| A | B | C | D | E | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | LaunchBar | Alfred | ||||
2 | Typing behavior | – | Have to type inquiries without pausing | + | Can pause and also edit inquiries instead of retyping the whole thing | |
3 | User Interface | = | Both have lots of theme options, can look like each other | = | Both have lots of theme options, can look like each other | |
4 | File system indexing | = | Custom index, pretty powerful this way | = | Uses Spotlight's index, easier to deal with this way | |
5 | ⭐️ File system navigation ⭐️ | + | spacebar to navigate into folders, ← → in and out of folders | – | ⌘↓ and ⌘↑ to navigate in and out of folders | |
6 | list in the bar is spacious and easier to read | list in the bar is more cramped and smaller text size (when navigating files) | ||||
7 | ↓ Actions on items ↓ | |||||
8 | Open in Finder | = | ↵ | = | ↵ | |
9 | Reveal in Finder | = | ⌘+↵ | = | ⌘+↵ | |
10 | Send to: (starting with an item in the bar) | + | tab >> search for destination >> ↵ to move there, or ⌥↵ to copy there | – | → or ⌃ (for actions list) >> ⌘+8, or type "move" or "copy" >> ↵ >> search for destination >> ↵ | |
11 | Quick Look: | + | spacebar | – | tap shift | |
12 | Quitting an app: | + | works even on background & menu bar apps | – | doesn't work on background & menu bar apps | |
13 | Copy file path: (starting with an item in the bar) | + | ⌘+C | – | ⌘⌥+tab (Universal Action hotkey) >> type "copy f" >> ↵ | |
14 | Select multiple items | + | – | |||
15 | Snippets | + | Lists out all snippets before search | – | Blind search only, doesn't list anything before typing | |
16 | – | Snippets aren't organized, just one huge list | + | Snippets are organized into collections, much easier to manage | ||
17 | – | Little support / existing snippet libraries from developer community | + | Thriving developer community support / existing snippet libraries | ||
18 | – | No text expansion of snippets | + | Every snippet can be accessed through text expansion by typing its keyword anywhere | ||
19 | Emoji | + | Built in Emoji database | ≈ | 3rd-party workflow FAMOS | |
20 | Can set global default skin tone | Can only set default skin tone on a per-emoji basis | ||||
21 | Fuzzy searching possible | No fuzzy searching | ||||
22 | Searching for related words brings up relevant emoji | Slightly more limited related word search | ||||
23 | In-bar web search suggestions | + | Yes | – | Yes, with a custom workflow, requires disabling each individual built-in web search, then training each hotkey to use the workflow as first result. Suggestion results don't look as clean and clear as Launchbar. If no suggestions available, the search switches to built-in Alfred web search and includes the Alfred keyword in the search. This makes this unusable for me. | |
24 | Scrolling results | + | Smooth | – | Super choppy with my Logitech MX Master mouse | |
25 | Documentation | – | 3rd-party book "Take Control of Launchbar", costs money but is thorough | + | Fantastic website full of documentation and help. Way better | |
26 | Developer Support | – | Rarely updated with any real new features | + | Actively developed app with regular new features and updates | |
27 | Difficult to find recent and working user-developed integrations/functionality | Thriving community of developers, plenty of user-developed integrations | ||||
28 | Unit Conversion | – | No working 3rd party Actions | + | Calculate Anything workflow, builds it into the calculator, no keyword required | |
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