Apple recently announced OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, which contains great new security features to keep your Mac safe from malware. One of these new technologies, Gatekeeper, prevents unauthorised code from running on your Mac.
Gatekeeper - the perfect solution for Alfred
Gatekeeper aims to keep you safe from malware when downloading apps outside of the Mac App Store. By default, Gatekeeper allows you to install apps from both the Mac App Store and from developers who digitally sign their applications with an Apple-certified Developer ID.
The great news is that Alfred 1.2 is already signed with our Developer ID. In simple terms, this means that Alfred and his Powerpack work great on Mountain Lion 10.8 without having to change any security settings, keeping your Mac as safe as possible!
What about the App Store?
Many of you have asked whether we intend to put Alfred's Powerpack in the Mac App Store. In November, we explained why we planned to keep Alfred out of the MAS due to the new Sandboxing requirements. Today, 1st June, Sandboxing comes into place in the MAS.
In a nutshell, Sandboxing aims to protect users by restricting what an application can do by keeping it in its own "box" and only allowing limited authorised access to specific files and resources on your system. Sandboxing also makes it much easier for Apple to review applications into the store as apps simply can't do things outside of this "box".
Meanwhile, Alfred works deep into the heart of your Mac. He gives you very fast access to everything your Mac has to offer, especially with the Powerpack - searching, scripting, file interactions and many more richly integrated features. Thankfully, Apple's new Gatekeeper paves the way for us to keep Alfred as productive as possible without having to work within the limitations of a sandbox.
On the topic of new features...
You'll continue to find the free version of Alfred in the MAS, as Apple allows existing apps to remain in the store and receive bug fixes. However, if you're looking for the big juicy new features, your best bet is to download Alfred from our website. With this version, you can take advantage of the Powerpack and of pre-releases, which give you a sneak preview of new features.
Andrew has also been hard at work on the next release, which brings you the much-anticipated QuickLook, 1Password integration improvements and many more improvements. That's something to look forward to in the next few weeks!
[Photo credit: Nick Schooley, The Gates at Buckingham Palace on Flickr]
We've just released Alfred version 1.2, which brings an absolute boatload of new features and improvements.
It's now available to download by checking for updates in the app, from our website or from the Mac App Store. Both the free version and the Powerpack have received a lot of love in this release so read on for the full details of this fantastic release.
Fast access to your 1Password 1Click bookmarks
We couldn't live without 1Password so this new Powerpack integration is a marriage made in heaven!
Enable the 1Password bookmarks import in Alfred's Features preferences, then let Alfred bring up your list of password bookmarks when you type "1p" followed by your search term. Your default browser is launched, and you are logged straight into your 1Password stored site. It's completely safe as your browser still requires your 1Password master password if you aren't already authenticated.
The 1Password team also blogged about 1Click bookmarks in Alfred earlier this week.
Large type with ⌘-L
Whether you plan to use it to view phone numbers on your screen from a distance, share the solution to a maths equation or to tease classmates sitting behind you in class, large type is a useful addition to the Powerpack. Hit Cmd + L to show the typed text as Large Type on your screen.
Two new colour themes
A few weeks ago, we announced that two new themes - Dark & Smooth and Pistachio - will be added to the default themes in Alfred's core (free) version.
Clipboard Merge
Clipboard Merge allows you to merge a second item with the previously copied clipboard snippet. Once enabled, it's simple to use: Hold ⌘ and press C twice to merge the selected text with the previous history item. You'll hear a sound confirming the snippets have become one!
New hotkeys
We've added a few new handy hotkeys:
- New global hotkeys to take action on currently selected text in OS X
- New global hotkey option to paste the latest Clipboard History item as plain text without having to show Alfred first
- Global hotkeys can be assigned to Snippets for instant pasting, e.g. your favourite email signature
File search overhaul
This may sound like hocus pocus but I can assure you that you'll find that the improved file matching algorithm will help you find your files more easily than before.
If you're curious to see how Andrew has refined file matching, have a look at his Tumblr post outlining what has changed.
A boatload more...
Version 1.2 is a big release in terms of improvements and bug fixes as well, so have a look at the Change Log here for the full list of changes.
Thanks again to everyone who helped us test this release over the past few weeks! :)
Cheers,
Vero
What makes developing Alfred so much fun is the amazing community that has grown around him over the past two years. And sometimes, Alfred users simply blow us away with their creativity!
Hot on the heels of last week's search for the perfect custom themes to add to version 1.2, long-time Alfred friend and extension creator Kailey Lampert created a new site, Alfredthe.me, where you can share your custom themes and discover new ones.
You can watch a useful video on importing, exporting and customising your own themes on Alfredthe.me.
As an aside, Kailey is also the creator of the rather awesome Hangman extension, amongst many others. Play a sneaky game of Hangman using Growl and the boss won't even notice! ;)
Happy theming!
Cheers,
Vero
Last week, we invited Alfred users to submit their own custom themes for version 1.2. You contributed in droves with over fifty themes to choose from! With your help, we have now picked the themes that will make it into the Alfred core.
Coming soon to your theme selection
Two themes from this competition will be added to Alfred; Dark and Smooth and Pistachio.
Dark and Smooth is a gorgeous deep grey theme with dark blue for the selected result, and was created by Brock Angelo.
Pistachio is the second theme we chose and was created by Chris George. Andrew and I liked this theme as it adds a bit of colour to the range of themes available!
The themes you loved
The creators of the themes you loved most will receive a Powerpack license upgrade and some very special Alfred goodies in the post too.
The first special mention goes to Javier Esquivel's Elegant theme which received the most votes and looked fantastic.
