DragThing No Longer for Sale
DragThing is written using the 32-bit Carbon APIs that Apple have announced they will remove in the next major update of macOS after 10.14 Mojave, most likely in September 2019.
64-bit support would require completely rewriting DragThing from the ground up, a process which would take us six months to a year to complete, with no guarantees we could re-implement all the existing functionality.
Unfortunately, we do not believe there is enough of a market out there for a new version, such that it would be financially viable for us to do so. Almost all of our income over the last ten years has come from PCalc, and time spent on a new version of DragThing would be time we couldn't spend on improving PCalc.
While we have not yet made a final decision, we do not feel comfortable selling an app with an uncertain future, so DragThing is no longer for sale. It should continue to function on 10.14 Mojave for now.
The end of an era—DragThing must have been one of the first Mac apps that I bought. It’s still better than the Dock in many ways, but I didn’t use it much on Mac OS X because Apple never provided the APIs to allow to be a full Dock replacement.
DragThing would need 6-12 months to rewrite, and I don’t even know if it’s technically feasible to do most of the stuff with the sandboxing changes in macOS.
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I still use it daily as a secondary drag&drop dock... wouldn't know how to live without it. It's like a super fast drag&drop version of "open with..." for me.
This is devastating news. DragThing is essential for organizing the large number of applications and projects I work with routinely, my Mac desktop has multiple DragThing drawer tabs attached on each side so everything is reachable in just one or two mouse clicks. We need to be able to support developers who create great apps so we have these kind of tools available.
"64-bit support would require completely rewriting DragThing from the ground up, a process which would take us six months to a year to complete, with no guarantees we could re-implement all the existing functionality."
Shut up and take my money! :-)
Consider Devon Technologies’ XMenu. Nice little freeware app. Stick a bunch of aliases in its User-Defined menu for quick menubar shortcuts to all your projects.
I'm using both, but XMenu can't replace DragThing with a whole bunch of palettes. Currently I've 10 of them around my screen, each often with more then 2 columns Does anyone knows a real alternative if it won't run any longer on the next big system version or has someone tried it already with Mojave?
Sad day. Understandable. Still sad. DragThing feels like it's been around forever at this point. Then again, almost 24 years since first public release!!!! Man, sad day, sad day.
I'd pay to keep DragThing alive and well. No other launcher for macOS currently exists.
I love DragThing. Would there be an alternative for it? Can´t work without it :-(
I'd also pay to keep DragThing alive as well. No other similar app for macOS currently exists.
I, too, would be willing to pay for an updated DragThing. I like the way it keeps the desktop clean. It does seem to not work as well with Mojave as with previous Mac OS - slows down the launching of other apps. But I hate to see it go.
One alternative to DragThing is “Station”.
SAD !!!!!
I rely on Dragthing daily, at home and especially at work.
I too will gladly pay for a rewrite.
Here’s hoping it happens.
I've been using Dragthing for years, and it's an integral (essential) part of my work desktop. I'm more than willing to buy a new version of Dragthing - I'm running OS 10.12 and have not updated to 10.14 yet because of Dragthing.
I completely admit to being a software geek, and DragThing has been integral to my daily functions for countless years. After seeing the results on Mojave on my iMac (slowness, primarily), I haven't upgraded my MacBook Pro past High Sierra.
I'm busy testing uBar, Dropzone, Unclutter and Workspaces on my iMac (thankful for Setapp), but this is painful. Three to five apps to replace one, and all of them seem to require more click for the same results? I'll happily sign up for a KickStarter!!
I have been DragThing user from few years. Recently found iCollections as a replacement (64bit app). So far I'm very satisfied. It has lots of configuration options and works like a charm. Now I've bought the app with lifetime free upgrades. I recommend iCollections for every DragThing users.
I have used Dragthing on daily basis for maybe twelve years. And I have been a Dragthing evangelist amongst my friends and coworkers as well.
Sad news… Thank you, James, for such an amazing software.
Aster: sorry but you must be kidding. iCollections is a joke as a Dragthing replacement.
I rely on the Disk Dock because I have so many drives and partitions mounted at one time. Been using DragThing for years. Would be more than willing to pay for any upgrade!
I have used DragThing for many years now, finding an alternative is going to be painful, I would gladly pay for an upgrade if one was available!
Take a good look at iCollections as a replacement for DragThing. It seamlessly replaced my complex multi-tabbed dock, my process dock, and the desktop trash can. It even imported my DragThing settings, so I was able to resume work after just some appearance tweaks. Having used DragThing for 20+ years, I'm glad I found a modern 64-bit alternative to DragThing. I auditioned several DragThing replacement apps, and settled on iCollections.
Similar history with DragThing, and similar feelings about its being sunsetted.