Image rights: Running with Crayons.Much of the Finder is about searching:
wouldn’t you like a perfect English butler
to assist that for free? It’s what Alfred aims to
do, and version 4 brings many improvements,
above all to suit Catalina’s new security.
At its most basic, Alfred replaces Spotlight
for local and web searches, acting as a better
Finder driven largely from your keyboard.
This now has dynamic sorting of items by
name or date at the click of a pop–up, and
Ľqh#wkxpeqdlov1#Olnh#rwkhu#srzhuixo#
assistants, Alfred has extensive preferences
and options, now redesigned and searchable
— there’s also full Dark Mode support.
It brings some amazing shortcuts. To open
your last–used image in Preview, type P for
the app to appear as top hit, right–cursor
for Recent Documents, right–cursor again
to list them, and a third right–cursor opens
wkh#prvw#uhfhqwo|#dffhvvhg#Ľoh=#mxvw#irxu#
keystrokes. Specialized web searches are
vlploduo|#lqvwdqw=#ģwzlwwhu#CPdfOlih#ZZGFĤ#
takes you straight to Mac|Life’s tweets for the
ZZGF1#Doiuhg#xsgdwhv#vhdufk#uhvxowv#Alfred 4.0.2
Search–based tool extending to automation
Free (IAPs) From Running with Crayons, alfredapp.com
Needs macOS 10.11 or laterALFRED 4.0.2
Free taster version
Powerful workflows
Adapts to your usage
Keyboard driven
AWESOMEaccording to your usage: if you keep selecting
hits from one source, that gets top billing.
The free version of Alfred is great to see if
you get on with him, but he only really opens
up when you buy the Powerpack and unlock
ihdwxuhv#vxfk#dv#vfulswĞedvhg#zrunľrzv/#
snippets, and clipboard control. Ready–made
zrunľrzv#vxssruw#Wzlwwhu/#Hyhuqrwh/#
Fantastical, Slack, Google and Apple Maps,
and others from an active community.
Ghyhorslqj#zrunľrzv#xvhv#ylvxdo#
programming which feels familiar if you’ve
xvhg#Dxwrpdwru1#Yhuvlrq#7#eulqjv#pdmru#
lpsuryhphqwv#khuh#zlwk#d#juhdw#zrunľrz#
debugger, including logs with interactive
navigation. Other additions include Rich Text
in snippets with the keyword !rich, which
retain full styling when pasted in. These
extend with dynamic placeholders to
wudqvirup#frqwhqw#rq#wkh#ľ|/#vxfk#dv#
changing the case of text in the clipboard.
Alfred has his limits. You can share his
settings via iCloud, but DropBox is more
reliable. A companion iOS app Alfred Remote
xvhv#ZlĞIl#wr#uxq#uhprwh#zrunľrzv#olnh#
controlling iTunes.
THE BOTTOM LINE.#Wklv#lv#dq#lqĽqlwho|#
ľh{leoh#nh|erdugĞgulyhq#uhsodfhphqw#iru#
much of Finder, Spotlight, and more.
HOWARD OAKLEYWorkflows are wired up
graphically like Automator,
with a powerful debugging
tool new for version 4.Alfred’s window shows thumbnails and is dynamically
sorted by the pop–up.
Reviews
50 SEP 2019 maclife.com