New windows shouldn't steal focus from an open Application Launcher, because it's very likely that the user is searching for something in particular and wouldn't want to be interrupted.
If we implemented what you're requesting in an unconditional manner, then if I used Application Launcher to launch an app, the app would appear below Application Launcher! Depending on the screen's resolution and scale, it might be covering up quite a lot of the window. That doesn't really make any sense. In order to not be super annoying, we'd have to track windows that were opened by something *other* than Application Launcher. That might be possible. Let's move this to KWin to see what the KWin devs think.
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #1) > If we implemented what you're requesting in an unconditional manner, then if > I used Application Launcher to launch an app, the app would appear below > Application Launcher! Depending on the screen's resolution and scale, it > might be covering up quite a lot of the window. That doesn't really make any > sense. > > In order to not be super annoying, we'd have to track windows that were > opened by something *other* than Application Launcher. That might be > possible. Let's move this to KWin to see what the KWin devs think. Perhaps having it as an option disabled by default is the best approach.
Once https://invent.kde.org/plasma/kwin/-/issues/186 is implemented, this will just work™
(In reply to Zamundaaa from comment #3) > Once https://invent.kde.org/plasma/kwin/-/issues/186 is implemented, this > will just work™ That's great. Some apps have loading screens, like GIMP. So I sometimes look at a part of the panel that expands, then the loaded app retracts.
Given that it's planned and being worked on as part of a larger project, there's no need to keep this open, as it will be difficult to track which exact part fixes it. Once the whole project is complete, feel free to re-open if you find that the issue isn't resolved, though!