Parall — Multi-Instance App Launcher

I Built Parall — Multi-Instance App Launcher for macOS

Solving a simple macOS problem that somehow no one had properly solved before.

Republished at https://reverseeverything.com on June 25, 2026.

When I first switched from Windows to macOS years ago, I immediately noticed something strange.
On Windows, you can easily open multiple instances of almost any app — just click again, or use a simple flag.
But on macOS? Not so much.

Even something as basic as running another instance of an app — say, two copies of Chrome, or two browser profiles — wasn’t straightforward.
I discovered I could copy the app manually, but that meant duplicating gigabytes of data and re-copying it every time the original app updated.
Later, I learned about the open -n Terminal trick. It worked, but wasn’t persistent, couldn’t be pinned to the Dock, and definitely didn’t feel native.

Over the years, I made small scripts and automation hacks to make this easier, but I wanted something clean — a proper macOS solution.
Fast-forward a few years: after developing DockLock, a series of apps that fix how the Mac Dock behaves on multi-monitor setups, I finally had the skills (and the motivation) to tackle this one…