Bunch is a new Mac utility from Brett ‘I Just Made This’ Terpstra, the developer of the nvAlt Mac notes app. Bunch sits in your Mac’s Dock, and lets you launch groups, or bunches, of app with one click. You could, for instance, have a Work bunch, which launches your writing app, your mail app, your calendar app, and more. You get the idea.

But there’s more to it than that. Bunch can also quit apps, open web pages, run Applescripts, and even attempt to make your chosen app the frontmost app when it launches. It’s very handy indeed.

Thanks a Bunch

Bunch works by leaving it running in the Dock, and then clicking on its app icon to get the Dock’s contextual menu. You’ll se a list of your workspaces aka bunches in there, and you just click one to launch it.

To create a bunch, you just create a text file, and list the apps you want to launch, by name, each on its own line. That’s it. Save the text file in a folder called bunches in your home folder, and replace its .txt extension with .bunch. You’re done. You can create as many bunches as you like.

Advanced features

If all you want to do is launch apps, then you already know everything about how to do it. But Bunch does a lot more. By adding a character before the app name, you can have Bunches perform different tasks. For instance, adding a ! before the app name will quit that app, if it is open. So !Safari will quit Safari. Here are some more examples of Bunches syntax, taken from Brett’s Bunches page:

Launch documents:

Numbers
~/Documents/job 1.numbers
~/Documents/job 2.numbers


Open web pages and URL schemes:

https://hulu.com
https://brettterpstra.com
x-marked://refresh

Focus an app:

OmniFocus
MultiMarkdown Composer
@OmniFocus

There’s more, and more being added on an almost daily basis right now. One handy addition is the ability to run Applescripts from a Bunch. This lets you do all kinds of things, for instance setting the screen-brightness and volume for a Movies bunch.

Bunch is free, clever, simple, and easy to use. There’s probably no reason for a Mac user not to own it.

Price: Free

Download: Bunch from Brett Terpstra