interface Guidelines — clearer layout, consistent spacing, and controls where you'd expect them.
Privacy
- Anonymous install count. Update checks now include a random installation ID (a coin-flip UUID minted on your Mac) so we can see how many Macs run DockGroups. It carries no personal data, hardware info, or IP address, and you can turn it off anytime under Settings → Updates → "Share anonymous update statistics".
Everything in this release is configured locally and works offline. Backup files are plain, readable JSON — nothing leaves your Mac unless you copy the file somewhere yourself.
DockGroups 1.9.0
Groups.
- Launch Group, Quit Group, and Show Group actions are now available in the Shortcuts app and Spotlight — build your own automations with custom trigger phrases.
- Siri automatically learns your group names, including after renames.
- New Siri screen in Settings shows every available voice command, with one-click copy.
(Work reads as the example group name, matching how the Settings screen presents it.)
DockGroups 1.8.0
New
Dock tile style per group: Emoji or App grid (2×2 mini-grid) Anonymous, opt-out update statistics Improved
Group editing staged with live preview + Apply (standalone groups relaunch cleanly) Crisper closed/pinned Dock tiles (multi-resolution icon) More reliable update delivery (edge endpoint, still signed end-to-end) Fixed
Reordering/dropping apps no longer opens a group as a separate Dock window Privacy
Apple privacy manifest declaring no tracking
DockGroups 1.7.2
Bug fixes for standalone group instances and app updates:
- Fixed standalone groups failing to update. Standalone group apps in your Dock no longer try to update themselves (which failed with a signing error). They're now kept current automatically whenever the main app updates.
- Standalone groups no longer reopen unexpectedly. After the main app updates, only the standalone groups you actually had open are reopened — ones you'd closed stay closed.
- More reliable update checks. Updates are now checked for on a proper daily schedule even when the app has been running for a long time, instead of only at launch.
DockGroups 1.7.1
What's new in 1.7.1: • Fixed drag-and-drop on macOS 26 (Tahoe) — reordering apps within a group, and dropping files onto an app to open them. These already worked on macOS 14 and 15.
DockGroups 1.7.0
What's new in 1.7.0
Bring apps back with a click
Clicking a running app now restores it the way the Dock does — unhiding hidden (⌘H) apps and bringing back windows minimized to the Dock. The first time, grant DockGroups access in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.
Manage groups right from the panel
- Add apps to a group with the new “+” tile — no trip to Settings.
- Right-click any app for Quit, Force Quit, Show in Finder, or to remove it from the group.
Standalone groups stay in sync
Pinned standalone group apps now follow the main app automatically — their app list, appearance/theme, and version all keep up.
Polish
- The entire sidebar row is clickable now, not just the icon and label.
- Frosted-glass panel by default, so your desktop shows through.
Smarter, safer updates
Improvements to how DockGroups updates itself, so every Mac always receives the build that’s right for its macOS version. No action needed.
DockGroups 1.5.1
What's new in 1.5.1:
- "Hide All" could leave an app visible (usually the one you were just using). It now reliably hides every app in the group.
- Click a running app to bring it back — hidden apps unhide and minimized windows restore, like the real Dock.
- Add apps to a group from the panel with the new + tile.
- Remove apps from a group by right-clicking them.
- Frosted-glass panel by default (toggle off in Settings → Appearance → Glassy style).
- Whole sidebar row is now clickable.
DockGroups 1.4.0
Fresh new look — Cleaner layout, sharper typography, and a polished light/dark design throughout the panel.
Glassy style — New option in Settings → Theme to switch between solid and frosted-glass panel backgrounds.
Theme override — Pin the panel to always light or always dark, regardless of your system appearance.
DockGroups 1.3.2
Fixes:
- fix When Settings window is open and main window is shown, clicking anywhere closes Settings window
- When new group is create it should be pre-selected
- When license is activated license screen should stay selected Then proceed with fixing all medium
DockGroups 1.3.1
Fix app failing to open — correct provisioning for Developer ID distribution
Uses xcodebuild -exportArchive with Developer ID method so macOS gets a proper direct-distribution provisioning profile backing keychain-access-groups. Fixes the Launchd job spawn failed error on macOS 26.
DockGroups 1.3.0
Fix app failing to open on any Mac
Xcode 26 beta was stamping sdk=26.0 into every binary, causing codesign to embed Runtime Version=26.0.0. macOS rejects this on all currently-shipping systems. The binary is now patched to sdk=15.0 before signing so the runtime version is valid.
DockGroups 1.2.9
What's new in 1.2.9
Fix app not launching on Intel Macs. Each architecture ships as its own signed and notarized DMG. Development provisioning profiles are stripped before signing so the app opens on any Mac.
DockGroups 1.2.8
Fix app not launching after update
Removed an embedded development provisioning profile that Xcode was silently including in universal builds, causing macOS to reject the app on any Mac not registered in the developer account.
