You can directly initiate a call, message, and FaceTime call from the preview window which makes it even better.Īlfred, on the other hand, doesn’t have contact integration, not in the free version, so there’s no fight here. Once you type in the full name you’ll see a contact card right under the launcher. As you start typing a name the suggestion box starts bringing up names below. Spotlight integrates with mostly all macOS original apps, contacts being one of them. Similarly, type ‘Spell’ to check the spelling of a word. But since its a third party launcher app, you’ll have to type the keyword ‘Define’ before typing your word to know its meaning. Thank me later.Īlfred integrates with the system dictionary as well. Well, that’s a Mac shortcut if you already didn’t know it. Not just that, if you are confused in the spelling, just press ‘ alt+esc’ after typing a few letters and you’ll see similar words in a list. To find a meaning of any word just start typing the word in Spotlight and you’ll see results in the preview immediately. Spotlight is an intelligent tool when it comes to defining words. You will have to do a regular google search for that. It does give you quick results but there’s not much of a preview. The currency/metric conversions are even better as it’ll show you multiple conversions without even asking.Īlfred’s calculation window is just okay. Spotlight takes the cake here as the preview feature lets you see the calculation instantly. Stay put for our article on how to set up and use Alfred like a pro. To set up a custom search keyword head to Features > Web Search and click on ‘ Add Custom Search’ at the right bottom of the screen. You can set up keywords to launch a custom search from a page of your choosing rather than a regular google search. With the custom search option, you can personalize Alfred’s web search to an extreme level. If you have your location settings on, you can also search for nearby places and movies etc the same as you do on your phone.Īlfred takes the web search to next level. It fetches results simultaneously form Web, Siri suggestions, and Siri knowledge. Spotlight has a pretty wide range in web search. But it is not fair to compare the two apps with unequal settings. Surprisingly the app says it is not recommended as it may slow down the search process. Open the Alfred app, under Features > Default Results, check the box ‘ Unintelligent’. For example, if you type ‘Pages’ all files of pages will be listed in the suggestions below.Īlfred might seem a bit slow at first when it comes to file search, but you can change this from the Settings. Alternatively, you can type the app name and all files related to the app will be listed in the preview. When you search for a file, Spotlight gives you suggestions from document files, folders, bookmarks etc. Spotlight searches all file types by default but of course, you can change the preference from System Preferences > Spotlight >. Pressing the shortcut displayed in front of a result will launch the app. And since every result of Alfred has its own shortcut, you won’t have to scroll through the results. While Spotlight takes ‘a’ second to process the command, Alfred will start showing you results as you type. But, what makes this point comparable is the speed of processing a keyword, of course in our testing. Launching appsīoth Alfred and Spotlight, are App launcher at heart. If you do so the apps will launch on every alternate command. Both Alfred and Spotlight can have the same hotkey as well. You can choose your own set of combination but preferably different from Spotlight. Although, you can change it later anytime. To change the shortcuts, double click where the shortcut is displayed and press your preferred set of hotkey to save it.Īlfred, on the other hand, would ask you to set up a hotkey when you first initiate the application. ![]() The hotkey to launch Spotlight by default is cmd+space, but it can be changed or completely turned off from System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts. Read: Looking For Spotlight for Windows 10? Here Are Five Alternatives To have a fair comparison, in this article we will compare them under, Spotlight Vs Alfred’s free version. What is the need for another launcher app then? What more can Alfred offer? Let’s analyze some points that might help you decide.īefore we begin, Alfred comes with lots of amazing paid feature along with free ones. It not only lets you find files and launch apps but also comes with a built-in calculator, currency converter, dictionary and much more. Spotlight is ‘the tool’ when it comes to working on Mac.
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