4 ms·

There's very little to be smug about: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotlight_(software)#Privacy_concerns https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotlight_(software)#Pr

There's very little to be smug about: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotlight_(software)#Privacy_concerns https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotlight_(software)#Privacy_c...

Retra 11y ago
I've had a macbook for 2 years and I've never used spotlight beyond the initial "what does this do?" moment. Besides, you can't really do search without knowing what is searched for and from where it is being searched.
- FussyZeus 11y ago
  The few things that I use spotlight for kind of necessitate location data anyways, I keep it on Cmd + Shift + Space and use Alfred on Cmd + Space. I find it does really well when you're looking for restaurants in your area and things like that.
- s_henry_paulson 11y ago
  Once you get used to cmd+space. It's so much easier to hit the key combo, type the first letters of the program you want and hit enter than clicking through a bunch of folders and scrolling around.. but after reading this wikipedia article, I think I may have to find an alternative.
  - FussyZeus 11y ago
    Check out Alfred. I use the free version myself, you can un-assign command space from Spotlight in OS X first, then assign Command Space to that. It does basically the same thing minus the Internet connected stuff like location searching and whatnot. Alfred can be setup to index folders, contents of text files, pictures, etc. and harder things like System Prefs screens too. I myself keep Spotlight on Command Shift Space for the rare occasions when I want to take advantage of the Internet connected stuff, but keep using Alfred for everything else (less to do with privacy, more because Alfred is just quicker.)
  - Retra 11y ago
    The twelve programs I use most frequently are all on my dock, or accessible from the command line, which I can access by pressing opt+space. Everything else I just use the app menu for.
  - unluckier 11y ago
    Or just turn off the web features. It's quite trivial to do so. http://www.howtogeek.com/224344/how-to-disable-spotlights-web-searches-on-mac-iphone-and-ipad/ http://www.howtogeek.com/224344/how-to-disable-spotlights-we...
FussyZeus 11y ago
Don't use Spotlight, I prefer Alfred.
- FussyZeus 11y ago
  I can't stop laughing, what in the world in this comment necessitated bad karma?
  - J_Darnley 11y ago
    You spoke poorly of an Apple product which means you criticised the official church and its messiah.
    - FussyZeus 11y ago
      I guess I didn't picture the HN community as avid apple fans.
s_henry_paulson 11y ago
Thank you for posting this. I had no idea. And as a heavy spotlight user, it's infuriating to know apple is stealing my local computer searches and my location and then selling it to Microsoft.
- throwawayaway 11y ago
  It makes you wonder what else they are doing if they can be so blatant about it.

There's very little to be smug about: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotlight_(software)#Privacy_concerns https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotlight_(software)#Privacy_c...

Retra 11y ago

I've had a macbook for 2 years and I've never used spotlight beyond the initial "what does this do?" moment. Besides, you can't really do search without knowing what is searched for and from where it is being searched.

FussyZeus 11y ago
The few things that I use spotlight for kind of necessitate location data anyways, I keep it on Cmd + Shift + Space and use Alfred on Cmd + Space. I find it does really well when you're looking for restaurants in your area and things like that.
s_henry_paulson 11y ago
Once you get used to cmd+space. It's so much easier to hit the key combo, type the first letters of the program you want and hit enter than clicking through a bunch of folders and scrolling around.. but after reading this wikipedia article, I think I may have to find an alternative.
- FussyZeus 11y ago
  Check out Alfred. I use the free version myself, you can un-assign command space from Spotlight in OS X first, then assign Command Space to that. It does basically the same thing minus the Internet connected stuff like location searching and whatnot. Alfred can be setup to index folders, contents of text files, pictures, etc. and harder things like System Prefs screens too. I myself keep Spotlight on Command Shift Space for the rare occasions when I want to take advantage of the Internet connected stuff, but keep using Alfred for everything else (less to do with privacy, more because Alfred is just quicker.)
- Retra 11y ago
  The twelve programs I use most frequently are all on my dock, or accessible from the command line, which I can access by pressing opt+space. Everything else I just use the app menu for.
- unluckier 11y ago
  Or just turn off the web features. It's quite trivial to do so. http://www.howtogeek.com/224344/how-to-disable-spotlights-web-searches-on-mac-iphone-and-ipad/ http://www.howtogeek.com/224344/how-to-disable-spotlights-we...

FussyZeus 11y ago

Don't use Spotlight, I prefer Alfred.

FussyZeus 11y ago
I can't stop laughing, what in the world in this comment necessitated bad karma?
- J_Darnley 11y ago
  You spoke poorly of an Apple product which means you criticised the official church and its messiah.
  - FussyZeus 11y ago
    I guess I didn't picture the HN community as avid apple fans.

s_henry_paulson 11y ago

Thank you for posting this. I had no idea. And as a heavy spotlight user, it's infuriating to know apple is stealing my local computer searches and my location and then selling it to Microsoft.

throwawayaway 11y ago
It makes you wonder what else they are doing if they can be so blatant about it.