Dashboard

Dashboard is an application for Apple Inc.’s Mac OS X operating systems, used as a secondary desktop for hosting mini-applications known as widgets. These are intended to be simple applications that do not take time to launch. Dashboard applications supplied with OS X include a stock ticker, weather report, calculator and notepad; users can create or download their own. Before OS X 10.7 “Lion”, when Dashboard is activated, the user’s desktop is dimmed and widgets appear in the foreground. Like application windows, they can be moved around, rearranged, deleted, and recreated (so that more than one of the same Widget is open at the same time, possibly with different settings). New widgets can be opened, via an icon bar on the bottom of the layer, loading a list of available apps similar to the iOS homescreen or the OS X Launchpad. After loading, the widget is ready for use. Dashboard was first introduced in Tiger. It can be activated as an application, from the Dock, Launchpad or Spotlight. Alternatively, the user can choose to make Dashboard open on moving the cursor into a preassigned hot corner or keyboard shortcut. Starting with OS X 10.7 “Lion”, the Dashboard can be configured as a space, accessed by swiping four fingers to the right from the Desktops either side of it. In OS X Yosemite, the Dashboard is disabled by default, as the Notification Center is now the primary method of displaying widgets.