Unfortunately, we were unable to add it to the default themes as it doesn't display well over other windows due to its high level of transparency (for example, over text), making search results difficult to read. If you'd like to use it and perhaps tweak the opacity levels, you can install the Elegant theme.
The Sleek Professional theme by Greg Cruz was also very popular but exhibited the same issues when displayed over a busy background. Install Sleek Pro if it's the one that stole your heart.
And finally, out of left field came a bright and bold contender, Quick Purple, by Colin J. Kautz. If you love shades of pink and purple, this one is the one for you!
Thank you to everyone who let their inner artist out to play and created a custom theme! You can still download any of the themes created this week from our Facebook page.
Version 1.2 coming soon
The two winning themes will be added to version 1.2, which will be generally available within the next few weeks, alongside many more fantastic features. Check out the impressive change log for the list of new features and improvements coming in this next release.
Don't forget that you can download and create your own themes and do much more with the Powerpack! Stick around for more fun competitions, tutorials and great extensions in the coming weeks!
Every company has its own processes, numerous little cogs that work together to give a more or less smooth user experience. When one little cog doesn't work, it's like having a stone in your shoe; only tiny but incredibly annoying. Over the past two years, we have tried to refine the processes we use to keep Alfred users as happy as possible, whether they use the core version or the Powerpack.
When a few fellow small business founders asked me what tools we used when we were at South by Southwest Interactive earlier this month, I thought I should share more widely some of our favourite ones, in the hope that they can help others keep a happy community.
Cachefly
While we also use the Mac App Store for distribution, a large number of users choose to get Alfred directly from our website. With hundreds of thousands of downloads for every release, we needed a fast, solid delivery network we could trust to always be available when you needed your Alfred fix. This is where Cachefly came in.
The download comes in lightning fast so don't blink or you'll miss it! :D
Campaign Monitor
There are a few tools that, once discovered, stay with you for a lifetime. Campaign Monitor is one of those; it's an email marketing platform that allows you to send newsletters to your ever-so-precious list of customers. Their templates system make your life easy from one send to the next, and the support is friendly and second-to-none.
It's super simple to add a signup box to your site (like the Alfred newsletter one in our site footer) and the process of sending a newsletter couldn't be more straightforward.
Campaign Monitor have recently launched the Worldview feature, which allows you to see in real-time when your emails are opened. Inevitably, it makes me look like a complete lunatic as I say "Hi Stig! Oh hello Paul!" to my screen as I see Alfred users opening our newsletters. (Just think of me next time an Alfred newsletter lands in your inbox!) Every time, it's a pleasure to use and pretty affordable for small businesses.
FoxyCart
Those who bought the Powerpack in the early days will remember that we used Google Checkout as our payment process. It was straightforward to set up but the user experience was... not brilliant. Google Checkout customer service was non-existent so if we or a user had issue, Google wasn't there to help us resolve it as quickly as we like to.
A few months ago, we switched to FoxyCart, an e-commerce platform that was recommended to us by a few Alfred users. With a little bit of customisation, the Powerpack purchase process was fully branded in lovely Alfred colours and ready to be rolled out. We could now offer credit card and PayPal options to make buying the Powerpack a pleasant experience. The platform has been rock solid from day one so, conversion has increased and we've received many compliments on the friendlier process.
Twitter app
Every day, we receive dozens of tweets from you and we love reading each and every one. Andrew also tries to reply to as many of you chatty tweeters as possible.
Originally, we used Cotweet, a very useful if slightly hiccupy platform for responding to and archiving tweets. Unfortunately, a few months ago, Cotweet became a paid-only product with a high price tag, so we looked for alternatives. After experimenting with various apps, believe it or not, Andrew settled for the official Twitter app for Mac. This wouldn't be suitable for larger teams where many people tweet, or for fancy tasks like setting posts to publish automatically later, but we use Twitter to talk to you so the simplicity suits us just fine!
On iOS, we both use Tweetbot for iPhone and iPad, which has the most pleasant UI out of the flurry of iOS Twitter apps out there.
WordPress
WordPress needs no introduction these days, but we fly their flag high and proud. It's nice and simple to use, the Wordpress.com hosted platform is stable and fast, and it's a tried and tested solution. Through the highest peaks of traffic we've had, it's never let us down so we can sleep easy.
Tumblr
Andrew picked Tumblr for his Alfred development blog, and so did Anna for the Alfred tips one. Tumblr is quick to publish to, and a lightweight solution when you just want to get those tips out there!
Wikidot
One of the most important assets for an app as flexible and complex as Alfred is a good knowledge base and FAQ. Around a year ago, we moved to Wikidot, a wiki platform, for our help site. The objective was to make it as easy as possible to add new knowledge base items and edit them, to keep them up to date.
I don't know if I'll ever be 100% satisfied with the way we handle FAQs. I'll keep adding and refining content every day, but this platform makes it easier!
Get Satisfaction
One thing we've learned in the past two years is that Alfred users are tinkerers with a lot of ideas. From creating custom themes to sharing their own extensions, it made sense to have a user-to-user forum for swapping those ideas and tweaking extensions to make them just perfect.
Get Satisfaction is a quirky little support forum, which allows us to see the level of interest for certain features, and publicly help groups of users. Of course, it's no guarantee that a feature will be implemented, but it's a nice way to gauge interest and a great place for users to share their own extensions.
Ultimately, it's about more than the tools...
You can have the best running shoes in the world, but if you don't put them on, the miles won't run themselves.
It takes motivation, passion and a whole lot of stamina to give your users a good experience. No matter how good the tools are, you've got to wake up in the morning with a smile on your face and a willingness to do everything you do as well as it can possibly be done.
Use the tools wisely and get to know what matters to your users. Welcome feedback, listen hard and carry on creating great software!
