If you ’re still manually digging around in folder looking for apps to launch and document to open , it ’s metre to discontinue . you may salve tremendous amounts of time and push by using a catapult public-service corporation instead , which can spread out apps and files , as well as perform figuring , seek the World Wide Web , run scripts , and do all sorts of other laborsaving tricks .
In this roundup , we put four all - purpose , keyboard - based launchers to the test : Running with Crayons’Alfred(free , but £ 17/$26 for the highly recommended Powerpack option ) , Many Tricks’Butler($20 ) , Objective Development’sLaunchBar($29 ) , and the Quicksilver Project ’s open - sourceQuicksilver(free ) .
We also take Spotlight into consideration , which is built into OS X and can do many of the same matter . Each of these LET you open up items on your Mac without bed where they are ( or even incisively what they ’re named ) , and they all divvy up a number of other useful core lineament .
Get used to keyboard commands
With all these rocket launcher , the principal usage convention is the same . First , you press a keyboard crosscut , such as Command - Spacebar , to give a pop - up search window . ( In some cases , you’re able to also click a computer menu bar icon . ) Then , you start typing the name of whatever you want to launch , and potential matches appear in a list . you’re able to contract down the list of matches by typewrite more characters or by using the pointer keys to select something other than the first item in the tilt . When the item you want is highlighted , you press Return to open it . For object lesson , the staring sequence of key stroke to give Mail might be Command - Spacebar , “ m , ” retort .
you could handicap or rearrange family for Spotlight searches in this preference dose .
spot uses the Command - Spacebar shortcut by default , but you may deepen it if you like by going toSystem Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Spotlight > Search Results , double - snap the keyboard shortcut next to Show Spotlight Search , and pressing a new key compounding . Similarly , each of the non - Apple launcher has a default keyboard shortcut involving the Spacebar ( LaunchBar uses Command - Spacebar , the same as Spotlight ; for Alfred , it ’s Option - Spacebar ; for Butler and Quicksilver , it ’s Control - Spacebar ) , but you may change this to whatever you opt — just check that your chosen launcher does n’t struggle with Spotlight . ( If you require to use more than one launcher at the same time , that ’s fine too , as long as each has a different keyboard crosscut . )
What you can find and open
The wordlauncherimplies that you ’ll be opening apps , and all the launchers ( including Spotlight ) prioritise apps in their search results . But Spotlight can see and open nearly anything on your Mac , including document , folders , System Preferences panes , Mail subject matter , iTunes tracks , and contacts . In summation , Spotlight can search the Web ( via Bing ) , perform currency changeover , show Dictionary definitions , and more . In Yosemite , Spotlight display most results ( including Wikipedia pages , movie trailers , function , and so on ) right in its bolt down - up windowpane . ( you’re able to see the full inclination of search categories inSystem Preferences > Spotlight > hunt upshot , where you could also disable or reorder the categories as you see fit . )
Alfred , Butler , LaunchBar , and Quicksilver display and spread out most of the same data types as Spotlight , but pop the question much more configurability . For exercise , you could ask them to search at only specific files or folders , or perform specialised Web searches for , say , Twitter user or IMDB entries . All except Butler also have mechanism for impart plugins in club to extend searches to include items such as 1Password logins and Transmit favorites .
All the launchers become smarter as you use them . For example , if you type “ m ” in an effort to find and open Messages , perhaps Mail amount up on the tilt sooner , so you arrow down to Messages alternatively . But the next time you type “ m ” ( or , reckon on the catapult , after a few tries ) , Messages comes up as the first alternative .
character ‘ MiB ’ in Alfred ’s windowpane and it presents its best guesses as to which app ( or other point ) you want , based on your habits .
However , Spotlight always groups categories as defined in its predilection . So if you have apps list first , then no matter how many times you select “ Many Merry Monkeys.docx ” as your pick after typecast “ m , ” it ’ll still be lean lower , among the documents .
Spotlight normally lists apps first , with its best guess selected at the top .
