What you need to know
- DragThing has been around since 1995.
- It was a 32-bit app that isn't being updated.
- People can still use it on macOS Mojave.
If you're a Mac user from the bad old days, you'll probably be very aware of DragThing. Created by TLA Systems – founded by James Thomson – DragThing arrived in 1995 and was the Mac community's answer to the need for a Dock long before Apple made one of its own.
The app hasn't been updated in years but it continued to work with each and every macOS update. Until now.
With the arrival of macOS Catalina Apple has closed the door on 32-bit apps for good. If an app isn't updated, it simply won't run on Catalina. And DragThings falls into that category.
DragThing is written using the 32-bit Carbon APIs that Apple have now removed in macOS 10.15 Catalina. It will no longer run if you update to Catalina, and there are no plans to make a new version that will.We are sorry to say, DragThing has launched its last app.
Ultimately, the work required to make DragThing a 64-bit app just isn't worth it. TLA Systems says it would take at least a year to achieve, and that's just not going to happen.
64-bit support would require completely rewriting the code from the ground up, a process which would take us at least a year to complete, with no guarantees we could re-implement all the existing functionality, or how much of a future it would have if we did.
DragThings was much loved by the community and John Gruber even says he thinks the app "was a much better launcher than Apple's own system Dock ever has been." That's quite the compliment, especially consdiering Thomson also worked on Apple's Dock for a time.
Now if you'll all gather around, take a moment, and pour one out for a deal friend. We'll miss you, DragThing.
