The app first introduced the concept of widgets to Apple’s desktop operating system and became a hallmark of OS X design for more than a decade. In particular, Dashboard became well known for its desktop Sticky Note feature and its overall skeuomorphic approach best emphasized by the clock, stocks, and calculator widgets, a design philosophy that formed the foundation of the first version of iOS that launched a few years after OS X Tiger. It wasn’t until iOS 7 in 2013 that Apple would abandon that aesthetic for a flatter, more modern one that eventual carried back over to its desktop look and feel.
Steve Troughton-Smith
✔@stroughtonsmith
With Dashboard removed in macOS Catalina, your Sticky Notes have moved to the Stickies app!
Since 2011, Dashboard has been accessible in various forms, but it’s had none of its widget design or UI updated, making it a bit of an anachronism existing behind the scenes on macOS. With OS X 10.10 Yosemite, Apple disabled the application by default, but still allowed users to access it either as a hotkey overlay or its own separate space within Mission Control.
