Show frequently used apps in some way

[danirabbit]

Problem

Our stance in the past has always been that frequently used apps should be pinned to the dock so we don't need to do anything about this in the applications menu. However, in our recent UI study 90% of users reported that they use the applications menu to launch frequently used apps at least sometimes https://blog.elementary.io/2021-ui-study-results-dock-multitasking/

Proposal

We should probably consider whether it's worth making it easier to get to frequently used apps in the applications menu with a special category or section

Prior Art (Optional)

No response

[janxkoci]

For example the whisker menu in XFCE desktop has a "Favourites" category. It is the first category shown after opening the menu (at least in Xubuntu). I think they also have "Recent" apps category, populated by recently used apps.

I think you could do something like that in the Category View of Slingshot - right now it shows me Graphics (the first), or whatever category I've seen last time.

[fayjie92]

In my opinion, we do not require a frequently used app section. Having much options in an app menu makes the menu complicated. Currently, elementary os app menu is the best after the mac OS app launcher. It further provides the category section for the apps.
The utility of the dock is for the favorite/frequently used apps. If we have another category like frequent apps, what is the use of the dock? I prefer to have the dock instead of cluttering the app menu with more options. The sole purpose of the app menu is to provide the apps installed in system to the user, and elementary OS app menu does this job really well.

[janxkoci]

@fayjie92 It doesn't need to be very complicated - it could just be a new "folder" in the current category view, along with Graphics, Internet, Games, etc.

The question is how it gets populated. Either users can "pin" their apps to "Favourites" or some such, or it could use some heuristic to figure out frequently used apps automatically. "Recent" apps could be useful too, although probably less useful in some workflows.

[janxkoci]

Another possibility comes to mind - sorting the app grid by recency of app use.

I just recalled my older Sony android phone allowed sorting its launcher's app grid by recency and it was very convenient - the most used apps were always on the first screen/page. I don't see this option on phones these days, perhaps for privacy reasons. I also don't know how to best expose the toggle in the UI (it probably shouldn't be default). But maybe it can be considered.