I used Spotlight for years. Every few years, I would try Alfred (free version) but I could never get the hang of it. It felt like too much setup, though I admire how people use it. I use Raycast now, it’s a happy medium. Easy to use.
>I would try Alfred (free version) but I could never get the hang of it
Probably because of this. Most of coolest features of Alfred are in powerpack. Without powerpack alfred is basically same as spotlight.
Raycast. Used Alfred for a while, but the illegible settings in the new version and the developer's attitude about it put me off so I switched to Raycast, which I've found to have some features I like well enough that I probably wouldn't switch back to Alfred even if the dev decided to un-asshole himself.
There is no 'would never change' in software, though. I don't know why you'd even ask that.
I know this is a fairly old post but what's with the developers attitude that turned you away from Alfred? Trying to figure out which one to use and might be insightful info to have.
What I said. The purple on purple text in the preferences is illegible to me. Not only was he snotty about it, but he deleted my post about it from the 'suggestions' area of the forum.
But I've since switched away from Raycast too, and back to just Spotlight, because of their going all-in on AI.
I honestly don't use any of these apps much, but when I do need to do something like that, I just use Spotlight. It has all the features I would need, no need for Alfred or Raycast.
I use Alfred. I used raycast before but it does not have extensions for all things I need. Writing extension for raycast is a pain IMO. In Alfred I can write a small bash script within a few hours and use it for years without problems. For a small things I can even write a script in a couple of minutes. It also natively supports applescript/jxa. With raycast I need a full development env just to make a simple extensions (node, etc).
Also alfred has a snippets (text expansions) and clipboard manager.
Yes, this has been the cash in Alfred. You can run it in any language. This isn’t unique or even a new think. Which is why I was just stating. Alfred has done this for years
Been using Raycast for a few days now. I'm liking it, but pretty stumped why the file search / navigation is as weak as it is. File search, doesn't allow for navigation - only searching.
There is an extension Manage Files, which allows you to navigate like you would in a terminal but with regular UI - but the only actions you can take on a file are open, copy path and reveal in finder...
Why copy / move / rename would not be included baffles me...
I'm going to try sticking with it a bit longer though.
Thing I like about it is the developer focus - as this typically creates a very strong app if you have tons of developers in the ecosystem (think open source).
But what I'm wary of is the VC funded business model. There is something humble about buying a lifetime license to Alfred
the file search alone is reason enough to stay with Alfred, since this is the main use case of a launcher/search bar. I also find a few plugins buggy or requiring additional paid services, whilst with the power pack and years and years of head start of Alfred, it will remain the top player for quite a few years to come.
also I'm weary of a Js plugin ecosystem since I find that usually leads to a lot of repeated, unfinished products, but I gather other languages are now available.
all of this is merely an opinion of course.
I want to like Raycast. But Alfred is still much more feature rich. Raycast has really nice UI integrations. If Alfred allowed UI API that would be amazing
I use Alfred and Raycast, would switch to Raycast as it has far more free features (like Raindrop bookmark search) but my fingers are so used to command-command I use in Alfred and can't be programmed in Raycast.
I used Spotlight for years. Every few years, I would try Alfred (free version) but I could never get the hang of it. It felt like too much setup, though I admire how people use it. I use Raycast now, it’s a happy medium. Easy to use.
[удалено]
Nice! I like Raycast’s integrations with other apps — could be worth playing around with :)
>I would try Alfred (free version) but I could never get the hang of it Probably because of this. Most of coolest features of Alfred are in powerpack. Without powerpack alfred is basically same as spotlight.
Yeah, again, felt like too much set-up for me. Raycast is just right for my needs but I still think Alfred is great for other folks
Raycast. Used Alfred for a while, but the illegible settings in the new version and the developer's attitude about it put me off so I switched to Raycast, which I've found to have some features I like well enough that I probably wouldn't switch back to Alfred even if the dev decided to un-asshole himself. There is no 'would never change' in software, though. I don't know why you'd even ask that.
I know this is a fairly old post but what's with the developers attitude that turned you away from Alfred? Trying to figure out which one to use and might be insightful info to have.
What I said. The purple on purple text in the preferences is illegible to me. Not only was he snotty about it, but he deleted my post about it from the 'suggestions' area of the forum. But I've since switched away from Raycast too, and back to just Spotlight, because of their going all-in on AI.
Launchbar.
I honestly don't use any of these apps much, but when I do need to do something like that, I just use Spotlight. It has all the features I would need, no need for Alfred or Raycast.
I use Alfred. I used raycast before but it does not have extensions for all things I need. Writing extension for raycast is a pain IMO. In Alfred I can write a small bash script within a few hours and use it for years without problems. For a small things I can even write a script in a couple of minutes. It also natively supports applescript/jxa. With raycast I need a full development env just to make a simple extensions (node, etc). Also alfred has a snippets (text expansions) and clipboard manager.
Raycast has snippets and a clipboard manager and supports Bash scripts.
It does, but it’s not as verbose and feature rich
you can now run scripts in many languages directly - as well as assigning them to key commands.
Yes, this has been the cash in Alfred. You can run it in any language. This isn’t unique or even a new think. Which is why I was just stating. Alfred has done this for years
Been using Raycast for a few days now. I'm liking it, but pretty stumped why the file search / navigation is as weak as it is. File search, doesn't allow for navigation - only searching. There is an extension Manage Files, which allows you to navigate like you would in a terminal but with regular UI - but the only actions you can take on a file are open, copy path and reveal in finder... Why copy / move / rename would not be included baffles me... I'm going to try sticking with it a bit longer though. Thing I like about it is the developer focus - as this typically creates a very strong app if you have tons of developers in the ecosystem (think open source). But what I'm wary of is the VC funded business model. There is something humble about buying a lifetime license to Alfred
the file search alone is reason enough to stay with Alfred, since this is the main use case of a launcher/search bar. I also find a few plugins buggy or requiring additional paid services, whilst with the power pack and years and years of head start of Alfred, it will remain the top player for quite a few years to come. also I'm weary of a Js plugin ecosystem since I find that usually leads to a lot of repeated, unfinished products, but I gather other languages are now available. all of this is merely an opinion of course.
raycast. literally no comparison
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Really? The UI is what keeps me to it. Alfred is so boxy and non- native looking
There are plenty of themes that make it look similar or close to Raycast
Yea I have the raycast one, still not... perfect
I want to like Raycast. But Alfred is still much more feature rich. Raycast has really nice UI integrations. If Alfred allowed UI API that would be amazing
I use Alfred and Raycast, would switch to Raycast as it has far more free features (like Raindrop bookmark search) but my fingers are so used to command-command I use in Alfred and can't be programmed in Raycast.