In praise of Alfred

[srbNYC]

Not shilling here—I'm genuinely astounded by how valuable and versatile the Alfred app is. Relatively recent discovery for me, and the more I learn about it, the more I tweak it and use it. Creating custom web searches for all the sites I search frequently; keyboard access to all my documents, Notes, Safari bookmarks, and songs in Music; word definitions; etc. It's pretty awesome, especially for a keyboard- (rather than mouse- or trackpad-) centric user like me. It's changed my MacBook experience.

Any other great experiences or tips here?

 

[redboxcar]

Alfred is always the very first app I install on new Macs. I use it all day, every day. One of my most used, but rarely talked about, quick functions is doing simple calculations (e.g., 44.99*1.0825), then pressing enter to copy the number to the clipboard.

 

[srbNYC]

Alfred is always the very first app I install on new Macs. I use it all day, every day. One of my most used, but rarely talked about, quick functions is doing simple calculations (e.g., 44.99*1.0825), then pressing enter to copy the number to the clipboard.

I knew about the math, but didn't know about the copy-paste function. Thanks!

 

[Diskutant]

I'm a long time user of Alfred, before that I used LaunchBar, iirc that was before Spotlight was a thing.
Now I got my new M1 Mac and I wonder if I really need Alfred anymore as Spotlight got more features over the years.

Spotlight does calculations too. The Powerpack site features stuff like text expansion which is already build into macOS.
I guess the clipboard history is great though.

Right now it feels like macOS added all the important Alfred features by now.

 

[srbNYC]

I have three words for you: Custom. Web. Search. I keep building new ones, and it's changed by website usage tremendously. E.g., with more cooking at home these days, I have searches build for recipes on the Food Network and NYT, where I use one keyword and one primary ingredient in Alfred, and I get to a page of results. Ditto for NYT story topics. I feels like my Mac is customized for me.

 

[Diskutant]

damn you are right! How did I forget about that?
Will install Alfred as soon as I'm back on my Mac.
Thanks @srbNYC

 

[srbNYC]

There's also the integration (and Alfred uber playlist) that let's me summon any song in Music from a hotkey and a word or two.

 

[Weaselboy]

Longtime Alfred user here also and I would be lost without it. I installed some nice Workflows over the years. I also use the Snippets text expansion feature a lot.

 

[dukebound85]

I have ALWAYS used QuickSilver. How does Alfred compare?

 

[Weaselboy]

I have ALWAYS used QuickSilver. How does Alfred compare?

I used QS ages ago and I dropped it when I believe they stopped development. I think since then someone took it over and now maintains it. I think Alfred has better or more third party development of add ins (Workflows in Alfred). I also found the Alfred support forums very helpful.

 

[ignatius345]

Alfred is always the very first app I install on new Macs. I use it all day, every day. One of my most used, but rarely talked about, quick functions is doing simple calculations (e.g., 44.99*1.0825), then pressing enter to copy the number to the clipboard.

Same. I immediately reclaim the ⌘+space shortcut from Spotlight and give it to Alfred and never look back.

I use it to launch apps, start internet searches (including searching specific sites), open files, look up contact information. And most recently I've started dipping into the Snippets feature, which lets you (say) paste today's date or whatever other piece of information. Honestly when I start using a Mac without it I feel like I'm dead in the water.

One tip for fellow Alfred users: you really can use iCloud Drive instead of Dropbox to sync your settings if you use multiple Macs, despite Alfred's vocal complaints about it. Just be sure to right-click the folder where you keep your prefs and pick "Download Now" and it seems to work fine. I dropped Dropbox a couple years ago when it started getting super bloated. I would rather Alfred had its own sync setup like, say, Things does. But then again it's not a subscription and for that I'm thankful.

 

[srbNYC]

I found a workflow for searching in the Notes app; can open a specific Note with one click. Pretty sure Spotlight doesn't access those.

 

[Blowback]

Alfred is always the very first app I install on new Macs. I use it all day, every day. One of my most used, but rarely talked about, quick functions is doing simple calculations (e.g., 44.99*1.0825), then pressing enter to copy the number to the clipboard.