DockGroups 1.2.7
Fix app not launching on Intel Macs
Switched to a universal binary (arm64 + x86_64 in one download) so macOS picks the right architecture automatically, regardless of how the updater selects the file. Minimum macOS version is 14.0.
DockGroups 1.2.6
Fix app not launching on Intel Macs (and any Mac on macOS < 26)
A Xcode 26 beta misconfiguration set the minimum OS requirement to macOS 26.0, causing macOS to refuse to open the app on all currently-shipping Macs. Minimum version is now correctly set to macOS 14.0. Intel Mac users who were stuck should download this update manually from the website.
DockGroups 1.2.5
Fix app not launching on Intel Macs (and any Mac on macOS < 26)
A Xcode 26 beta misconfiguration set the minimum OS requirement to macOS 26.0. This caused macOS to refuse to open the app on all currently-shipping Macs. Minimum version is now correctly set to macOS 14.0.
DockGroups 1.2.4
Fix license activation on new machines
Resolves a machineMismatch error that prevented license activation on machines where the app had not been run before.
DockGroups 1.2.3
What's new in 1.2.2
Fix Keychain prompt on every launch
DockGroups 1.2.2
What's new in 1.2.2
Fix Keychain prompt on every launch
DockGroups 1.2.1
What's new in 1.2.1
Fix Close All button terminology
DockGroups 1.2.0
What's new in 1.2.0
Drag apps straight from the Dock or Finder
You can now drag any .app icon directly onto the app list in Settings — from the Dock, from a Finder window, or from /Applications — to add it to a group. No more hunting through the file picker every time.
Keychain "Always Allow" is now respected
A bug caused the app to forget your license key on relaunch, forcing you to re-enter it. The fix preserves the existing keychain item and its access control list, so "Always Allow" granted in the Keychain prompt sticks permanently.
Standalone group agents rebuild only when needed
Renaming a group or changing its emoji still rebuilds the agent bundle as expected. Adding or removing apps from an existing group no longer triggers an unnecessary rebuild and relaunch of the standalone agent.
Minor fix: spurious activation dialog on drag-open
Dragging the app onto another app's "Open With" menu could mistakenly trigger the license activation panel. The URL handler now ignores anything that isn't a dockgroups:// deep link.
DockGroups 1.1.9
Fixed
- Activation now re-uses your existing license slot when it can. If a previous activation didn't finish cleanly, re-entering your key just refreshes the slot instead of failing with "limit reached".
DockGroups 1.1.8
Fixed
- License activation no longer fails with a signature verification error. (The signing keys had drifted between the app and the licensing server.)
DockGroups 1.1.7
Fixed
- Recovery for broken 1.1.5 activations. If your Pro license got into a broken state in 1.1.5, you can now recover by re-entering your key in Settings → License. (Activation no longer refuses with "already active" when the app itself is showing Free.)
DockGroups 1.1.6
Fixed
- Pro license now persists across app restarts. Activation was setting Pro in memory but the keychain write was silently failing, so the next launch reverted to Free.
- License renewal after 24h no longer breaks the offline grace period.
DockGroups 1.1.5
Fixed
- Add Group button now works after activating a Pro license. (Previously the + silently did nothing once Pro unlocked.)
DockGroups 1.1.4
Fixed
- Buy Pro button now opens the Polar checkout (was still pointing at the old LemonSqueezy storefront after the migration).
DockGroups 1.1.3
This release focuses on Settings — a cleaner sidebar, a proper native Settings window, and a handful of small bugs squashed along the way.
Improved
- Native Settings window. Settings now opens through the standard macOS Settings scene, so
⌘,and the DockGroups → Settings… menu item work the way you'd expect. - Reorganized sidebar. Keyboard Shortcuts, License, and Updates are now grouped at the top, followed by your Groups with a clear + button to add more.
- New hover & selection. Sidebar rows use a subtle, modern highlight that matches the floating panel — no more bright orange selection bar inside Settings.
- Right-click for Pin & Delete. Group actions moved into a context menu, with a small pin badge that stays visible so you can see at a glance which groups are pinned.
- Lock-aware "+" button. On the free version, the locked + now takes you straight to the License page instead of doing nothing.
- Cleaner detail panes. Removed the row dividers in Keyboard Shortcuts, License, Updates, and the per-group app list for a calmer, less busy layout.
Fixed
- Clicking the Pin or Delete button on a group no longer accidentally opens that group's app list.
- The Add Group sheet works again from the unlocked + button.
- Changing a group's emoji no longer pops open the standalone group window.
- After creating a new group, it's now selected automatically in the sidebar.
DockGroups 1.1.2
Maintenance release with internal improvements.
DockGroups 1.1.0
First release with built-in updates. You'll now get new versions delivered through the app instead of downloading them manually.