TECHNOLOGY REVIEW - Alfred for Mac OS X

Okay, so this is going to be my first 'technology based' post. Before we get into it, I would just like to say that I am not affiliated with any of the companies I mention, nor am I receiving any benefits - these are all products and software that I personally use, and happen to like. Whew! With that over, let's get into it.

For me, efficiency is key. Like most people, I live a fairly hectic life - balancing commuting, University, a job and attempting to fit in time with my family and friends. Any product which is going to save me even the smallest amount of time, I will probably love.

So now we come to Alfred. I should probably preface this by saying that I am, in fact, a Mac user; I have been since I was about 12. It's not that I dislike Windows or Linux, it is just a personal preference. In related news, I bought a Windows 8-based tablet hybrid, which I'm sure I'll do a review on shortly.

Back to the point (can you tell I get stuck on tangents? If you haven't already - you will!); Alfred is a free productivity application for Mac OS X (10.6+) . According to the team, "Alfred saves you time when you search for files online or on your Mac. Be more productive with hotkeys, keywords and file actions at your fingertips."

I'm not going to get too technical in this review - this is an overview of why I love this application, and how I use it on a day to day basis.

 

You will see a little black bowler hat in your taskbar - that means Alfred is running, and ready to go. In the preferences, you will be able to select your own personal 'Alfred Hotkey' - this is the combination of keys you need to press to bring up the Alfred search bar. I have left mine as the default, which is the Option(Alt)-Space Bar. I have used this for so many years, it is just second nature to me now. I often find myself trying to use Alfred to search for things when I'm using friend's computers, and unsurprisingly, it generally doesn't work.

You can use it to perform commands on your computer (for example, to send your computer to sleep), search Google, open Applications and files, search contacts - the list would be endless. You only truly appreciate how much this application can do once you try it out for yourself. I've put screenshots of a couple of different commands below, just to give you an idea.

You can even type something into the box, and press Command(⌘)-L to have it appear full screen on your computer. It is extremely simple to customise, and below are a few of the System Controls you can access through Alfred.

As I mentioned before, it is a free program - if you want added functionality (or just want to support the developers), you can pay for the Powerpack, which costs £17.00 (which is currently around $ 32 AUD).

If this was too detailed for you, the gist of it is this - I can't speak highly enough of this product. I've been using for a number of years, and I continue use it every single day. Do yourself a favour and download it!

Check out their website to find out more about it:
http://www.alfredapp.com