A Refined Way to Find Files with Spotlight | Review by Erik VlietinckHoudahSpot 6 for Mac
HoudahSpot 6 adopts the new Big Sur user interface and adds support for Macs
with Apple Silicon processors. That’s not all, though: Version 6 comes packed with
features and enhancements that will improve your productivity.
On macOS Catalina and Big Sur, HoudahSpot searches Apple Mail messages,
despite Apple’s refusal to open Core Spotlight to developers. It’s a plug-in that
now allows HoudahSpot to include Mail message files in your search results.
HoudahSpot 6 has a nicely designed file tag cloud, which shows all tags
present in the current search results, and the number of occurrences of each
tag. It allows you to incrementally refine your search by simply clicking a tag.
Search results can sometimes run into the thousands, which isn’t very helpful.
New filters help you focus on relevant files by only showing you a subset of your
search results.
The first method is a filter based on file- and folder-name, or file path. The
most powerful use, however, is HoudahSpot’s capability to filter files based on
their sharing a common property; for example, files modified the same day. You
access this type of filter by opening the Info panel and checking parameters in a
Metadata Filters list. You can even keep the Info panel open so you can filter more
deeply by applying multiple filters. As each file type has its own set of metadata,
some more extensive than others, this is a real boon for digging deeper.
In the Refine pane, many attributes now offer the “is set” operator. This operator
matches files that have a value for the selected attribute. For example, you can
find files that have at least one tag set as their “Tags” attribute.
And, finally, HoudahSpot 6 now also remembers recent searches, making it
easy to share search configurations. nCompany: Houdah SoftwarePrice: $34 (single user);
$52 (family)Hot: Apple Mail messages
search; filters; tag support;
“is set” operatorNot: REVIEWSPHOTOSHOP USER
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