Extra actions
All the rocket launcher except Butler can perform computation right in the hunt field . ( In Quicksilver , you must typecast “ = ” as your first character to trigger the calculation . ) In addition , all except Butler let you apply Quick Look to preview a selected item without open up it . And all except Butler and Spotlight can open a document in an app other than the nonpayment one for that data file case ( for instance , opening a Word document in Pages ) , and let you type keywords to do a wide variety of system actions — things like hide the current app , changing your volume , or resume your Mac .
Butler ’s window is n’t as modern or flashy as the others and has fewer choice , but it still intelligently prioritizes your choices .
LaunchBar can add an event or reminder from its search windowpane . ( Alfred can , too , with the addition of liberal third - party workflows . ) LaunchBar can also fill in drug user - set schoolbook snip ( including variables such as date and time ) and emoji ( by name ) , change over connection emplacement and user story , perform any of dozens of built - in action ( such as constrict file , emptying the Trash , hiding an covering , and performing textual matter conversions ) , and execute Automator workflows and items on the system - wide Services carte du jour . It also lets you execute other actions with pick out files besides just unfold them — sending files by email or Messages , running an AppleScript , and so on .
Quicksilver is perhaps the most modular of the launcher , with dozens of complimentary plugins available to add lineament — like ikon and school text manipulation — and allow integration with apps like Evernote , Google Chrome , iTunes , and Safari . It ’s also the most explicit about the interval between the item found ( an app , a written document , a contact , etc . ) and the actions you may perform on it . The default natural action is nearly always undecided ( accomplished by pressing Return ) , but you may instead press Tab and view a catalogue of other action appropriate for the selected point .
After selecting an point in Quicksilver , press Tab and then right pointer to see a list of all the actions you could perform on it .
User-friendliness and performance
While all four of these rocket launcher are similar at a high floor , each one has its own spin on the features it offers . Given my own tastes and mindset , I find LaunchBar to be the most aboveboard and best contrive of the bunch . you could habituate it almost immediately with barely any configuration , though it ’s easy to custom-make if you like . And it ’s both super fast and predictable , largely because it uses its own indicant rather than relying on Spotlight ’s indicant . ( LaunchBar is also good at detect multi - word epithet and camel slip words , so if you type “ FT , ” FaceTime is likely to be at the top of the list . )
Activate LaunchBar and type ‘ phosphorus , ’ and you ’ll see your top apps lead off with that letter . The one you select will affect succeeding antecedence in this list .
Although Spotlight ’s usability is good and its compass of feature article is telling , its speed is not . Even on a dissipated Mac , it may take two or three seconds for the full list to appear , and during that time , element in the list may rearrange themselves , increase the likelihood that you ’ll choose the wrong thing .
Alfred rely on Spotlight for everything except for apps , preferences , contacts , and Safari bookmarks , so enable documents , folder , and other items in Alfred ’s list can slow it down , although you may act around this by typing “ unresolved ” to start a hunting for these items . Alfred depends on the user knowing such keywords for various chore — so there is a spot of a learn bender involved — but on the whole , it ’s a friendly and well - thought - out app .
Quicksilver uses its own index , too , but its execution slowed to a crawl when involve to index a big batch of file ( such as everything in my drug user Documents folder)—and was even tough during its periodical index rescans . Although Quicksilver is simple to use for most tasks , it can be challenge to find your way around its preference . And some plugins , like 1Password , are currently far out of date .
Butler often left me scratching my promontory . I did n’t have any particular problems with performance , although it ceaselessly search when indexing large folder ( such as your papers folder)—descending into all the subfolders , no matter how deep cuddle — just to show off its usefulness . My big ailment about Butler is that it ’s littered and oddly form — it adds three organisation - wide menus in improver to the toss off - up search window , and the preference are often cryptical .
Which one?
For opening apps and documents , and search the World Wide Web , any of these launchers will get the chore done . Although Spotlight ’s preview feature is handy , it ’s less powerful and elastic than the dedicated launchers when it comes to other tasks .
Of this muckle , LaunchBar is the most approachable and postulate the least form , with Alfred coming in as a near second gear ( but only with the optional Powerpack , which add feature such as iTunes controls , e-mail searching , a clipboard history , and workflow ) . But if you already use — and love — a dissimilar catapult , the passage to a fresh one may seem awkward and affected . There are no bad choices , here , as long as they work for you .
