5 ms·

Doesn't the new search feature in Yosemite make Alfred obsolete?

nlh 12y ago
No. Or, I should say, I don't think so. Alfred is actually about much more than basic search. There's a whole framework there and you can write custom "workflows" for it, which are - essentially - "Alfred apps". For example (just picked this at random) - someone wrote a Gmail client for Alfred: http://www.alfredforum.com/topic/4744-gmail-client-for-alfred/ http://www.alfredforum.com/topic/4744-gmail-client-for-alfre...
mikeash 12y ago
I'd be rather surprised. My main uses for Alfred are: 1. Launching apps. 2. Searching developer documentation with Dash. I can pop up Alfred and type "dash nsstring" and it'll show me the docs for that class. 3. Clipboard history. If I type "clip" it shows me everything I've copied to the clipboard in the past day. I can filter that by typing. Pressing return pastes the selected entry. 4. Hotkey actions. The main one I use binds cmd-shift-5 to a custom script that starts the GUI action for taking a screenshot of a selected area of the screen, then uploads the resulting image to my web server and places the URL on my clipboard. 5. Searching Google by just typing stuff into the Alfred bar. 6. Invoking Wolfram Alpha by typing "w stufftocalculate". 7. Searching Wikipedia by typing "wiki stufftosearch". Of those, I don't think 2, 3, 4, 6, or 7 have any hope of being replaced by Apple. 1 could, but on the other hand this has in theory been supported by Spotlight since 10.4, and it's just been too unreliable and slow. I doubt they'll finally get their act together on it now. 5 is the only one that seems likely to be obsoleted by Yosemite, and that's a minor one.
- oostevo 12y ago
  Do you know a place to find more examples like these? When I was re-learning Vim a few years ago, I found things like VimCasts to be incredibly useful -- reading documentation is one thing, but seeing how experts use the tools made a big difference in understanding for me. I suspect something similar would be helpful in moving beyond using Alfred as an application launcher and file explorer.
  - dangoor 12y ago
    I usually just google "alfred (something I do) workflow". For example, I wanted to be able to turn Caffeine on and off through Alfred. There's a workflow for that. I wanted a timer. Yep, already there. Look up the weather? Sure. Alfred seems to have enough enthusiastic users that whatever you do regularly is probably done regularly by someone else as well.
twodayslate 12y ago
If it was extendable then yes, but I don't think Apple is going to allow this without some modifications.

nlh 12y ago

No. Or, I should say, I don't think so. Alfred is actually about much more than basic search. There's a whole framework there and you can write custom "workflows" for it, which are - essentially - "Alfred apps". For example (just picked this at random) - someone wrote a Gmail client for Alfred: http://www.alfredforum.com/topic/4744-gmail-client-for-alfred/ http://www.alfredforum.com/topic/4744-gmail-client-for-alfre...

mikeash 12y ago

I'd be rather surprised. My main uses for Alfred are: 1. Launching apps. 2. Searching developer documentation with Dash. I can pop up Alfred and type "dash nsstring" and it'll show me the docs for that class. 3. Clipboard history. If I type "clip" it shows me everything I've copied to the clipboard in the past day. I can filter that by typing. Pressing return pastes the selected entry. 4. Hotkey actions. The main one I use binds cmd-shift-5 to a custom script that starts the GUI action for taking a screenshot of a selected area of the screen, then uploads the resulting image to my web server and places the URL on my clipboard. 5. Searching Google by just typing stuff into the Alfred bar. 6. Invoking Wolfram Alpha by typing "w stufftocalculate". 7. Searching Wikipedia by typing "wiki stufftosearch". Of those, I don't think 2, 3, 4, 6, or 7 have any hope of being replaced by Apple. 1 could, but on the other hand this has in theory been supported by Spotlight since 10.4, and it's just been too unreliable and slow. I doubt they'll finally get their act together on it now. 5 is the only one that seems likely to be obsoleted by Yosemite, and that's a minor one.

oostevo 12y ago
Do you know a place to find more examples like these? When I was re-learning Vim a few years ago, I found things like VimCasts to be incredibly useful -- reading documentation is one thing, but seeing how experts use the tools made a big difference in understanding for me. I suspect something similar would be helpful in moving beyond using Alfred as an application launcher and file explorer.
- dangoor 12y ago
  I usually just google "alfred (something I do) workflow". For example, I wanted to be able to turn Caffeine on and off through Alfred. There's a workflow for that. I wanted a timer. Yep, already there. Look up the weather? Sure. Alfred seems to have enough enthusiastic users that whatever you do regularly is probably done regularly by someone else as well.

twodayslate 12y ago

If it was extendable then yes, but I don't think Apple is going to allow this without some modifications.