Version: 6.0
Operating System: macOS
Interface language: English
DockPops - folders you compose for the Dock
Stacks only show one Finder folder, sorted by name, date, or kind. A hand-picked mix of apps, files, and links needs its own icon on that same strip.
What you click, and what opens
Each group is a Pop: a named set in an order you choose, not a directory you have to maintain with aliases. Click its Dock icon and a panel appears above the Dock. Open one item, step into a folder without leaving the panel, or press Space for Quick Look. Several Pops can sit behind a single icon and you swipe between them, or a Pop can have a Dock icon of its own. Assign a Control-Option shortcut and that Pop opens at the pointer even when another app is frontmost.
The panel can be a grid, a list, or tiles. Twenty-three built-in themes cover solid color, gradient, and your own photo, plus border and label settings you can save and reuse. Eleven themes are PopFX: backgrounds such as arcs, waves, marble, snow, or embers that move with the pointer. They pause when the Pop closes, and they stay still if Reduce Motion or Low Power Mode is on. The Dock icon is designed to follow the Pop's look.
A morning layout that stays small
A typical setup is one Pop for the apps you launch at the desk, one for the files of the current job, and one for everything else, so the Dock does not grow a new icon per tool. The organizer's app drawer is for finding apps to drop in; the inspector gathers fill, border, labels, and view for the Pop you have selected. Search launchers still suit people who type a name and move on. A Dock stack is enough when one folder on disk is the whole collection.
Price, sandbox, and the Assistant
The free download includes two Pops with six items each. Premium is $3.99 once, with no subscription: up to 100 Pops of 25 items, files and folders, themes and PopFX, list and tile views, a shortcut per Pop, and the Assistant. The Assistant needs macOS 27, Apple Intelligence on that Mac, and Premium. A short request can add an app, switch the view, or restyle the selected Pop while you watch; every edit except a deletion can be undone. On the Mac App Store edition, Apple Intelligence may use Private Cloud Compute. Separate app suggestions need macOS 26 and run on the machine. Groups stay in the app on that Mac, and the download does not ask you to create an account.
Version 6.0 installs from the developer site or the Mac App Store on macOS Sonoma 14 or later. The store build is sandboxed, so extra Dock icons require the free DockPops Companion, which talks only to DockPops on that Mac. The direct download is not sandboxed and places those icons itself.
Show full description Pros & Cons Show details
PROS[*]A Pop can mix apps, files, folders, and links in an order you set, without Finder aliases.
[*]Several Pops can share one Dock icon, so work, a project, and weekend tools stay separated without a longer Dock.
[*]PopFX motion pauses when a Pop closes and stays still under Reduce Motion or Low Power Mode.
[*]Premium is a single $3.99 purchase, and people who already own it receive version 6.0 as a free update.
[*]Folder browsing and Quick Look with Space happen inside the panel, so a file check does not open Finder.
[*]A Control-Option shortcut opens one Pop at the pointer while another app stays in front.
CONS[*]The free tier stops at two Pops and six items, so files, themes, shortcuts, and the Assistant stay behind the purchase.
[*]The Assistant requires macOS 27, Apple Intelligence hardware, and Premium, so it is missing on Sonoma through the macOS 26 generation.
[*]The Mac App Store build cannot add extra Dock icons by itself and depends on the separate DockPops Companion.
[*]People who launch by typing a name still get a faster path from a search launcher than from maintained visual groups.
[*]PopFX themes follow the pointer, so a static folder means picking one of the non-animated themes or turning on Reduce Motion.
[*]Premium still caps every Pop at 25 items, so a large library has to be split across several groups.
What's New in 6.0 Show details [*][PopFX] - Adds live backgrounds that follow the pointer, including arcs, curtains, waves, marble, snow, embers, and falling code, with 11 of 23 themes animated.
[*][Motion limits] - Pauses those backgrounds when a Pop is closed and keeps them still when Reduce Motion or Low Power Mode is on.
[*][Assistant] - On macOS 27, with Apple Intelligence and Premium, edits the selected Pop from a chat request, including theme, view, name, and items, and supports undo except for deletions.
[*][Private Cloud Compute] - On the Mac App Store build, Apple Intelligence may answer Assistant requests through Private Cloud Compute.
[*][Theme manager] - Redesigns the organizer with an app drawer, one inspector for a Pop's look, and saved themes you can reuse across Pops.
[*][List and tiles] - Adds list and tile layouts beside the icon grid.
[*][Per-Pop shortcut] - Assigns a Control-Option shortcut that opens that Pop at the pointer from any app.
[*][Pop limit] - Raises the Premium cap from 20 Pops to 100, still with 25 items each.
[*][Languages] - Adds French, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese beside English, German, and Spanish, including the in-app help book.
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DockPops 6.0 for Mac (18 MB)
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