You'll be excited to hear that we've been running a Universal build of Alfred on the Apple DTK using macOS Big Sur for some time now, and we're thrilled to say that the performance of Alfred running natively on the Apple M1 chip is remarkable.
Alfred has an exceedingly clean code base, so we were hoping for it to be reasonably easy to create our first Universal build. To our pleasant surprise, it was as straightforward as loading up Alfred's code into Xcode 12 Beta, selecting the Universal architecture, and compiling. That was it, no other changes were needed, and we were immediately able to take full advantage of the new architecture.
We have great plans to take advantage of new macOS features, and the M1 architecture. Looking forward, this opens a new chapter for exciting things we have lined up for Alfred's future!
You'll find a Universal build ready for download here:
https://www.alfredapp.com/universal/
Please note that, at this time, this build only benefits Macs with the M1 chip. If you're using an Intel Mac, continue to use the main Alfred update. In the future, the main build for all users will be Universal.
Did you know that you can show all your Alfred keywords and hotkeys if you can't recall what you've set them to, and jump directly to that setting in the preferences?
Use any of the following:
?hotkeys for a list of all the hotkeys?keywords for all your keywords?theme for a list of your available Alfred themes?snip for all your snippets and snippet-related
In fact, Alfred will search almost anything in your preferences, from the built-in features to your snippets and workflows.
? followed by your search term. Just try it! :)
Keep typing to narrow down the results, e.g. ?keyword map will show you results for custom searches and workflows using the keyword "map" anywhere. Or if you know what you're looking for, ?map works too!
Whether you just need to refresh your memory as to what keyword you set, or want to get to the right preferences pane to adjust a setting, the question mark helps you get there most efficiently!
Today, we've released Alfred 4.1, which brings a whole heap of brilliant improvement to some favourite Alfred 4 features! It's a free update for all Alfred 4 users.
What's New in 4.1?
Following on Alfred 4's resounding success, we're delighted to be releasing improvements that make our favourite features even sweeter. We've added embedded snippets (yes, that's a snippet within a snippet!) so that you can make your text more dynamic and useful with the {snippet:} placeholder.
You'll also find lots of goodies in the Workflows section; The ability to use one hotkey combo for multiple actions based on matching different conditions, 3 new workflow objects, and improvements to many more.
Take a look at What's New in 4.1 for more details, or take a look at the change log for a full list!
To update to Alfred 4.1, pop up Alfred 4's preferences and check for updates in the Update tab.
If you haven't yet updated to Alfred 4, you can download it from our website at alfredapp.com by clicking "Download Alfred 4".
Want to make the most of Alfred? Grab a Powerpack license, or upgrade your existing license at a discount to get started.
Happy Friday! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
When working remotely, we often rely on the written medium to communicate with teammates. This is where emoticons come in to convey our feelings about the current project better than just writing them out. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Inspired by a fantastic tweet by Jan-Hendrik Kuperus, who created his own Table Flip workflow, we created a workflow that lets you use the noble Table Flip emoticons to flip your world upside down.
Download the "Flip Everything" workflow and use "flip", on its own or followed by some text to use it.
Use the Command, Alt, Control, and Shift hotkey modifiers for different table flippers.
Curious how the workflow works? You'll notice it only uses a handful of workflow objects;
Have a great weekend...
┻━┻ ︵ \(°□°)/ ︵ ┻━┻
...and why not tweet your friends a table flip to end the week?
Did you know that Alfred has different Hotkey Trigger modes, and selecting the correct mode could significantly improve performance?
The modes, which can be access by clicking the turquoise symbols to the right of the Hotkey Trigger field, are:
- Simulate modifier keys released
- Wait until modifier keys are released
- Pass through modifier keys
By default, Alfred will simulate the release of the hotkey combo. This, along with the option to wait until modifier keys are released, is the most compatible with any action connected to the hotkey, but inherently introduces a small delay before the connected action is run.
If the action following the hotkey is unaffected by modifier keys being held, then you can make your hotkey much more responsive by selecting the mode to pass through modifier keys. Alfred can then run the connected action the instant you press your hotkey combo.
A Practical Example
The following little workflow toggles play and pause in Spotify, regardless of the media context in macOS. I use this workflow to quickly pause Spotify if I want to watch a YouTube video, and YouTube has already assumed the Mac keyboard media keys.
By selecting the "Pass through modifier keys" mode, there is no latency when using this hotkey to pause and un-pause Spotify.
Has this helped speed up your hotkeys? Let us know on Twitter @alfredapp :)
