Originally, Start was developed as a menu bar application that displays the main window as a popup menu when the menu bar icon is clicked. However, it quickly became apparent that this approach also had some serious drawbacks: for example, no menu bar is permanently visible in full-screen applications. For such cases, a fallback was implemented, which then displays the main window permanently in the center of the screen. In addition, there have been repeated requests as to whether it would not be possible to place the main window of Start more flexibly - for example in the lower left corner, ideally in connection with a dock icon, in order to imitate the start menu of another well-known operating system ... certainly an interesting feature for switchers.

With Start 7.0, these issues have now been addressed. Basically, the main Start window is now no longer a popup menu that mutates into a window as a fallback option, but basically a placeable, standalone panel. The fixation on the menu bar has given way to nine positions that can be individually initiated via triggers. This sounds a bit cumbersome at first glance, but it allows for maximum flexibility, so that everyone could use Start as desired.

The configuration for the triggers can be found in the settings in the "General" area.

Let's now look at the triggers in detail.

Global Hotkey

The Global Hotkey trigger is activated when you press the hotkey you have set on the keyboard. Example: You have defined a double-tap on the command key as the hotkey and set the center of the screen as the target. Now Start appears in the center of the screen when you double-press the Command key. This position is also used when Start is displayed over other hotkeys such as tag hotkeys.

Menu bar

With this trigger you can first choose from different menu bar icons and then also specify a position where the main window should appear when you click on the menu bar icon. Here, of course, "Right-Top" is a good choice, since the menu bar icon is usually located on the right side of the menu bar.

Dock Icon

This icon is a bit special. Since Start is a menu bar application, Start has no "automatic" dock icon. So you first have to drag'n'drop the application itself from the application directory into the dock at the desired location. Then you can specify where you want Start's main window to appear when you click Start's dock icon. This step is unfortunately necessary because Start cannot read the Dock and therefore does not know where the Start icon is located.

Tip: With the triggers and the different positions, Start can be set up very flexibly. Nevertheless, it makes sense to store a certain uniformity. For example, if you use the dock icon, it is convenient if the position of the dock icon trigger and the hotkey trigger are identical.