It also lets you perform other actions with selected files besides just opening them-sending files by email or Messages, running an AppleScript, and so on. (Alfred can, too, with the addition of free third-party workflows.) LaunchBar can also fill in user-defined text snippets (including variables such as date and time) and emoji (by name), switch network locations and user accounts, perform any of dozens of built-in actions (such as compressing files, emptying the Trash, hiding an application, and performing text conversions), and execute Automator workflows and items on the system-wide Services menu. LaunchBar can add an event or reminder from its search window. And all except Butler and Spotlight can open a document in an app other than the default one for that file type (for instance, opening a Word document in Pages), and let you type keywords to perform a wide variety of system actions-things like hiding the current app, changing your volume, or restarting your Mac.īutler’s window isn’t as modern or flashy as the others and has fewer options, but it still intelligently prioritizes your choices. (In Quicksilver, you must type “=” as your first character to trigger the calculation.) In addition, all except Butler let you use Quick Look to preview a selected item without opening it. Butler and LaunchBar can (though not Alfred or Quicksilver).Īll the launchers except Butler can perform calculations right in the search field. Spotlight can play a particular track in your library and look up other artists, tracks, and albums in the iTunes Store, but it can’t play an album by name. Track your clipboard history and paste previous clipboards, and control iTunes (for example, pause or resume playback). All the rest can run AppleScripts (not just open them in Script Editor), Extra actionsĪlthough Spotlight has many talents, it lacks several key features most of the other launchers have. Spotlight normally lists apps first, with its best guess selected at the top. So if you have apps listed first, then no matter how many times you select “Many Merry Monkeys.docx” as your choice after typing “m,” it’ll still be listed lower, among the documents. However, Spotlight always groups categories as defined in its preferences. ![]() Type ‘m’ in Alfred’s window and it presents its best guesses as to which app (or other item) you want, based on your habits. (You can see the full list of search categories in System Preferences > Spotlight >, where you can also disable or reorder the categories as you see fit.) In Yosemite, Spotlight displays most results (including Wikipedia pages, movie trailers, maps, and so on) right in its pop-up window. In addition, Spotlight can search the Web (via Bing), perform currency conversions, show Dictionary definitions, and more. ![]() But Spotlight can find and open nearly anything on your Mac, including documents, folders, System Preferences panes, Mail messages, iTunes tracks, and contacts. ![]() The word launcher implies that you’ll be opening apps, and all the launchers (including Spotlight) prioritize apps in their search results. (If you want to use more than one launcher at the same time, that’s fine too, as long as each has a different keyboard shortcut.) What you can find and open ![]() Similarly, each of the non-Apple launchers 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 can change this to whatever you prefer-just make sure your chosen launcher doesn’t conflict with Spotlight. Spotlight uses the Command-Spacebar shortcut by default, but you can change it if you like by going to System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Spotlight >, double-clicking the keyboard shortcut next to Show Spotlight Search, and pressing a new key combination. You can disable or rearrange categories for Spotlight searches in this preference pane.
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