Boosting productivity on macOS: Spotlight

What to use instead of the native macOS Spotlight application?

Photo by Andreas Klassen on Unsplash

Three years ago I wrote an article about tools that developers should have on their macOS. I have decided to write a new article, since I have switched couple of tools since then. This time, I will be writing multiple posts about individual application types.

Let’s start with how to get the most out of the Spotlight - by using a replacement.

What is Spotlight?

Spotlight can be used for a variety of tasks, such as launching applications, searching for files, and even performing calculations and conversions. It can also be used to quickly access information such as weather forecasts, stock prices, and movie showtimes.

To access Spotlight, you can click on the magnifying glass icon in the upper-right corner of the menu bar, or use the keyboard shortcut ⌘+Spacebar. This will bring up the Spotlight search bar, where you can type in what you are looking for.

Overall, Spotlight is a powerful tool that can help you be more productive and efficient on your Mac by allowing you to quickly find and access the information you need.

What are some alternatives that bring advanced Spotlight?

Alfred

The first alternative that I will talk about is Alfred. It has both free and a paid version. The paid version is worth every single penny. If you want to give it a try though, the free version still bring a lot of features:

1. Application Launcher: You can quickly launch any application with just a few keystrokes. This can save time and effort compared to manually searching for an application in the Finder.

2. Web Searches: You can perform quick web searches directly from the application by typing in a keyword and then hitting Enter. This can save time compared to manually navigating to a search engine in a web browser.

3. Calculator: Alfred has a built-in calculator that allows users to perform quick calculations without having to open a separate app.

4. System Commands: With Alfred, you can perform common system commands such as sleep, restart, and shutdown without having to navigate through macOS’s native menus and settings.

5. Customizable Themes: If you don’t fancy the default look, you can either use one of the available themes or you can theme it yourself!

Overall, the free version of Alfred provides several useful features that can enhance productivity and streamline a lot of tasks that you would have to do manually. What does the paid version bring though?

1. Workflows: You can create custom workflows that automate tasks, integrate with other applications, and perform system-wide actions. For example, you can create a workflow to quickly search for and open a specific file, or one that performs a series of tasks with a single keystroke. It has a very nice WYSIWYG editor for creating new workflows and you don’t need any advanced knowledge of Alfred to create a custom workflow.

2. Snippets: This feature lets users create and manage text snippets that can be used to quickly insert frequently-used phrases or text into any application. So for example you can create a IDE-independent snippet to create a skeleton of a unit test, that means wherever you type “ntest” you can get a skeleton of a NUnit test method.

3. Clipboard History: Keep track of your clipboard history, making it easy to access previously-copied items and paste them into any application. This can be a huge time-saver for those who regularly copy and paste text or if you copied something some time ago, you won’t accidentally loose it.

4. File Navigation: Quickly navigate through your files and folders, and perform actions such as opening, renaming, and moving files without having to use Finder. This is probably the least used feature by me, but if it is something you would want, it’s there.

Raycast

Raycast is another replacement for the native Spotlight. It basically tries to solve the same issue as Alfred tries to, it makes your Spotlight really advanced.

1. Quick Actions: Raycast offers a wide range of quick actions that can be accessed with just a few keystrokes. These include launching apps, creating calendar events, sending messages, and more. You can call your custom scripts and plugins with a simple shortcut.

2. Customizable: Raycast can be customized to suit the your needs, with the ability to add custom scripts and plugins to extend its functionality. This can be compared to Alfred’s workflows.

3. Integration with popular services: Raycast integrates with a wide range of popular services such as Jira, Trello, GitHub, Homebrew, and more, allowing users to access information and perform actions directly from the app. To do simple tasks, you can interact with the services directly from the Raycast. Once you start doing advanced things, you might still end up on the specific service’s website. But it is still helpful to be able to achieve some things in the Raycast.

4. Keyboard-driven: Raycast is designed to be driven entirely with the keyboard, allowing users to navigate and perform actions quickly without having to take their hands off the keyboard.

5. AI: As of writing this article, the AI feature is still in beta. You have basically the same experience as you have with ChatGPT on https://openai.com. You get a window where you chat with AI. This feature might end up being paid.

So, what should you use?

Well, you should definitely get either Alfred or Raycast. I am currently using Raycast and I really like, but I had used Alfred with Powerpack for a long time. I like Raycast’s UI more and the new integration with ChatGPT is really cool. But that’s probably the only big thing that is different, you can more or less do the same in both applications. Whatever you choose, it will still be better than the native Spotlight. Once you start using Raycast (or Alfred), you will really use it for everything. A lot of operations will be “one step closer” to you. Give one of them a try and let me know what you think!