Not knocking Alfred, and thinking of giving it a try, but you can also do simple math right in the content box of Spotlight. Been using it this way for years.

 

[Blowback]

I have ALWAYS used QuickSilver. How does Alfred compare?

Wow! I remember QuickSilver from YEARS ago!

 

[chabig]

I've used LaunchBar since the beginning of OS X. I don't get fancy with it, but it does learn my shortcuts where Spotlight won't.

 

[Diskutant]

Not knocking Alfred, and thinking of giving it a try, but you can also do simple math right in the content box of Spotlight. Been using it this way for years.

but does it copy the result to clipboard on enter (or other keycombo)?
And Alfred also does "advanced" math.

Now that I installed Alfred I realize the clipboard history stuff is a powerpack feature. But that seems quite expensive if I want only that one feature.
The Workflows seem powerful, but I don't know what I would use it for. Is it really that useful for you guys?

 

[Weaselboy]

The Workflows seem powerful, but I don't know what I would use it for. Is it really that useful for you guys?

Home

Packal.org is the repository for Alfred 2 Workflows and Themes. All Workflows and Themes are user-contributed, and all can extend the Mac OS X application Alfred 2.

www.packal.org

Here is a site that hosts Alfred Workflows you might find useful.

These screenshots show my Workflows just to give you an idea of what can be done. Some of these are Workflows I made myself that run various Applescripts or Terminal Commands.

 

[srbNYC]

I use Workflows to launch apps with keystrokes (much as I used to use DragThing). I've created hotkeys of Command-Option-Control plus the first initial of each app.

 

[redboxcar]

Not knocking Alfred, and thinking of giving it a try, but you can also do simple math right in the content box of Spotlight. Been using it this way for years.

It's specifically hitting enter to copy the result to clipboard for me. Hitting enter after a calculation using Spotlight simply opens the Calculator app.

 

[Diskutant]

I just stumbled upon Cerebro, which is an app like Alfred, but Open Source and runs on Mac, Win and Linux: https://cerebroapp.com

It has many plugins, which are easy to install, just enter "plugins" and some search word and it shows them and you can choose to install it.

I don't know if it could replace Alfred on Mac for me, but it's great to have on the Win PC at work.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I found a workflow for searching in the Notes app; can open a specific Note with one click. Pretty sure Spotlight doesn't access those.

Mind sharing that work flow?

Edited to add: I found it but, it doesn't show it is compatible with Big Sur.

 

[srbNYC]

Funny you should post this. The Search Notes workflow I have has been updated and works great in Big Sur.

However, I just lost all my Alfred preferences yesterday. (I mistakenly picked a sync folder I hadn't used in years, and now I have 3-year-old settings.) Does anyone know where Alfred keeps its settings, so that I might try to restore via Time Machine? The "Alfred.alfredpreferences" file in my Library is also the old one, even if I go back several days. Is it "prefs.json"? I scared to mess around.

UPDATE: I restored an earlier "prefs.json" file and it worked—but I can't find a file that's being kept current to sync Alfred. My "Alfred.alfredpreferences" file is still dated from 3 years ago.

 

[Weaselboy]

What do you see here under advanced in settings. Also, try clicking reveal in Finder and see where that takes you.

 

[srbNYC]

View attachment 1705443

What do you see here under advanced in settings. Also, try clicking reveal in Finder and see where that takes you.

Thank you, yes, that's where I found it. But which file(s) am I looking for? As I said, my "Alfred.alfredpreferences" file there is dated 2017, as is the one I found in Dropbox. I can't figure out why I don't have a more recent one. Thanks!

 

[Weaselboy]

Thank you, yes, that's where I found it. But which file(s) am I looking for? As I said, my "Alfred.alfredpreferences" file there is dated 2017, as is the one I found in Dropbox. I can't figure out why I don't have a more recent one. Thanks!

Hmmm... now that I look, mine in that spot is four years old also.

I do see these two in ~/Library/Preferences that look more up to date.

So I dunno what is going on with that sync prefs setting.