Alfred App | Hacker News Reader

Alfred App

alfredapp.com

48 pointstortilla23 comments

This app's icon and feature set bear an uncanny resemblance to Sherlock

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_(software)

I'm pretty sure that was exactly what they were trying to do...

Not bad at all, but I still find Google Quick Search Box[1] more complete. Navigating the filesystem directly is what I miss the most in Alfred.

EDIT: It also doesn't seem to have a built-in calculator. :(

[1] http://code.google.com/p/qsb-mac/

It's a brand new app with 1 - 1.5 developers; give them a chance ;-)

The design is great. It's a bummer that Quicksilver development has ceased. Google QSB is cool, but it's also nice to see a free/ISV competitor pop up with a genuinely capable product.

I didn't mean to be too evil in my comment. I actually like the design and how fast it feels (not that QSB is slow). :)

I'll keep tuned for updates. It does seems promising, although it isn't yet complete enough for me (or for people who tend to use Quicksilver as more than just an application launcher).

EDIT: I just noticed Alfred uses very little memory (12.5MB after launching an app). http://grab.by/2V19

I remember the days when the entire BeOS operating system could run in 4 megs of ram. An application launcher running in 12.5 megs will never count as 'very little memory' to me.

I used to use dmenu in Linux, which used just a few kilobytes of memory, wasn't running all the time in the background and was fast...

My point was how little memory Alfred uses when compared the Quicksilver or Google QSB (the latter currently taking up 39MB at the moment).

[I just noticed this reply was an example of this: http://xkcd.com/386/]

I didn't say you were wrong. I said that 12.5 megs will never count as 'very little memory' to me.

It is a matter of perspective, not correctness.

Bit of a tangent: awful usability on the screenshots on the homepage. It's really hard to get to the middle two since mousing over the outer pictures cause them to inflate over the top.

I currently use LaunchBar on the Mac (excellent) and Launchy on the PC (good but not brilliant). LaunchBar fits my needs perfectly so I can't see any reason to move away from it (kind of like how I wouldn't buy any other MP3 player apart from an iPod).

I'm in the same position with Butler; I'm not sure what Alfred offers over LaunchBar or Butler.

Agreed, I also found the auto-expansion really jarring. My eyes are still reeling :).

I've been using this as a Quicksilver replacement for a few days now. I love its simplicity, and how it always seems to stay up-to-date with every app I have installed, whereas Quicksilver would only scan every few minutes for new applications.

I mainly use spotlight, .. other than web searches are there any other main differences.

This looks like something I could finally move to from Quicksilver. I love quicksilver, but to be honest, it's simply too complex for me to feel good about. That, and the fact that it's mostly dead have me itching to switch to something.

Wondering why this isn't open source thought. The FAQ doesn't really say, but it does indicate they don't plan on selling it at any point.

Perhaps they want to retain the possibility of selling the app (or some souped-up version).

Also, opened source probably would get in the way of something so early in its development cycle.

I bought a new Macbook with Snow Leopard on it for the family and decided Spotlight was usable enough. My kids didn't agree, and begged me to install Quicksilver. It's easy to use, totally functional, and has even been updated to work on Snow Leopard. How is it "mostly dead"?

It appears to be using the spotlight index. I wish it would also allow opening directories. I often have common filenames in each project directory (i.e. website1/index.html, website2/index.html). Would be nice to say "open website1" and have Finder pop up.

Also Large Type, which I think is really useful to people who need to project something quickly and without record. :)

Visually, it's quite appealing, and it feels snappier than Quicksilver or Google QSB. I think its grammar is more limited than Quicksilver's though. I prefer the "direct object, verb, indirect object" structure that Quicksilver uses over Alfred's "verb, object".

having type open and then the name of files/directories is pretty much a non starter for me.

Just installed, great so far. I love the shortcuts to the results beside the first one

Launchy is a similar app for Windows and Linux. It's not super great for finding and opening files, but it's a great timesaver for opening websites and applications, especially if you use your keyboard more than your muse (as I presume most hackers do).

http://www.launchy.net/

Interesting thing is that the latest version of Launchy works on OSX as well.

I use it to index my folders so I can get to them fast.

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